Learning Style Preferences And Perceptions Of Undergraduate Nursing Students Upon Applying Web- Based Learning Modules

Background: In the face of severe faculty shortages in constrained countries' resource-, electronic learning (elearning) was providing the chance for improving access to nursing education. Utilization of elearning can result in greater educational opportunities for students, and enhancing faculty effectiveness and efficiency. Learning styles could be unique to every individual. Therefore, it is essential to expose learners to different methods of teaching and learning to promote the learning process. Web-based learning is a good method that encompasses a variety of educational approaches, such as simulation and basic problem solving combined with tutorial support. It also provides multiple self-assessment opportunities to allow students explore their level of understanding. Objective: The study aimed to describe the undergraduate nursing students' learning style preferences and perceptions upon applying web based learning modules. Study design: cross-sectional study was used. Subjects and sampling: Undergraduate 4 th level who were registered at community health nursing in the second term during the academic year 2015-2016 by using convenient sampling technique. Setting: The study took place at the Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura University. Tools: the first tool was a selfadministered demographic characteristics and learning style assessment was used. The learning style was assessed by adopting VARK questionnaire that was developed by Fleming (2008) to identify students learning style. The second tool was a scale developed to assess students' perception. This 4points likert scale starts with "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree", to obtain the undergraduate students' perception toward Webbased learning after applying the developed modules. The perception assessment included open ended questions to identify challenges that students have faced with webbased learning and any other negative feedback . Results: The study revealed that 29.1% of students preferred aural learning style. The majority (81.8%)of them strongly agreed that web based leaning offers the opportunities to self-learn and 85% recommended applying of web based learning in all courses. Conclusion: The main conclusion drawn from the current study is that the majority of the undergraduate students strongly agreed on the combination of traditional learning methods and Web based learning. They strongly agreed that Web based learning modules covered students learning style preferences. The majority of students preferred the mixed learning style.