Learning style preferences and study habits as determinants of academic achievement among Public Junior High School pupils in the Effutu Municipality

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the learning style preferences and study habits and how they affect the academic achievement among students in public junior high schools in the Effutu Municipality Central Region. The study was grounded in Fleming‟s (1995) VAK learning style theory and the Bakare‟s (1977) study habits inventory. The descriptive survey design was used and was aligned with positivist paradigm where 532 public junior high school pupils were chosen through the stratified random sampling technique. A reliability coefficient of not less than 0.70 was realized for all the various constructs. The data gathered through questionnaire were analysed using both descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and inferential (t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, multiple regression) statistics with the aid of Version 22 of the Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS). The study revealed that the visual learning style was most dominantly preferred (M = 3.88, SD = 0.62), followed by kinesthetic (M = 3.67, SD = 0.72), and auditory (M = 3.58, SD = 0.66) learning styles. It was again discovered that public junior high school pupils frequently practiced homework and assignment (M = 3.38, SD = 0.61), than reading and note-taking (M = 3.27, SD = 0.40), time management (M = 3.23, SD = 0.64), examinations (M = 3.19, SD = 0.65), and concentration (M = 3.15, SD = 0.66) related study habits. Besides, it was established that generally there was a strong and statistically significant positive relationship between learning styles preferences of pupils‟ and academic achievement (r = 0.861, p = 0.000, 2-tailed). Furthermore, the study showed that study habits are good predictors of pupil‟s academic achievement where it accounted for a significant 5.9% in pupil‟s academic achievement. Therefore, it was recommended that the Effutu Municipal Education Directorate should collaborate with school guidance and counseling coordinators to plan and execute academic programmes such as workshops and seminars to expose teachers to adopt and practice instructional pedagogies to meet the varied learning style preferences and study habits of pupil‟s so as to boost their academic achievement.