A Study on The Learning Style Preferences of Undergraduate Quantity Surveying Students in The Malaysian University

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-666-6_14How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Learning Style; Quantity Surveying; Visual; Kinaesthetic

Abstract

The growing demand for Quantity Surveying (QS) professionals in Malaysia underscores the need for effective educational strategies to produce competent graduates. However, current mismatches between teaching methods and students’ learning styles have led to dissatisfaction among employers. This research aims to identify the learning style preferences of undergraduate QS students at a private Malaysian university. A literature review identified the four learning styles of the VARK model (Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinaesthetic) and their relevance across various fields of study, alongside factors influencing learning and key QS courses. An online questionnaire was distributed to 148 QS students to collect data on their learning style preferences. The results indicate that Visual learning is the most preferred style, with a mean rank of 5.74, followed by Kinaesthetic (mean rank of 5.69). Auditory and Read/Write styles are less favored and show more consistency across academic years. Statistically significant differences were found: Visual and Kinaesthetic preferences differed between academic years. The study explored how undergraduate Quantity Surveying (QS) students’ learning styles impact their performance in Measurement of Building Works, Professional Practice and Procedure (PPP), and Estimating. Using Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient, positive correlations were found for all learning styles—Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinaesthetic. Kinaesthetic learning correlated most strongly with success in Measurement of Building Works and Estimating, due to the practical nature of these subjects. The Read/Write style showed the highest correlation with performance in PPP, emphasizing the role of textual materials. These results highlight the benefit of aligning teaching methods with students’ learning preferences to improve academic outcomes. These findings suggest that aligning teaching methods with students’ Visual and Kinaesthetic preferences can enhance academic performance. The study provides a reference for educators to tailor their strategies and for industry and government bodies to develop training programs that better align with students’ learning styles. Future research should involve a larger sample and explore additional factors, such as parental education and cultural influences, to further refine educational approaches and support diverse learning needs.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - K. T. Ooi
AU  - S. W. Loo
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/03/17
TI  - A Study on The Learning Style Preferences of Undergraduate Quantity Surveying Students in The Malaysian University
BT  - Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Business, Accounting, Finance and Economics (BAFE 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 236
EP  - 255
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-666-6_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-666-6_14
ID  - Ooi2025
ER  -