Learning Styles and College Readiness of Philippine K-12 Graduates

Abstract

Learning styles are crucial in determining students' increased academic achievement. Nevertheless, despite the vast amount of empirical research that has examined how learning styles relate to academic preparation and success, studies still need to be undertaken on how learning styles are linked to the preparedness of Philippine K-12 graduates for college life. Thus, the study determined the K-12 graduates' learning styles, examined their college readiness, and ascertained the significant difference in their college readiness when grouped according to their learning styles. Using descriptive-comparative design and 7,384 first-year students (2925 males, 4459 females) enrolled at a public Philippine university for the Academic Year (AY) 2019–2020, it was found that the Philippine K-12 graduates have a neutral learning style, which reflects their lack of a specific or focused learning style responsive to developing certain learning competencies. Also, the K-12 graduates were collegeunready as they fell short of demonstrating acceptable competencies defined by the College Readiness Standards (CRS). Remarkably, the study has established that college readiness significantly varies in terms of learning styles. In particular, the K-12 graduates who are social-conceptual learners are more college ready than those who exhibit independent, neutral, and social learning styles. Lastly, implications to basic and higher education instructional practices were presented based on the study findings.