PROCEEDINGS JOURNAL OF EDUCATION,

PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Open Access
ISSN 2423-1924
Presented in
2nd International Conference in Education, Psychology, and Social Science (ICEPSS)
International Research Enthusiast Society Inc. (IRES Inc.)
May 22-23, 2015

Learning Styles And Mathematics Performance Of Grade Eight Students In Los Baños Integrated School,
S.Y. 2014-2015
1 2 3
Joydy-Lenn L. Camposano , Ariane M. Villanueva , Alberto D. Yazon
1,2
BSEd IV-A Math
3
Thesis Adviser & Instructor III
College of Teacher Education
Laguna State Polytechnic University
Los Baños Campus, Los Baños, Laguna

Abstract
This research aimed to determine the relationship between students’ learning styles of grade eight students and their
mathematics performance during the 1st quarter in Los Baños Integrated School, Los Baños, Laguna.
The instrument used in this study is the Learning Style inventory questionnaire adapted from Dr. John Golden, a Michigan
math professor and proprietor of the MathHombre blog and based from the learning styles of Harvey Silver. The questionnaire
is divided into two parts: the first part is the respondent’s profile which consists of name and sex then the second part is the
items which consist of 10 items for each learning style: Mastery, Interpersonal, Understanding and Self-expressive
respectively.
The instrument, learning style inventory questionnaire, was administered to 187 randomly selected respondents. Male
respondents are greater than the female respondents having 95 and 92 respondents respectively. They are chosen through
“draw-lots” or fishbowl technique.
The data gathered from the questionnaires are analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics such as frequency count
and percentage distribution and inferential statistics including Chi-square test (non-parametric) to determine the relationship
between the independent and dependent variables.
The students who belong to mastery learning style consist of 53 or 28.34% is the highest learning style of all the respondents.
Under the level of performance in mathematics, the dominant level is the developing level in which the student at this level
possesses the minimum knowledge and skills and core understandings, but needs help throughout the performance of
authentic tasks.
A chi-square test was utilized to analyze if there is a significant relationship between respondent’s learning styles and level of
performance in mathematics. The study revealed that there is no significant relationship between the variables, the degree of
freedom is 16 computed from the formula, the Computed X2 – value is 16.984 and the tabular X2 – value at .05 level of
significance is 20.30. Therefore, the hypothesis stating that there is no significant relationship between Grade eight students’
learning styles and their mathematics performance is accepted.
Similar studies need to be conducted to further measure the associations of learning styles and students’ mathematical
performance of other variables which were not included in this study. Moreover, conduct seminars and trainings for students to
enhance students’ learning styles towards mathematics.

Keywords: Learning Style Mathematics Performance

Joydy-Lenn L. Camposano*, Ariane M. Villanueva, Alberto D. Yazon

adyazon_13@yahoo.com
Paper Reference Number: AP14EF93
*Corresponding Author

© 2015 The Authors

Peer review under the responsibility of International Research Enthusiast Society Inc.

Electroniccopy
Electronic copyavailable
available at:
at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104716
https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104716
 Joydy-Lenn L. Camposano, Ariane M. Villanueva, Alberto D. Yazon
Paper Reference Number: AP14EF93
ISSN 2423-1924

Introduction
In the Philippines, teachers commonly observed that students’ level of achievements are getting deteriorated
especially in Mathematics, Science and English and in other fields of studies. It was actually observed that in a
class of 50 students, only twenty-five percent of them have very satisfactory achievement and thirty percent are
only satisfactory. This observation was based on the actual performance of secondary students who came from
remote schools between the years 2004 to present (Carbonel, 2013 Vol. 2).

Learning takes place in several ways such as learning styles, experiences and trainings. Learning styles has
been a great consideration among educators in finding the solutions in deterioration of academic performance.

Learning means something different to everyone. As learners, they get excited about different things, they prefer
to learn and be assessed in different ways, and they are comfortable with different kinds of thinking. In other
words, they all have different styles of learning (Silver, 2009).

Carl Gustav Jung, one of the founding fathers of modern psychology, discovered that the way which learners
process and assess information tend to be developed into certain types of personality. After several years, Briggs
and Myers expanded it as well as other educational researchers across the globe and put learning styles in the
classrooms.

Learning style is the way individuals begin to concentrate on, process, internalize and retain new and difficult
information (Dunn, 2000). Students learn in a society of ways, and their ability to attain this information also varies
(Carbonel, 2013 Vol. 2).

The distinction of the individuality of students can be illustrated by the diversity of their test scores are comparable
but their experiences varied (Kopsovich, 2001). Each learner has his own uniqueness and possesses a certain
type of knowledge. Each learner has his own way to process information and carries personal experiences which
are relevant to his learning. As a result, learner develops learning styles that can be enhanced and emphasized a
particular learning ability which is different from the others and will become a factor of their performance mainly in
Mathematics arena.

Out of their work, Harvey Silver, Ed Thomas, and Matthew Perini identified their four mathematical learning styles.
Mastery learners want to learn practical information and set procedures; Interpersonal learners want to learn math
through dialogue, collaboration, and cooperative learning; Understanding learners want to understand why the
math they learn works; and Self-Expressive learners want to use their imagination to explore mathematical ideas
(Silver, Thomas, and Perini 2003).
Align with this, evaluation of learners’ learning styles is the focal point and motivations of this study particularly
their academic strengths and performance most especially in the field of mathematics.

