The Relationship between Felder-Silverman Learning Styles and Students’ Performance in Theoretical and Architectural Design Courses

Ahmadi, Mohammad Azad; Maarefi, Azadeh; Tayyebi, Amir; Momeni, Kourosh

doi:10.22034/aaud.2023.394397.2789

The Relationship between Felder-Silverman Learning Styles and Students’ Performance in Theoretical and Architectural Design Courses

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mohammad Azad Ahmadi ¹

Azadeh Maarefi ²

Amir Tayyebi ³

Kourosh Momeni ⁴

¹ Assistant Professor of Architecture Department, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran (Corresponding Author).

² Ph.D. Student in Architecture, Member of Construction Engineering System Organization of Kurdistan Province, Sanandaj, Iran.

³ Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Jundi-Shapur University of Technology, Dezful, Iran.

⁴ Associate Professor of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Jundi-Shapur University of Technology, Dezful, Iran.

10.22034/aaud.2023.394397.2789

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between learning styles and students’ performance in theoretical courses and architectural design workshops based on one of the theories related to the learning style that belongs to “Felder and Silverman”. The theoretical base on Felder-Silverman's theory is based on the dual processing structure of the brain that consists of two left and right hemispheres. They have used a dichotomy five-dimension scale that embraces perception (sensing-intuitive), processing (active-reflective), input (visual-verbal), organization (inductive-deductive), and understanding (sequential-global) dimensions. Two types of tests are considered to examine the relationship between performance and learning styles the first one classifies students in learning styles based on the Felder-Soloman questionnaire, and the second one examines and compares students’ performance in architectural design workshops and theoretical courses. Participants are chosen among juniors (first-year students) and seniors (fourth or last-year students). This study showed that the number of seniors has significantly exceeded the number of juniors in intuitive, visual, and global styles. According to the appraisal of students' performance, juniors had the best performance in Architectural Design Basics 1 based on the reflective and visual styles, and seniors had the best performance in the Architectural Design 4 course based on global, visual, and reflective styles. Moreover, juniors showed the best performance in the Construction Materials course-that is mainly textual and pamphlet-based- based on the verbal and reflective styles, and seniors showed the best performance in the Introduction to Islamic Architecture 2 course-that is descriptive and PowerPoint presentation-based- with visual and sensing style.

Keywords

Architectural Design Teaching

Theoretical Courses Teaching

Felder-Silverman Learning Styles

Students’ Performance

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