Assessment of the relationship between thinking styles and learning styles with academic performance in medical and nursing students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences

BACKGROUND: Learning and studying approaches are among the topics of great importance in medical sciences universities. Different approaches to learning can explain why some students learn better than others. This study aims to assess the relationship between learning or thinking styles and academic performance among nursing and medical students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a quantitative and cross-sectional study that was conducted on 364 nursing and medical students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2022-2023. The tools used in the present study are as follows: the short version of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, the Sternberg-Wagner Thinking Styles Inventory, the Academic Performance Index including the semester grade point average and the overall grade point average. Descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation were employed for data analysis. Moreover, inferential statistics such as normality or correlation coefficient, independent sample t-test, and regression analysis were used to determine the predictor coefficients. RESULTS: A positive and significant correlation was found between nursing and medical students' thinking or learning styles and their academic performance (P < 0.001). In addition, the two groups showed a statistically significant difference between learning styles with respect to gender (P < 0.001) and thinking styles (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Since the strategic approach is a predictor of academic performance, identifying and determining the types of approaches adopted by students using diagnostic evaluation is a method of evaluating students' learning styles at the beginning of the educational process so that teachers can tailor the most effective approach and instructional strategies that suit the needs of students and improve academic performance.