This study aimed to determine the relationship between learning styles of grade eight students and their
st
mathematics performance during the 1 quarter in Los Baños Integrated School S.Y. 2014-2015.

Specifically, the researchers wanted to know the learning styles of the student-respondents and their respective
mathematics performance and if these have relationship with each other.
This study sought to answer the following questions:
1. What is the sex distribution of the Grade eight students in Los Baños Integrated School?
2. What are the learning styles of the Grade eight students in Los Baños Integrated School?
3. What are the mathematics performance of Grade eight students with the following learning styles:
Mastery; Interpersonal; Understanding; and Self-expressive
4. Is there a significant relationship between Grade eight students’ learning styles and their mathematics
performance?

Materials and Methods

This study employed the descriptive-correlational research design. The respondents of this study were the 187
grade eight students of Los Baños Integrated School S.Y. 2014-2015 who were randomly chosen using
multistage sampling technique. The main instrument used in this study was the Learning Style inventory
questionnaire adapted from Dr. John Golden, a Michigan math professor and proprietor of the MathHombre blog

© 2015 The Authors 104

Peer review under the responsibility of International Research Enthusiast Society Inc.

Electroniccopy
Electronic copyavailable
available at:
at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104716
https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104716
 Joydy-Lenn L. Camposano, Ariane M. Villanueva, Alberto D. Yazon
Paper Reference Number: AP14EF93
ISSN 2423-1924

and based from the learning styles of Harvey Silver. The questionnaire is divided into two parts: the first part is the
respondent’s profile which consists of name and sex then the second part is the items which consist of 10 items
for each learning style: Mastery, Interpersonal, Understanding and Self-expressive respectively. This
questionnaire is subjected to validation and approval of the expert (construct/content validity and reliability).The
researchers gathered the grade eight student-respondents’ first quarter grades in mathematics during the S.Y.
2014-2015.

This study used summation in determining the learning style of a student. There were 10 items in each learning
style and the points in each item were summed up to get the total points for that particular learning style. This was
also being done to the other learning styles. Upon obtaining the total points of each learning style, the highest
total of points among the four was the students’ preferred learning style. The grade classifications used in this
were based on the Grading System of k-12 Program of the Department of Education.

Frequency counts, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test and Pearson r were used as statistical
tools to treat the gathered data.

Results and Discussion

Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage distribution of the student-respondents.
Table 1. Frequency and Percentage Distributions of Student-Respondents
Section Male Female Sample size
F % f %
Lucena 16 16.84 7 7.61 23
Tayabas 12 12.63 13 14.13 25
Lipa 15 15.79 10 10.87 25
Tanauan 13 13.68 10 10.87 23
Sta. Rosa 15 15.79 6 6.52 21
Calamba 8 8.42 13 14.13 21
San Pablo 11 11.58 12 13.04 23
Dasmariñas 5 5.26 21 22.83 26
TOTAL 95 100% 92 100% 187

Based on the results in Table 1, the 187 student-respondents were proportionally represented by eight sections of
Grade 8 students. There are 23 students each in Lucena, Tanauan, and San Pablo. Tayabas and Lipa contained
25 students each. Sta. Rosa and Calamba have 21 students each while Dasmariñas has 26 student-respondents.

Table 2 presents the frequency and percentage distributions of student-respondents’ learning styles.
Table 2. Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Respondents’ Learning Styles
Learning Style f %
Mastery 53 28.34
Interpersonal 26 13.9
Understanding 43 22.99
Self-Expressive 41 21.93
Multi-Learning Styles 24 12.83
Total 187 100%
The students who belong to mastery learning style consist of 53 or 28.34%, interpersonal 26 or 13.9%,
understanding 43 or 22.99%, self-expressive 41 or 21.93%, and for multi-learning styles 24 or 12.83% with a total
of 187 respondents.
Table 3 describes the frequency distributions of the respondent’s level of mathematics performance according to
their learning style.
Table 3. Frequency Distributions of the Respondent’s Level of Performance According to their Learning Style
Level of Performance
Learning Styles Total
B D AP P A
Mastery 5 18 15 11 4 53
Interpersonal 2 11 7 5 1 26
Understanding 8 18 8 7 2 43
Self-Expressive 5 18 12 3 3 41
Multi-Learning Styles 0 6 7 7 4 24
Total 20 71 49 33 14 187

© 2015 The Authors 105

Peer review under the responsibility of International Research Enthusiast Society Inc.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104716

 Joydy-Lenn L. Camposano, Ariane M. Villanueva, Alberto D. Yazon
Paper Reference Number: AP14EF93
ISSN 2423-1924

There are five (5) learners who belong to mastery learning style considered as beginning, 18 learners as
developing, 15 learners as approaching proficiency, 11 learners as proficient, and 4 learners as advance
proficient. For interpersonal learning style, there are 2 learners considered as beginning, 11 learners as
developing, 7 learners as approaching proficiency, 5 learners as proficient, and 1 learner as advance proficient.
For understanding learning style, there are 8 learners considered as beginning, 18 learners as developing, 8
learners as approaching proficiency, 7 learners as proficient, and 2 learners as advance proficient. For self-
expressive learning style, there are 5 learners considered as beginning, 18 learners as developing, 12 learners as
approaching proficiency, 3 learners as proficient, and 3 learners as advance proficient. For those who have multi-
learning styles, none of them are considered as beginning but there are 6 learners considered as developing, 7
learners as approaching proficiency, 7 learners as proficient, and 4 learners as advance proficient.

