An Evaluation of Psychology Textbooks in Higher Education Curriculum Based on Learning Styles Components and Adaptation to Teaching Methods

The present study aimed to assess psychology textbooks in Iranian higher education curriculum, focusing on learning styles and their adaption to teaching methods. Using qualitative content analysis, 10 Persian-authored and translated books were examined after consulting university professors and publishers. The findings revealed 11 learning styles in educational psychology textbooks, with the impulsive/reflective style having the highest frequency at 16.3% and the Layered model having the lowest frequency at 1.3%. Additionally, 60% of authors showed a positive stance on aligning teaching methods with learning styles, while 20% had no clear position and 20% were neutral. According to the findings, only 30% of textbooks addressed criticisms of learning styles theories and the lack of evidence supporting the impact of aligning teaching methods with learning styles on academic performance. The results indicated that despite the lack of sufficient research evidence, Iranian authors generally support adapting teaching methods with learning styles and encourage their implementation.