Learning Styles and Preference of Physical Education at Rattanabundit University

Abstract

This research consists purposes were 1. to examine the learning styles of physical education students at Rattana Bundit University based on Grasha and Riechmann’s concept and 2. to investigate their learning preferences based on Fleming and Mills’ concept. This research employed a quantitative research design. The research instruments consisted of a Learning Style Survey and a Learning Pattern Survey. The sample group comprised students in the Physical Education Program at Rattana Bundit University, selected based on the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size determination table and proportionate stratified random sampling. The sample included 39 first-year students, 44 second-year students, 30 third-year students, and 27 fourth-year students, totaling 140 participants. The data collected from the research instruments were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including percentage, mean and standard deviation. The research findings were as follows 1) Learning Styles (Grasha & Riechmann) When categorized by academic year (1–4), the most prominent learning style across all years was the Collaborative style, which ranked first at a high level. All years exhibited Avoidant, Dependent, and Competitive styles at a moderate level. Fourth-year students showed slightly higher tendencies toward Independent (x̅= 3.65) and Participant (M = 3.65) styles compared to other years. In contrast, second-year students had lower average scores in several dimensions, falling mostly at a moderate level, except for the Collaborative style, which remained high and 2) The individual learning styles of students in the Physical Education Program revealed that, overall, second-year to fourth-year students predominantly preferred auditory learning as their primary learning style. In contrast, first-year students were the only group that demonstrated a strong preference for visual and symbolic learning. Furthermore, it was observed that as students progressed to higher academic years, the proportion of learners who preferred visual and symbolic learning (V) tended to decrease significantly, while preferences for auditory (A) and read/write (R) learning styles gradually increased, respectively.