Understanding visual, auditory, and tactile learning styles in statistics education using correlation analysis and K-medians clustering

This paper aimed to elucidate the various learning styles in statistics education at the college level in view of Fleming’s VARK model. The study surveyed 127 regular engineering students who took up statistics at Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines, through a structured questionnaire using a Google form. The primary data collected were cross-sectional and summarized using standard descriptive metrics, Spearman correlation, and K-medians clustering. Results depicted that the students perceived themselves to be "often" visual (Median=3.75) learners. This is followed by auditory (Median=3.25) and tactile (Median=3.00) learning styles, which are both "sometimes" applied by students. Correlation analysis revealed that the visual, auditory, and tactile learning styles of students are positively and moderately correlated, which is statistically significant at a 1% level. Moreover, the K-medians clustering revealed that 31.49% (Cluster I) of the students often applied visual learning and sometimes employed auditory and tactile styles, about 28.35% (Cluster II) often applied visual and auditory learning while tactile is sometimes employed, and approximately 40.16% (Cluster III) of them sometimes applied the three learning styles. Conclusively, students have statistically different learning styles, and the study suggests that instructors/professors must adapt teaching modalities that cater to the needs of diverse learners in statistics courses.