A Comparison of Learning Styles and Study Strategies Used by Low and High Math Achieving Brunei Secondary School Students: Implications for Teaching

The survey assessed the learning styles and study strategies used by 135 randomly selected Brunei secondary school students and compared them by educational level, math ability, and gender. Junior students (Forms 1-3) rely heavily on the use of the written-expressive learning style than their senior counterparts (Forms 4-5). In addition, the more able math students dominantly use the auditory-language learning style than their less able peers. Furthermore, high math achievers were better and more efficient users of the text book reading, note-taking, and memory study strategies than low achievers. Moreover, female students were more effective and superior users of the visual-language and auditory-visual-kinesthetic learning styles including the text book reading, note-taking, memory, test preparation, and concentration study strategies. These are perhaps some of the reasons why females perform better at math than males. Overall, the findings seem to have wide-ranging implications for teaching students with high support needs in mathematics.