The contribution of students’ learning styles to competences development through the use of Kahoot learning platform

Abstract

This study explored the relationship between students’ learning styles and their learning process through Kahoot in developing competencies within a target group of 89 high school students from Technical College "Dimitrie Ghika”, Romania. Initially, the students’ learning styles were identified using Reid’s VAK model. As a second step, the teacher created learning opportunities where information was available via each learning style by introducing a creative and innovative pedagogical method – Geography experiential learning using the Kahoot method. The last stage of the research tested the working hypothesis on the correlations between the learning styles of the students – the teaching strategy used (Kahoot) and its benefits in the formation of competences. The results showed that most students had 2-3 well developed learning styles, which made their learning with Kahoot easier. The findings showed that Visual has a major contribution (78%) in the development of concentration capacity, in the perception that Kahoot is a learner-centred method (79%) and in fostering thinking and memory (36%). Auditory science makes a significant contribution to creating associations with benefits such as learning from mistakes (88%), stimulating thinking and memory (55%), improving STEM skills (52%), creative methods (40%), and not inhibiting (86%). The practical style has a particular contribution to establishing correlations with the benefits of inserting maps and images (89%), carrying out mental reasoning (72%), logical and intuitive thinking (61%), usefulness in preparing for assignments and Baccalaureate (63%). The benefits of learning outcomes (the formation of skills) were highlighted by adapting the teaching strategy (Kahoot) to the particularities of students (learning styles).

Keywords:

• Learning styles
• Kahoot
• cognitive skills
• Geography
• VAK

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• John Lee, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

SUBJECTS:

• Educational Psychology
• Education Studies
• Theories of Learning

Introduction

Students fail to successfully assimilate and understand new concepts through traditional teaching-learning strategies (Troussas et al., 2023), so teachers are forced to seek new and more effective approaches that involve the use of new technologies. Some studies have highlighted the relationship between students’ learning styles and the use of digital games in the learning process to increase learner motivation and achievement. By using a digital game that incorporates FFNN to provide players with optimal learning activities so that they can further improve their knowledge level by considering their learning styles (Troussas et al., 2023), the authors employed the Honey and Mumford model on students’ learning styles and adapted computer science content into a digital game. The results showed that the digital game can provide an effective environment for optimal knowledge acquisition because it provides students with learning activities tailored to their learning styles.

There have been extensive studies on learning styles and how teachers should adapt to the teaching and assessment of information based on their knowledge. According to Feldman (2004), learning styles represent preferences for acquiring, using, and thinking about knowledge. Kolb (1984, 1985) defined learning style as the way information is perceived and processed. Learning styles are a product of learning theory (Farid & Abbasi, 2014) and knowledge acquisition as a cognitive process is achieved in the presence of cognitive skills that facilitate understanding, thinking, memory, and problem solving (Balasubramanian & Anouncia, 2016). Cassidy (2004) considered learning styles to focus on individual learning abilities, content, and performance.

A study conducted in the UK, the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, and China showed that 95% of teachers believe that individuals learn better when they receive information tailored to their preferred learning style (Howard-Jones, 2014)

Learning styles have gained popularity in the context of establishing links with self-esteem (Twenge, 2006) and school success (Pashler et al., 2008) as they can influence a person’s motivation and attitude towards learning (Armstrong et al., 2012). It has been commonly accepted in educational practice that educational outcomes can be improved if we support students’ learning according to their preferred ways of studying (Winebrenner, 1996) and that learning activities and materials used should be specifically targeted to their preferred sensors (Barbe & Milone, 1981; Dunn & Dunn, 1979). It is believed that learning becomes more efficient and better results will be obtained if the individualization of instruction according to learning style is followed (Pashler et al., 2008).

