Abstract

CABALLERO VARGAS, María del Carmen. Styles oflearning in students ofdentistry ofthe Open Latin American Private University - UPAL. Rev. Cient. Mult. Adas [online]. 2015, vol.6, n.4, pp. 111-116. ISSN 2309-3153.

There are different styles of learning, and each student has one predominant that influences the way how it perceives and processes the information. The purpose of this research has been to identify the style of learning for students of the subject of Pediatric Dentistry dentistry career in UPAL, Cochabamba headquarters; and its relationship with academic achievement. Methodology: The research was exploratory, transversal and prospective, with a sample of 39 students, who applied the VAK learning styles questionnaire, to determine the style of learning visual, auditory or kinesthetic of each of them. The results related to academic performance. Results: 38.5% of the students was male; while 61.1% were female. 77% was chronological age between 19 and 26 years of age; However, 23% of the students were aged between 27 and 41 years. The results show that the learning style that predominates among the students of dentistry I is 42% visual style, then style ear 31% and finally the kinesthetic style is 27%. The higher academic performance was presented in students with visual learning style (79.7%), followed by students kinestesicos (77%) and finally the hearing students (74.1%). Conclusion: The way how an individual perceives and processes the information differs from person to person, there are different styles of learning and consequently dominance by any of them. It is important that the pre-dominant style in students, is knowledge of the teacher, since with his new role is that of facilitator of learning, you can use specific methodological strategies in order to achieve a greater academic performance through the achievement of meaningful learning.

Keywords : Learning styles; Students; Dentistry; Pediatric Dentistry; Academic performance; UPAL; VAK.