Learning Styles in Relation to Gender, Field of Study, and Academic Achievement for Bahraini University Students

The study aimed to investigate the preferred learning styles of Bahraini university students and the differences in their learning styles according to Gender and Field of Study. The study further attempted to examine the contribution of learning styles as predictors of the academic achievement of students measured by their Grade Point Average (GPA). The sample consisted of 877 students (17-30 years). Results showed that the total sample preferred the Visual LS and the following learning styles: Active over Reflective; Sensing over Intuitive; Visual over Verbal, and Sequential over global. Results further showed that there were significant differences in learning styles according to gender and different fields of study. Males were more Intuitive learners, whereas females were more Sensing learners. With respect to the field of study, the information technology students were found to be more Active learners than the law students and science students; whereas the education students were more Active learners than the science students. The results furthered showed that the learning styles that were good predictors of student GPA were Visual/Verbal and Sequential/Global. The study suggested that understanding how university students learn would, hopefully, help improve the quality of instruction in higher education.