In terms of methodology, specialists have developed more than 70 more or less reliable learning styles over the last three decades (Coffield et al., 2004), but the most widely used model is the VAK. The VAK model identifies three learning styles, Visual, Auditory and Practical (or Kinesthetic). Visual learners learn best from pictures, graphs, drawings and organize information better using reasoning. The most suitable activities for these learners are lectures, slide presentations, charts, graphs, videos and pictures, surveys, and any other material containing visual information (Dantas & Cunha, 2020; Fleming, 2001). Learners with an auditory learning style prefer information with sounds and audio guidance, such as spoken instructions, discussions, oral presentations, conversations, music, audio and video information, music, and roleplays. (Dantas & Cunha, 2020; Fleming, 2001). Individuals with this kinesthetic learning style require movement, sensory touch, and interaction with the environment to acquire information and to create knowledge. Activities such as hands-on lectures, problem-solving, case studies, demonstrations, and physical activities are best suited for learners using this pathway (Dantas & Cunha, 2020; Fleming, 2001). Each learner has a different learning style; however, there is a possibility that they have all three (Balta, 2018) or a combination of two.

Nevertheless, it has been shown that auditory stimuli are superior to visual stimuli in the case of temporal memory/temporal recall (Brown & Hitchcock, 1965; Nazzaro & Nazzaro, 1970; Penney et al., 1998; Walker & Scott, 1981), but when it comes to some spatial aspects, vision is the superior sense (Bertelson & Radeau, 1981; Jack & Thurlow, 1973; Kitagawa & Ichihara, 2002). Knowing students’ preferences for a particular learning style also becomes useful in online instruction by helping to design and develop appropriate teaching materials (Lwande et al., 2021). Additionally, knowing students’ learning style helps in online learning to group students according to style, thus being able to prepare relevant learning materials for each group (Lwande et al., 2021). It has been established that students find it easy to understand difficult concepts when learning in groups (Wikle & West, 2018). A recent study by Mahmoud Hawa and Tılfarlıoğlu (2019) reported that learners’ preferred learning styles were related to their self-efficacy and social interactions.

A teacher aims to create a learning opportunity where information is available via each learning style (Willingham et al.,2015), to minimise influential factors such as prior knowledge or time spent learning (Willingham et al., 2015), which can be achieved by introducing creative and innovative pedagogical methods. One of these methods is Kahoot. This form of learning through gamification (Kahoot) can be successfully introduced in both e-learning and face-to-face or blended learning (Hickey & Rehak, 2013; Landers & Callan, 2011; Muntean, 2011). Although Kahoot was launched in 2023 in Norway, a few studies have shown its impact on students’ teaching-learning-assessment processes.

Related work

Among these studies, we mention the one conducted by Göksün et al. (2017–2018) on a target group of 97 pre-service teachers. The study showed that the impact of Kahoot on academic achievement and student engagement was higher when compared to that of the control group and the reason students desired to use Kahoot and Quizizz applications in the classroom was due to students’ need for strong stimuli or the will to receive immediate feedback on how well they performed on the test, Kahoot had also a positive effect on students’ motivation, retention and performance (Göksün & Gülden, 2019). Positive results on Kahoot’s influence onclassroom dynamics, students’ engagement, motivation, and learning in Information Science lecture sessions were also revealed by Licorish et al. (2018). According to a Kahoot study, students’ willingness to perform was influenced by the level of anonymity afforded by this game and helped them create a learning experience (Licorish et al., 2018). Most studies have aimed at understanding students’ perceptions of the usefulness of Kahoot. One study aimed to determine students’ perceptions of the use of Kahoot in formative assessment at a public medical school in Malaysia. The results revealed that medical students perceived formative assessment through Kahoot as an engaging and motivating activity for their learning, motivating them to take up challenges, control it, absorb the activity, stimulate their intrinsic interest, and value the session as a useful learning activity (Ismail et al., 2019).

