Cognitive and learning styles of the faculty of engineering and technology students: University of Botswana

This study was conducted to determine whether University of Botswana admissions criteria and students learning styles were predictors of academic performance and degree completion at the Faculty of Engineering and Technology. Field dependence/field independence is a dimension of cognitive style that influences students learning styles. The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to 77 University of Botswana second year engineering and technology students. The students' Grade Point Average score and the Group Embedded Figures Test were used for analysis to determine students' achievement scores against their cognitive learning styles. SPSS was used in the analysis stage. The results indicate that the Faculty of Engineering and Technology attracts the right calibre of students as the majority of them were highly field independent (analytic), but their academic performance in terms of the Grade Point Average was rather moderate due to a number of factors, such as lack of motivation. © 2012 WIETE.