Learning Styles and Performance in Generic Competencies at the Higher Education Level

Abstract

Nowadays, the great diversity of students in universities is a very important factor to consider guaranteeing a high-quality education. According to theories of academic authors, such as the experiential learning theory in the 70s by David A. Kolb, students have different learning preferences.

This study presents conceptions about the role of learning styles as an aspect articulated with generic competencies in higher education. Its objective is to solve questions such as "What are the learning styles that favor the development of generic competencies in higher education students?" and as a subordinate question: What is the relationship between learning styles and the development of generic competencies in higher education students? 

In this way, a number of 1885 students from a university in Colombia, who were given Kolb's learning styles instrument and who have also taken a series of tests to measure the development of generic competencies (Written Communication, Quantitative Reasoning, Critical Reading and Citizenship Competencies), are linked with the intention of observing and analyzing these two variables (Learning Styles vs. Generic Competencies) in the present study.