A study conducted in Portugal showed that grades obtained by applying Kahoot were 6.4% higher than those obtained by traditional methods and the greatest progress was achieved by students who had previously had low results (Esteves et al., 2018). Another study conducted in Romania highlighted the benefits of learning with Kahoot (in terms of its features, such as friendly interface and ease of use) in stimulating cognitive functions (memory, thinking) and students’ motivation (Pascu et al., 2023), and that it is not an assessment method representative of what the students do not like, but the technical aspects (Pătru-Stupariu et al., 2021). Another important finding was that Kahoot is able to make students more focusin learning, and that could be due to the fact that it caters to various learning styles. Kahoot app allows uploading videos, pictures and music in order to encourage students with their thinking or to simply provide upbeat energy to the quiz (Dellos, 2015). The music, colours, and excitement brought about by Kahoot! encourage student focus (Plump & LaRosa, 2017). These features can stimulate students in different ways, depending on their learning style. Addressing various learning styles during teaching is important because student achievement will significantly increase if they are taught using approaches and resources that are aligned with their learning styles (Burke & Dunn, 2002). There is an element of visual stimulus where the students are looking to the questions, including images projected to the main screen and images in the questions. Bicen and Kocakoyun (2018) showed that students’ perception of the effectiveness of the Kahoot app is given by richer content, and the inclusion of pictures enables students to better understand the material. In addition, using videos in the Kahoot application attracts the attention of students, but the background audio distracts students (Bicen & Kocakoyun, 2018). Kahoot also tackles kinesthetic learners by engaging in physical activity while choosing their answers (Ismail et al., 2019).

Kahoot engages auditory learners by integrating music into the games (Wang & Lieberoth, 2016). In a follow-up study, Wang and Lieberoth (2016) examined the effects of audio and points on students’ focus, enjoyment, motivation, effort, and classroom dynamics on the game-based learning platform Kahoo. There is a link between this game and the audio learning approach since Kahoot’s audio component stimulates auditory memory. This study shown that audio and music have a substantial beneficial impact on classroom dynamics by enhancing student attentiveness during lectures and reducing the percentage of students who experience boredom (Wang & Lieberoth, 2016). Nevertheless, when Kahoot is employed for official assessment, it is preferred to be devoid of audio.

The efficiency of learning through teaching methods, learning styles or a combination of these two factors is necessary (Alavi & Toozandehjani, 2017).

The objectives of this study are:

• To identify the learning styles according to Reid (1999) learning style model.

• To introduce an innovative teaching strategy such as learning through Kahoot (Game-based Student Response System (GSRS).

• To identify correlations between learning styles and the Kahoot method regarding the benefits of skills training.

The paper provides a comprehensive account of its methodology, shows the data derived from the statistical analysis, analyses and interprets the findings, engages in debates, and ultimately draws conclusions.

Methodology

The Geography curriculum is highly concentrated with a substantial amount of information that must be taught within a limited timeframe. Within each lesson, the teacher is required to teach a wide range of materials and concepts in order to develop essential competencies. Due to the large number of students (28–30 in total), we are unable to allocate enough time to address all of these areas. Insufficient time for practice and reinforcement of information and abilities leads to the accumulation of knowledge gaps, leaving students with little opportunity to catch up. Kahoot was utilised for a duration of three months in this particular situation to reinforce the knowledge and information provided by the teacher, hence accelerating the growth of the students’ competencies.

The researcher developed Kahoot questions based on the Geography curriculum and the standardised Baccalaureate model topics. Students engaged in Kahoot activities during the lessons to improve their collective learning experience for a duration of 10–15 minutes, as well as integrating it into their homework assignments.The number and complexity of the Kahoot homework tasks increased, and students were assured that answering them would facilitate their learning for the Baccalaureate or the end-of-chapter test. Kahoot was employed as a learning tool for enhancing skills, as students were directed to utilise their own names in order to obtain individualised feedback and targeted assistance from the teacher, specifically addressing the areas in which they were struggling to find solutions.

