Attached or not attached: Does different learning styles exist among students with or without sense of belonging amidst covid-19?

Abstract

This study was about peer attachment and learning styles being moderated by a sense of belonging among students during the COVID-19 era. Using an analytical cross-sectional survey design, 284 final-year undergraduates were selected through stratified-proportionate and convenient sampling procedures. Data was gathered from the respondents using Learning Preference Scale (Owens & Straton, 1980), Adolescent Friendship Attachment Scale (Wilkinson, 2008) and Psychological Sense of School Membership (Goodenow, 1993). The data was analysed using descriptive (Frequencies and Percentages) and inferential statistics (Multivariate Multiple Regression, Simple Moderation with Hayes Process Macro and Multivariate Analysis of Variance).The study revealed that most students engaged in less peer attachment, felt less sense of belonging while secure attachment predicted the individual learning style of students. Furthermore, secure attachment and anxious attachments predicted the cooperative learning style of students while anxious attachment and avoidant attachment predicted the competitive learning style of students. Further, a sense of belonging moderated not peer attachment and learning styles of students, while no significant differences were found between male and female students in terms of peer attachment, learning styles, and sense of belonging. Therefore, it was recommended that students should practice individual learning styles most often but could collaborate with a few colleagues in some academic situations during this period of COVID-19. This is to help foster closeness and belongingness among the students.

Keywords

• Peer Attachment
• Learning Styles
• Sense of Belonging

References

1. Agormedah, E. K., Henaku, E. A., Ayite, D. M. K., & Ansah, E. A. (2020). Online learning in higher education during COVID-19 pandemic: A case of Ghana. Journal of Educational Technology and Online Learning, 3(3), 183-210.
2. Alkhasawneh, I. M., Mrayyan, M. T., Docherty, C., Alashram, S., & Yousef, H. Y. (2008). Problem-based learning (PBL): Assessing students’ learning preferences using VARK. Nurse Education Today, 28(5), 572-579.
3. Allen, J. P., Grande, L., Tan, J., & Loeb, E. (2018). Parent and peer predictors of change in attachment security from adolescence to adulthood. Child Development, 89(4), 1120-1132.
4. Amir, R., Jelas, M.J., & Rahman, S. (2011). Learning styles of university students: Implications for teaching and learning. World Applied Sciences Journal, 14, 22-26.
5. Anderson, R. M., Heesterbeek, H., Klinkenberg, D., & Hollingsworth, T. D. (2020). How will country-based mitigation measures influence the course of the COVID-19 epidemic? The Lancet, 395(10228), 931-934.
6. Azarkhordad, F., & Mehdinezhad, V. (2016). Explaining the students’ learning styles based on Grasha-Riechmann’s student learning styles. Journal of Administrative Management, Education and Training, 12(6), 241-247.
7. Baneshi, A.R., Dehghan Tezerjani, M., & Mokhtarpour, H. (2014). Grasha-Richmann college students’ learning styles of classroom participation: Role of gender and major. Journal of Advances in Medical Education & Professionalism, 2(3), 103–107.
8. Banks, D. M., & Weems, C. F. (2014). Family and peer social support and their links to psychological distress among hurricane-exposed minority youth. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(4), 341.

