Estilos de aprendizagem e rendimento acadêmico em avaliações formativas e somativas na graduação em contabilidade

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess the impact of learning styles on the academic performance of undergraduate Accounting students in terms of formative and summative assessments. In order to identify the learning styles of these individuals, the questionnaire called Index of Learning Styles (ILS) by Felder and Soloman (1991) was used, which contains forty-four questions with two options each, resulting in a total of eleven questions for each dimension. Eighty-three students from the fifth and sixth period classes participated in this questionnaire, enrolled in the subjects of Advanced Accounting and Accounting Theory, from the Accounting Sciences course of a federal public institution in Minas Gerais. The identification of learning styles and their relationship with the students' characteristics contribute to a better knowledge of the subject, being able to direct the teaching strategies and practices in accordance with the identified profiles, in addition to enabling the agents involved, that is, institution, student and teacher, rethink their roles so that the goals of the entire teaching-learning process are achieved. The results point to evidence that learning styles impact academic performance in different assessment modalities, since the performance of students in summative and formative assessment modalities varies according to the learning style. However, the results should be treated with caution, as a confirmatory and/or cause-and-effect analysis was not performed.