The Examination of University Students’ Learning Styles by Means of Felder-Silverman Index

Abstract

The purpose of the study is, by adaptating the Felder-Silverman learning styles instrument into Turkish, to study the reliability and validity of the instrument at Mersin University. Further, it examined the differences among the learning styles according to students’ fields of science. The Index of Learning Styles (ILS) that is used in this research is a 44- question instrument designed to assess the four dimensions of the Felder-Silverman model. It was developed in 1988 by Richard Felder and Linda Silverman. Participants consisted of 526 of Mersin University students. The sample included different academic branches as follows: Natural Sciences (n=320, 61%), Health Sciences (n=149, 28%) and Social Sciences (n=57, 11%). Findings show that the preferred learning styles are different which shows that Mersin University students are rather sequential, sensory and active learners. Results have also demonstrated that ILS has a significant difference in sequential/global learning styles according to science, health and social sciences.