The learning style preference of Master in Education (TESL) students / Dickie Gayok

Education has been the main human activity for survival ever since. Some people are fortunate to study continuously as the examination results augur well for them to continue and some are unable to continue because they could not afford to study as places offered were limited at the same there were no facilities to cater for the growing needs of education for higher learning. Fortunately, as years passed learning institution became more developed with the opportunities to study were made available and adult learners began to take the golden opportunities to continue their study. The purpose and objectives of the study are to investigate the approaches in learning and what motivate adults to learn again and to determine the learning styles preference of these adult learners. The study is confined to about 40 adult learners pursuing a Master Degree program in education as part time students at University Technology Mara who wished to further their study at master’s level to improve themselves, self-satisfaction, gain more knowledge, for better chance of promotion, increase in pay and in tandem with modem development. Rogers (1989).
The research method used for this study is both quantitative and qualitative as questionnaires from Gibbs et al as cited by Nunan (1999) and Felder and Brent (2005) on approaches in learning and Honey and Mumford LSI (1992) on learning style preference are used to illicit information from the respondents. Beside that, the respondents are being interviewed using interview questions of Gottfredson, (2006).The study from both the questionnaires and the interview questions revealed that 75 % of the respondent agreed to learn again because of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In learning style preference, the results depicted that about 57% were pragmatist followed by 17.5% reflectors and 12.5% for both activists and theorists.
In conclusion, as far as learning is concerned, it should not stop but should continue as a life long learner and everyone who is interested should be given the opportunity to study and do research on their own field of interest to benefit the society. The style of learning be known by students and be exploited to the benefits of the students and the society.