Dominant Learning Styles among Junior High School Students in Aceh and their Relationship with the Final Score in Social Sciences

Abstract

Ruslan, Abdul Munir, Deny Setiawan, T. M. Jamil

Learning style determines how student processes and recalls new information and skills. The learning styles often related to students’ learning performance. This study aims to identify the learning styles of Junior High School students from 5 different schools in Aceh Province, Indonesia and investigate the relationship between a specific subject matter of Social Science final marks and learning style subscale scores. The social sciences subject is taught at 7-9 grade in Indonesia. The social sciences subject covers various matters including culture, history, economic and so forth. The learning styles of 170 junior high school students were determined using the (Indonesian version) Grasha-Riechmann Student Learning Style Scales. Students’ cumulative scores of Social Science subject were used as an independent variable. The data obtained from the admission office of each school. Non-parametric statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis test to compare the social science cumulative scores among the six learning style groups. The most common learning style among students at 5 different schools was Dependent (24.7%). The students’ scores of social sciences were correlated significantly with collaborative style group (r=0.427, P=0.016), but not significantly correlated with other learning style groups; Independent (r = -0.417, P = 0.137), Avoidant (r = -0.128, P = 0.722), dependent (r = -0.182, P= 0.248), competitive (r = -0.244, P = 0.178), and participant (r = -0.107, P = 0.504). Kruskal Wallis test shows significant differences between the collaborative group and their scores of social science subject (χ2 = 9.645, P = 0.008). Despite of being dependent learners, only students with collaborative learning style associated with significantly higher scores of social sciences subjects. Encouraging students to learn collaboratively may be effective in elevating academic performance among Acehnese junior high school students.