Predictive power of cognitive styles on academic performance of students in selected national secondary schools in Kenya

Figures & data

Figure 1. Wholist–analytic and verbal–imagery model (Riding & Cheema, 1991).

Figure 2. Conceptual framework.

Table 1. Descriptives—mean performance in mock examinations

School	n	Mean	Std. dev	Min	Max
School 1	29	7.21	2.161	2	12
School 2	40	6.45	2.171	1	11
School 3	61	4.56	2.164	1	9
School 4	46	4.54	1.974	2	12
School 5	43	3.88	2.813	1	10
School 6	56	3.50	1.375	1	7
Total	275	4.79	2.433	1	12

Table 2. Descriptives—mean performance in KCSE chemistry

School	n	Mean	Std. dev	Min	Max
School 1	29	10.34	1.344	6	12
School 2	50	8.88	2.288	1	12
School 3	61	8.92	2.603	3	12
School 4	48	4.08	2.071	2	12
School 5	44	6.09	2.971	1	12
School 6	61	6.85	2.851	2	12
Total	293	7.41	3.180	1	12

Table 3. Cognitive styles of students

Cognitive process	Dimension	Preference	School 1 (%)	School 2 (%)	School 3 (%)	School 4 (%)	School 5 (%)	School 6 (%)	Average (%)
Perception	Concrete-abstract	Concrete	79	74	93	90	85	85	85
		Abstract	21	26	7	10	15	15	15
	Active-reflective	Active	33	61	83	90	70	72	74
		Reflective	67	39	17	10	30	28	26
Processing	Verbal-visual	Verbal	38	29	22	33	25	24	26
		Visual	63	70	78	67	75	76	74
	Sequential global	Sequential	83	91	93	76	75	74	82
		Global	17	9	7	24	25	26	18

Table 4. Profile of cognitive styles of chemistry teachers

Cognitive dimension	School 1	School 2	School 3	School 4	School 5	School 6
Concrete-abstract	Concrete	Concrete	Concrete	Concrete	Concrete	Concrete
Active-reflective	Active	Active	Reflective	Active	Active	Active
Verbal-visual	Visual	Verbal	Visual	Visual	Visual	Visual
Sequential-global	Sequential	Sequential	Global	Sequential	Sequential	Sequential

Table 5. Percentage match in student–teacher cognitive styles

	0% Match	25% Match	50% Match	75% Match	100% Match	Total (%)
School 1	0	13	29	50	8	100
School 2	0	14	26	48	12	100
School 3	0	23	63	12	2	100
School 4	0	5	15	29	51	100
School 5	0	5	13	40	42	100
School 6	0	4	26	31	39	100

Table 6. Descriptive statistics—variables for the prediction model

Variable	Mean	Std. dev	N
Performance in KCSE chemistry	7.51	3.20	234
Performance in Mock chemistry	4.78	2.44	234
Sex of student	1.55	0.500	234
Age of student	17.68	0.96	234
Students’ level on concrete/abstract scale	3.01	1.53	234
Students’ level on active/reflective scale	3.32	1.67	234
Students’ level on verbal/visual scale	3.27	1.92	234
Students’ level on sequential/global scale	3.08	1.46	234
Congruence with teacher cognitive styles	2.75	0.97	234

Table 7. Correlation between predictor variables

	Variable	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1	Performance in KCSE exam	1.00
2	Performance in MOCK exam	0.74**	1.00
3	Congruence with teacher’s CS	−0.29**	−0.14*	1.00
4	Level on concrete–abstract scale	0.15*	0.20**	−0.34*	1.00
5	Level on active–reflective scale	0.16**	0.13*	−0.30**	0.10*	1.00
6	Level on verbal–visual scale	−0.01	0.05	−0.11*	0.07	0.22**	1.00
7	Level on sequential–global scale	−0.03	0.08	−0.14*	0.25**	−0.03	0.02	1.00
8	Age of student	−0.32**	−0.18**	0.23**	−0.04	0.00	0.04	0.01	1.00
9	Sex of student	0.06	0.15**	−0.25**	−0.03	−0.09	−0.08	−0.09	−0.25*

*Significant at p = 0.05.

**Significant at p = 0.01.

Figure 3. Scatter plot showing eight regressor variables against performance in KCSE.

Table 8. Multiple regression model summary

Model	R	R^2	Adjusted R^2	Std. error of the estimate
1	0.802^a	0.643	0.631	1.945

^a Predictors: (Constant), level on concrete–abstract, active–reflective, verbal–visual and sequential–global scales, level of student–teacher congruence, performance in Mock, age, sex.

Table 9. Significance of regression model

Model		SS	df	MS	F	Sig.
1	Regression	1535.16	8	191.90	50.72	0.000^a
	Residual	851.30	225	3.78
	Total	2386.46	233

^a Predictors: (Constant), level on concrete–abstract, active–reflective, verbal–visual and sequential–global scales, level of student–teacher congruence, performance in Mock, age, sex.

Table 10. Significance of independent variables in prediction

Model	Unstandardised coefficients		Standardised coefficients		t	Sig.
	B	Std. error	Beta
1	(Constant)	19.284	2.687		7.176	0.000
	Level on concrete/abstract scale	−0.114	0.093	−0.054	−1.231	0.220
	Level on active/reflective scale	−0.008	0.084	−0.004	−0.096	0.923
	Level on verbal/visual scale	−0.113	0.069	−0.067	−1.640	0.102
	Level on sequential/global scale	−0.259	0.091	−0.118	−2.836	0.005
	Sex of student	−1.152	0.282	−0.179	−4.090	0.000
	Age of student	−0.609	0.141	−0.183	−4.312	0.000
	Performance in mock chemistry	0.943	0.055	0.719	17.097	0.000
	Level of congruence with teacher	−0.795	0.158	−0.240	−5.042	0.000

Riding, R. J., & Cheema, I. (1991). Cognitive Styles – An overview and integration. Educational Psychology, 11, 193–215.10.1080/0144341910110301

 Google Scholar