9. Banna, M. H. A., Sayeed, A., Kundu, S., Christopher, E., Hasan, M. T., Begum, M. R., ... & Khan, M. S. I. (2020). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the adult population in Bangladesh: A nationwide cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 1-12.
10. Barker, L. J., McDowell, C., & Kalahar, K. (2009). Exploring factors that influence computer science introductory course students to persist in the major. ACM Sigcse Bulletin, 41(1), 153-157.
11. Berg, B. L. (2004). Methods for the social sciences: Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Boston: Pearson Education. Blankstein, M., Frederick, J. K., & Wolff-Eisenberg, C. (2020). Student experiences during the pandemic pivot. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.313461.
12. Charalampous, K., Demetriou, C., Tricha, L., Ioannou, M., Georgiou, S., Nikiforou, M., & Stavrinides, P. (2018). The effect of parental style on bullying and cyber bullying behaviors and the mediating role of peer attachment relationships: A longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescence, 64, 109-123.
13. Chick, N. (2010). Learning styles. Vanderbilt University Centre for Teaching. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/learning-styles-preferences/.
14. Di Girolamo, N., & Mans, C. (2019). Research study design. Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine Current Therapy, 9, 59–62. doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-55228-8.00011-4.
15. Duran, A., Dahl, L., Stipeck, C., & Mayhew, M. (2020). A critical quantitative analysis of students’ sense of belonging: Perspectives on race, generation status, and collegiate environments. Journal of College Student Development, 61(2), 133–153.
16. Elmer, T., Mepham, K., & Stadtfeld, C. (2020). Students under lockdown: Comparisons of students’ social networks and mental health before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Switzerland. Plos one, 15(7), e0236337.
17. Fisher, A. T., Sonn, C. C., & Bishop, B. J. (2002). Psychological sense of community: Research, applications, and implications. Springer Science & Business Media.
18. Good, C., Rattan, A., Dweck, C. S. (2012). Why do women opt out? Sense of belonging and women’s representation in mathematics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 700–717.
19. Goodenow, C. (1993). Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: Relationships to motivation and achievement. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 13(1), 21-43.
20. Goodenow, C. (1993). The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates. Psychology in the Schools, 30(1), 79-90.
21. Gorrese, A., & Ruggieri, R. (2012). Peer attachment: A meta-analytic review of gender and age differences and associations with parent attachment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(5), 650-672.
22. Grasha, A. F. (1996). An integrated model of teaching and learning style: A practical guide to enhancing learning by understanding teaching and learning styles. San Bernardino, Calif: Alliance Publishers.
23. Guarnieri, S., Ponti, L., & Tani, F. (2010). The inventory of parent and peer attachment (IPPA): A study on the validity of styles of adolescent attachment to parents and peers in an Italian sample. TPM-Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 17, 103–130.
24. Gullone, E., & Robinson, K. (2005). The Inventory Of Parent And Peer Attachment-Revised (IPPA-R) for children: A psychometric investigation. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 12, 67–79.
25. Hamidah, J. S., Sarina, M. N., & Jusoff, K. (2009). The social interaction learning styles of science and social science students. Asian Social Science, 5(7), 58-65.
26. Henaku, E. A. (2020). COVID-19 online learning experience of college students: The case of Ghana. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Sciences and Advanced Technology, 1(2), 54-62.
27. Henrich, C. C., Sidney, J. B., Kuperminc, G. P., Zohar, A., & Leadbeater. (2001). Levels of interpersonal concerns and social functioning in early adolescent boys and girls. Journal of Personality Assessment, 76, 48–67.
28. Jacobite, D., & Hazen, N. (1999). Developmental pathways from infant disorganization to childhood peer relationships. New York: Milford Press.
29. Kesmodel, U. S. (2018). Cross-sectional studies – what are they good for? Acta Obstet Gynaecological Scand, 97, 388–393.
30. Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Buckley, J. A., Bridges, B. K., & Hayek, J. C. (2006). What matters to student success: A review of the literature. National Postsecondary Education Cooperative. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/npec/pdf/Kuh_Team_Report.pdf.
31. Laible, D. J., Carlo, G., & Raffaelli, M. (2000). The differential relations of parent and peer attachment to adolescent adjustment. Journal of Youth and adolescence, 29(1), 45-59.
32. Ma, C. Q., & Huebner, E. S. (2008). Attachment relationships and adolescents’ life satisfaction: Some relationships matter more to girls than boys. Psychology in the Schools, 45, 177–190
33. Margolis, J., & Fisher, A. (2002). Unlocking the clubhouse: Women in computing. MIT press.
34. Margolis, J., Estrella, R., Goode, J., Holme, J. J., & Nao, K. (2017). Stuck in the shallow end: Education, race, and computing. MIT press.
35. Muris, P., Meesters, C., van Melick, M., & Zwambag, L. (2001). Self-reported attachment style, attachment quality, and symptoms of anxiety and depression in young adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 809–818.
36. Murphy, M. C., Steele, C. M., Gross, J. J. (2007). Signaling threat: How situational cues affect women in math, science, and engineering settings. Psychological Science, 18, 879–885.
37. Murphy, M. C., Boucher, K., & Logel, C. (2021). How to help students feel a sense of belonging during the pandemic. Retrieved from https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_help_students_feel_a_sense_of_belonging_during_the_pandemic on15/02/2021.
38. Nelis, S. M., & Rae, G. (2009). Brief report: Peer attachment in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 443–447.
