The Comparison in Learning Styles between Natural Science Students of Junior High School and Biology Students of Senior High Schools in Malang

Abstract

Learning styles, according to some experts, are divided into three types, namely auditory, kinesthetic, and visual. Many researches related to learning styles have been conducted by some researchers, but there has not been any research investigating the comparison between students’ learning styles at different class levels. This research is a qualitative research investigating the percentage of learning styles at different class levels. The research subjects were the students of class VII and class VIII of Junior High School Muhammadiyah 1 Malang, and the students of class X and class XI of Senior High School Muhammadiyah 1 Malang. The data were analyzed descriptively. The results of the research showed that the comparison of the percentage of learning styles of auditory, kinesthetic, and visual in class VII was 36.67%, 30.00% and 33.33%, in class VIII 13.34%, 33.33% and 53.33%, in class X 31.58%, 23.68 %, and 44.74%, and in class XI 61.54%, 15.38% and 23.08%. The auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learning styles of junior high school students were 25.00%, 31.67% and 43.33% respectively, and those of senior high school students were 46.56%, 19.53% and 33.91% respectively. The auditory learning style of senior high school students is 86.20% higher than that of junior high school students, while the kinesthetic learning style was 62.13% lower than that of the junior high school students, and the visual learning style of senior high school students was also 27.78% lower than that of junior high school students. Further research on the learning styles of students at the other grade levels are still required, as well as in elementary school level to obtain more information related to students' learning styles.