Which Factors Affect Learner Achievement? Analysing the Role of Psychological, Surface Level, Environmental and Learner Effort Variables

Abstract

The meshing hypothesis of learning styles suggests that matching teaching and learning styles
can promote learning experience. In this research, learning styles (psychological variable),
gender diversity (surface level variable), learning modes (environmental variable), and
learning time (learner effort variable) were integrated in a model in order to explore their
pedagogical impacts on learner performance. The investigated learning environments adopted
the traditional teaching approach of ‘one-size-fits-all’. Variables of 59 undergraduate students
were measured using the Index of Learning Styles (ILS), an academic record, and a log file of
Moodle system. Based on the proposed model, the identified hypotheses were quantitatively
analysed. Surface level, environmental, and learner effort variables showed to have a
significant effect on learner performance. However, the meshing hypothesis could not be
proven. This suggests that other variables are more likely to influence achievement than
learning styles.