Increasing academic performance: The role of learning preferences
Individually, general cognitive ability, personality, and learning preferences predict academic performance. However, the way these variables interact with one another in the prediction of performance remains unknown. According to Furnham, learning preferences could moderate the relationship between general cognitive ability and academic performance and the relationship between personality and academic performance. The purpose of this study is to empirically test this proposition. To do so, the results of 192 university students at several questionnaires (Wonderlic Test for personnel, NEO PI-3, Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory) have been linked to different performance measures. Results suggest that only the preference for active experiment would moderate the relationship between conscientiousness and academic performance. In other words, conscientious students obtain better scores at the final examination when they prefer to learn by active experimentation. The implications for Furnham’s model as well as empirical fallouts from this study will be discussed.