The relationship among the cognitive development level, learning style, achievement, and retention of preservice elementary teachers in a content course in mathematics.

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine three ideas. First, the relationship between learning style preferences and the level of cognitive development of preservice teachers who are currently enrolled in a content course in mathematics was investigated. Second, the effect of using a learning style model for structuring instruction of teaching preservice teachers was investigated. Finally, this study involved determining whether teaching strategies improved retention rates of material presented. The measures used included the Scale of Intellectual Development - IV to measure the cognitive development level based on Perry's model, the Learning Type Measure to measure preferred learning style, and the Hemispheric Mode Indicator to measure right or left-brain dominance. A traditional instruction group and a learning style model group were established. The 4MAT Learning Style Model was used as treatment on the lower achieving group. Personal interviews and responses to essays were used as part of the evaluation. According to the results of the analyses, there appeared to be no correlation between the cognitive development level and the learning style preference for either group. In achievement gains, the two groups were compared using two separate unit tests, one on probability and one on statistics. For this study, the traditional group scored significantly better than the 4MAT group. On retention of material, the groups were compared using a form of equivalent tests for probability and statistics. Unlike the results of the achievement test, the results of the tests taken to measure retention indicate that there was no difference between the two groups. The degree of retention did not appear to be specific to any particular learning style.