Self‐perception as Learner, Cognitive Style and Business Studies Students’ Course Performance

ABSTRACT

The positions of 86 (47 female and 39 male) first‐year university business studies students on the two fundamental cognitive style dimensions (Wholist‐Analytic and Verbal‐Imagery) were assessed by means of the Cognitive Styles Analysis. Their self‐perception as learner was determined using a questionnaire given at the end of the first semester to determine their opinions of the subject modules that they had studied. Their performance in the three subject areas, information technology, accounting and management was obtained from their module assessment scores. Analysis of these data indicated three significant effects. (1) Sex and subject interacted in their effect on overall self‐perception/performance with the females being superior on management and the males on information technology and accounting. (2) Wholist‐Analytic style and subject interacted in their effect on self‐perception versus performance such that: (a) performance varied with style in line with the processing requirements of the subject; and (b) students underestimated their performance on subjects that did not match their style and overestimated them on those that did. (3) Verbal‐Imagery style also interacted with subject in its effect on self‐perception versus performance, so that: (a) performance was related to style and subject type; but (b) students overestimated performance where there was a style/subject mismatch, and underestimated in matching cases. The results were discussed in terms of their implications for self‐understanding as learner and student strategy development.