Assessing Learning Styles of Students in Guilan University of Medical Sciences, 2013

Education and learning has always been a two-sides process and learning styles as habits of processing persons’ received information، are effective factors in learning. Teachers and education planners attention at different levels to learning styles will lead to facilitate education and learning process. This study aimed to determine the relationship between learning styles of medical students in Guilan University of Medical Sciences at various levels of academic achievement. This is a descriptive- cross sectional study. The study population consisted students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in different fields. Random stratified sampling was conducted in 407 students، and demographic information questionnaire and the Kolb learning style inventory were used in order to collect information that their reliability and validity had already been approved. After collecting data، they were analyzed using Stata software and descriptive and analytic statistics (chi-square test and ANOVA). The study findings showed that the average age of students was 22. 71±3. 62 years. Learning style of most students is converged (50. 4%)، and then the assimilator (19. 9%)، accommodator (19. 4%) and divergent (10. 3%) respectivety. Converging learning style in medical students was significantly higher than in other disciplines. The relationship between students'' learning styles and their educational levels were nearly significant (P =0. 06). Learning styles in students based on situation and educational levels will be variant، as a result attention and concern on it in teaching methods could be improved the learning of learners.