We administered the VAK questionnaire, which was modified from Reid’s (1999) version, to a total of 89 students enrolled at the Technical College "Dimitrie Ghika" in Comănești. The data collection was done between February and March 2022. We selected this version based on its extensive usage and its effectiveness in enhancing teacher-student interactions through the adaptation of instructors’ instructional approaches to students’ learning styles (Awla, 2014; Naimie et al., 2010; Tuan, 2011). The VAK model employs a questionnaire that assesses three dimensions: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. Each component is scored on a scale of 1 to 13. The pupils’ scores were classified as follows: 1-5 points for a low level, 5-9 points for a medium level, and 9-13 points for a high level. The goal was to individualise the learning process based on the unique learning styles of each individual. Personalised learning, particularly in the area of E-Learning, entails developing flexible learning materials tailored to the individual needs of learners (Heba et al., 2015). This requires aligning the learning style of individuals with information that facilitates simple and efficient learning (Nashwa AbdelAziz Ali et al., 2015).

After identifying the students’ learning styles, we used a new teaching approach utilising Kahoot learning over the period of April to May 2022. The target group utilised the Kahoot applications several times, with an average frequency of at least 3-4 times over a span of 6 weeks. Kahoot functioned as an external catalyst able to improve the learning process and facilitate the development of students’ competencies. Learning styles, which are unique to each individual student, may be further enhanced by current methods of instructional teaching, despite being an internal aspect.

Following our experiments with the Kahoot technique in teaching Geography, we administered a questionnaire to the students in the target group to assess their impression of the advantages of utilising Kahoot for learning, specifically in terms of developing competence. The questionnaire had a series of 12 questions (found in Annex 1) with answer possibilities on a numeric scale: 1 point for "Not at all", 2 points for "To a small extent", 3 points for "Moderate", 4 points for "To a large extent", and 5 points for "To a very large extent". The benefits of learning through Kahoot can be categorised as follows: creative and innovative method, enhanced ability to concentrate, improved logical and intuitive thinking, consolidation of knowledge, enhanced mental reasoning, utilisation of maps and images, improved inhibition, thinking and memory, development of digital competence in STEM subjects, learning from mistakes, student-centered approach in STEM subjects, and better preparation for tests and Baccalaureate exams.

After establishing the database, we conducted the research by employing statistical analysis. The learning styles of the students and the responses collected from the questionnaire on the advantages of utilising Kahoot for learning purposes were treated as variables and subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS.

Results

The VAK questionnaire revealed that the target group students have a high potential as the proportion of students with a high level of development of Visual and Auditory styles is very high while the proportion of students with Practical style is medium (Table 1).

Table 1. Numerical distribution of learning styles.

Level	Visual	%	Auditory	%	Practical	%
High	58	65	53	60	23	26
Medium	29	33	35	39	58	65
Low	2	2	1	1	8	9

A noteworthy observation is that 10 students in the target group (11.23%) possess all three learning styles simultaneously. This is followed by 38 students (42.69%) who exhibit efficiency in 2 learning styles, while 30 students (33.70%) demonstrate effectiveness in one main learning style, along with at least one moderately developed learning style. A small proportion of pupils exhibit 2 or 3 intermediate learning styles (Tables 2 and 3).

Table 2. Learning styles by gender and class profile.

Learning style	Number of students	Gender (fem)	Class Profile
			Humanities	Social Sciences	Economics
3 high	10	7	7	0	3
2 high + 1 low	7	6	5	1	1
2 high+ 1 medium	31	18	17	5	9
1 high + 2 medium	27	17	14	3	10
1 high+ 1 medium +1 low	3	2	1	1	1
3 medium	8	2	5	0	3
2 medium +1low	3	2	2	1	0

Table 3. Numerical distribution of high level learning style combinations.