39. Newman, B. M., Newman, P. R., Griffen, S., O’Connor, K., & Spas, J. (2007). The relationship of social support to depressive symptoms during the transition to high school. Adolescence, 42, 441–459.
40. Nickerson, A. B., & Nagle, R. J. (2005). Parent and peer attachment in late childhood and early adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 25, 223–249.
41. Nickerson, A. B., & Nagle, R. J. (2005). Parent and peer attachment in late childhood and early adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 25(2), 223-249.
42. Nuzhat, A., Salem, R. O., Quadri, M. S., & Al-Hamdan, N. (2011). Learning style preferences of medical students: A single-institute experience from Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Medical Education, 2, 70-73.
43. Nwana, O. C. (1992). Introduction to educational research. Ibadan. Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books. O’Fathaigh, M. (2000). The social-interaction learning styles of Irish adult learners: Some empirical findings. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED465017.pdf.
44. Owens, L., & Straton, R. G. (1980). The development of a cooperative, competitive, and individualised learning preference scale for students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 50(2), 147-161.
45. Pace, C. S., Martini, P. S., & Zavattini, G. C. (2011). The factor structure of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA): A survey of Italian adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 83–88.
46. Pallant, J. S. P. S. S. (2016). Survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS program. London: McGraw-Hill Education
47. Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
48. Qiu, J., Shen, B., Zhao, M., Wang, Z., Xie, B., & Xu, Y. (2020). A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: Implications and policy recommendations. General Psychiatry, 33(2).
49. Reichmann, S. (1974). The refinement and construct validation of the Grasha-Reichmann student learning styles scales. Unpublished Master's thesis. University of Cincinnati, Ohio.
50. Richards, R., McGee, R., Williams, S. M., Welch, D., & Hancox, R. J. (2010). Adolescent screen time and attachment to parents and peers. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 164, 258–262.
51. Ridenour, T. A., Greenberg, M. T., & Cook, E. T. (2006). Structure and validity of people in my life: A self-report measure of attachment in late childhood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35, 1037–1053.
52. Roelofs, J., Onckels, L., & Muris, P. (2013). Attachment quality and psychopathological symptoms in clinically referred adolescents: The mediating role of early maladaptive schema. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22(3), 377-385.
53. Ruijten, T., Roelofs, J., & Rood, L. (2011). The mediating role of rumination in the relation between quality of attachment relations and depressive symptoms in non-clinical adolescents. Journal of Child Family Studies, 20, 452–459.
54. San Martini, P., Zavattini G. C., & Ronconi, S. (2009). The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA): A psychometric investigation of an Italian sample of adolescents. Italian Journal of Psicologia, 35(1), 199–225.
55. Sanchez, B., Colon, Y., & Esparza, P. (2005). The role of sense of school belonging and gender in the academic adjustment of Latino adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 619–628.
56. Slater, J. A., Lujan, H. L., & DiCarlo, S. E. (2007). Does gender influence learning style preferences of first-year medical students? Advances in Physiology Education, 31(4), 336-342.
57. Song, H. R., Thompson, R. A., & Ferrer, E. (2009). Attachment and self-evaluation in Chinese adolescents: Age and gender differences. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 1267–1286.
58. Stern, J. A., & Cassidy, J. (2018). Empathy from infancy to adolescence: An attachment perspective on the development of individual differences. Developmental Review, 47, 1-22.
59. Strayhorn, T. L. (2018). College students' sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. London: Routledge.
60. Sun, Y., Lin, S. Y., & Chung, K. K. H. (2020). University students’ perceived peer support and experienced depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of emotional well-being. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(24), 9308.
61. Sund, A. M., & WichstrØm, L. (2002). Insecure attachment as a risk factor for future depressive symptoms in early adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 1478–1485.
62. The Chronicle of Higher Education (2020). Coronavirus hits campus. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/package/coronavirus-hits-campus/
63. Theisen, J. C., Fraley, R. C., Hankin, B. L., Young, J. F., & Chopik, W. J. (2018). How do attachment styles change from childhood through adolescence? Findings from an accelerated longitudinal Cohort study. Journal of Research in Personality, 74, 141-146.
64. Tinto, V. (2012). Completing college: Rethinking institutional action. University of Chicago Press.
65. Van Bavel, J. J., Baicker, K., Boggio, P. S., Capraro, V., Cichocka, A., Cikara, M., ... & Willer, R. (2020). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour, 4(5), 460-471.
66. Vaughn, L. M., & Baker, R. C. (2008). Do different pairings of teaching styles and learning styles make a difference? Preceptor and resident perceptions. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 20(3), 239-247.
67. Vaughn, L. M., Battle, J. V., Taylor, T., & Dearman, L. (2009). Learning styles and the relationship to attachment styles and psychological symptoms in college women. College Student Journal, 43(3), 723-736.
68. Walton, G. M., Cohen, G. L. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 82–96.
69. Wehrwein, E. A., Lujan, H. L., & DiCarlo, S. E. (2007). Gender differences in learning style preferences among undergraduate physiology students. Advances in Physiology Education, 31(12), 153-160.
70. Wilkinson, R. B. (2008). Development and properties of the adolescent friendship attachment scale. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37(10), 1270-1279.
71. Woolfolk, A. E. (2004). Educational psychology (9th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.