The learning styles of optometry students at the University of the Free State

English: In the research project reported here, a study was conducted with a view to providing direction to educators in the Department of Optometry at the University of the Free State (UFS), in order for them to create a learning environment that would motivate students to achieve excellence in the competencies and knowledge required to qualify as competent Optometrists. This study was initiated in response to the identification of a gap in the knowledge regarding the way undergraduate Optometry students at the UFS in 2014 perceived and processed knowledge, known as their learning styles. Higher education in South Africa faces many challenges. The improvement of graduate production for economic, social, and cultural development highlights the need to revitalise the current educational strategies to minimise the wastage of talent and to prevent the failure of academic careers. According to both scholarly and popular literature, the use of learning styles as an educational strategy will become more important as it is seen as one of the success factors in higher education, contributing to the effectiveness of learning. The aim of the study was to describe the learning styles of Optometry students at the UFS with a view to creating a better understanding of how students acquire learning and to enhance the learning environment accordingly. This was attained by the means of the following objectives, namely obtaining data to create a deeper understanding of the significance of learning styles in the curriculum framework of higher education institutions and identifying and describing the learning styles of the Optometry students at the UFS according to Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI). In the study use was made of a quantitative design. Data were gathered by means of a questionnaire survey (Kolb’s LSI) among the registered undergraduate Optometry students at the UFS in 2014. From the findings of the questionnaire survey, the conclusion was drawn that the undergraduate Optometry students of 2014 employed the four learning styles according to the following order of priority: (i) Converger; (ii) Assimilator; (iii) Accommodator; and (iv) Diverger. The findings also indicated that neither of the variables of age, gender, academic year, or ethnicity had any effect on the students’ preference of learning style. These findings, as well as the data collected from the literature survey, were incorporated in the formulation of recommendations for the enhancement of the four components of Kolb’s learning cycle, as indicated in the aim of the study. Attention was given to the enhancement of the learning environment most suitable for the two most preferred learning styles. Depending on the learning outcomes and based on the knowledge of the preferred learning styles, the lecturer may choose to match or mismatch the learning styles of the students to the teaching method, or to apply a multi-style teaching approach. With the learning styles of the undergraduate students identified, the Department of Optometry, through implementation of the recommendations, may create an optimal teaching and learning environment that will accommodate the diversity of this generation of undergraduate students in terms of different learning styles.