This means that the dominant learning style is Mastery because it has a total of 53 learners and the dominant
mathematics performance is Developing which consists of 71 learners.

Table 4 shows the chi-square analysis on the relationship between respondent’s learning styles and level of
performance in mathematics.

Table 4. Chi-Square Analysis on the Relationship Between Respondent’s Learning Styles and Level of
Performance in Mathematics
Variables Df Computed Tabular Decision Remarks
2 2
X – value X – value @ 0.05
Learning Styles
16 16.984 20.30 Accept null hypothesis Not significant
Level of Performance in Mathematics

2 2
The computed X – value is 16.984 and the tabular X – value at .05 level of significance with 16 as the degree of
2 2
freedom is 20.30. Since the computed X - value is less than the tabular X – value, the null hypothesis on this
study is accepted. Therefore, there is no significant relationship between students’ learning styles and their
mathematics performance.

Summary Conclusion and Recommendation

Learning styles has been a great consideration among educators in finding the solutions in deterioration of
academic performances especially in the field of mathematics. This study has the following objectives: to know
the learning styles of the students and their respective mathematics performance and to determine if there exist a
relationship between students’ learning styles and their mathematics performance. This research relied on the
four learning styles of Dr. Harvey Silver and colleagues namely: Mastery, Interpersonal, Understanding, and self-
expressive learning styles. The instrument, learning style inventory questionnaire, was administered to 187
randomly selected respondents. This also showed that male respondents are greater that female ones. They are
chosen through “draw-lots” or fishbowl technique.

As for the data analysis, descriptive statistics portrayed through frequency counts, percentage and inferential
statistics was also used and conducted to see whether students’ learning styles has a significant relationship with
their mathematics performance. The students who belong to mastery learning style consist of 53 or 28.34% is
the highest learning style of all the respondents. Under the level of performance in mathematics, the dominant
level is the developing level in which the student at this level possesses the minimum knowledge and skills and
core understandings, but needs help throughout the performance of authentic tasks. Through chi-square analysis,
the relationship between respondent’s learning styles and level of performance in mathematics is determined.
2 2
The degree of freedom is 16 computed from the formula, the Computed X – value is 16.984 and the Tabular X –
value at .05 level of significance is 20.30.

Conclusion
Therefore, the null hypothesis is therefore accepted because it revealed that there is no significant relationship
between learning styles and mathematics performance.

Recommendations
Based from the study, the following are recommended by the researchers:

© 2015 The Authors 106

Peer review under the responsibility of International Research Enthusiast Society Inc.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104716

 Joydy-Lenn L. Camposano, Ariane M. Villanueva, Alberto D. Yazon
Paper Reference Number: AP14EF93
ISSN 2423-1924

1. The teachers must be aware of the learning styles of their students in order to have an effective teaching
strategy.
2. Students must be aware of their learning styles so that they may be used it to enhance their learning
capabilities in mathematics.
3. Teaching strategies of the teacher must be matched with the learning styles of the students.
4. For future researchers, they should study about the relationship of teaching strategies to learning styles
of the students.

References:
Electronic resources
Published thesis
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Carbonel, L. (2013, August). Learning styles, study habits, and academic performance of college students at Kalinga-Apayao
State College, Philippines, Volume 2 no. 8. Retrieved July 11, 2014, from
http://www.academia.edu/5450640/learning_styles_study_habits_and_academic_performance_of_college_students_at
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Günes,C. (2004, September). Learning style preferences of preparatory school Students at Gazi University. Retrieved July 10,
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Montemayor, et.al. (2009, June). Learning Styles of high and low academic achieving freshman teacher education
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Joaquin,et.al. (2008, December). Goal modification, learning styles, and achievement in mathematics. Retrieved July 11,
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Online Journals
Cliffnotes Psychology. (n.d.). Descriptive-correlational research.Retrieved July 28, 2014, from
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http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/jungprofile.htm

Unpublished thesis
Molato, J. (2014, April). Learning styles, Achievement and attitude towards mathematics among fourth year students of
Balibago National High Schoolc city of Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Tubal, L. (2014, April). Correlation between learning styles and mean percentage scores (MPS) in the national achievement
test in mathematics of grade seven students in public secondary schools in the distinct of Los Baños

Book
Corpus, B. & Salandanan, G. (2013). Principles of Teaching I. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, INC.

Website
http://mathhombre.blogspot.com/2010/10/mathematical-learning-inventory.html

© 2015 The Authors 107

Peer review under the responsibility of International Research Enthusiast Society Inc.

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3104716