Level	A combination of 2 learning styles	Number of Students
high	V + A	25
	V + P	9
	A + P	4

The survey on students’ perceptions on the benefits of using Kahoot in Geography learning revealed a significant frequency of following advantages (variables): it is a creative and innovative method, it allows learning from mistakes, it ensures knowledge consolidation, it facilitates preparation for tests and Baccalaureate exam. Moreover, it facilitates the usefulness of maps and video materials, it stimulates logical and intuitive thinking, it improves the ability to concentrate. All of them scored an average of over 4 (corresponding to the answer "Mostly"). The questionnaire was administered to 12th, 11th, 10th and 9th graders. 12th graders scored above the total sample average (Table 4) on 5 variables (creative method, knowledge consolidation, facilitates test preparation and Baccalaureate, STEM, ability to concentrate), 9th graders scored above the sample average on benefits related to test preparation, logical thinking, student-centered strategy, mental reasoning. The 10th and 11th grades did not exceed the sample mean, except for the variables "learning from mistakes" (10th grade) and "inhibition" (11th grade).

Table 4. The scores obtained according to student profile, gender and grade.

	Economic	Philology	Socio	Female	Male	9 th grade	10 th grade	11 th grade	12 th grade
Creative method	4.1	4.4	4.5	4.4	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.3	4.5
Learn from mistakes	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.4	4.1	4.2	4.4	3.8	4.3
Knowledge	4.1	4.3	4.5	4.3	4.1	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.5
Useful for written work	3.9	4.4	4.1	4.4	4.0	4.4	4.2	4.0	4.1
The insertion of maps is useful	4.3	4.1	4.4	4.3	4.1	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4
Thinking	3.7	4.2	4.5	4.2	3.9	4.3	3.9	4.3	4.5
Ability to concentrate	3.8	4.0	4.1	4.1	3.8	4.0	3.9	3.8	4.1
Logical thinking	3.5	4.1	4.0	4.1	3.7	4.1	3.9	3.5	4.0
Student-centered didactic strategy	3.6	3.8	3.6	3.8	3.6	3.8	3.7	3.8	3.6
STEM	3.3	3.6	3.8	3.7	3.3	3.8	3.3	3.8	3.8
Mental reasoning	3.0	3.7	3.5	3.6	3.2	3.7	3.4	3.0	3.5
Inhibited	2.0	2.4	2.9	2.2	2.5	2.4	2.1	3.0	2.9
Visual learning style	8.8	9.0	9.5	9.4	8.4	8.9	9.0	8.0	9.5
Auditory learning style	9.1	8.7	9.0	9.1	8.5	8.7	9.0	8.0	9.0
Practical learning style	7.2	7.7	6.3	7.1	7.9	7.5	7.5	8.0	6.3

Statistical analysis shows associations between learning styles and Kahoot benefits (Figure 1).

The working hypothesis aimed at the possible link between learning styles and the usefulness of the Kahoot method in the formation of cognitive and digital skills.

Results

The data entered in the AFC analysis (Table 4) and which were the basis of the graph in the Figure 1.

Figure 1. The correlation between learning style and Kahoot.

The graph reveals a correlation between students who possess auditory and visual learning styles and their abilities in concentration, logical thinking, mental reasoning, learning from mistakes, consolidating knowledge, employing creative methods, utilising maps and images, and making associations. These findings are specific to 11th and 12th-grade students in the Humanities and Social Studies profiles, specifically males. The practical learning style is linked to several aspects, including the use of student-centered strategies, the advantages it offers in terms of test preparation and Baccalaureate performance, its prevalence among female students in the 9th grade, and its association with the Economics class profile.

The statistical analysis enabled us to evaluate the individual contribution of each learning style to the development of cognitive and digital abilities through the use of the Kahoot application (Table 5).

Table 5. The contribution of each learning style to the formation of cognitive skills.

Row	Mass	Contribution
		1	Of Point to Inertia of Dimension			Of Dimension to Inertia of Point
			1	2	3	1	2	3	Total
Creative method	.061	−.033	.002	.004	.002	.242	.401	.069	.712
Ability to concentrate	.055	−.053	.004	.001	.000	.783	.122	.002	.906
Logical thinking	.054	−.079	.010	.018	.154	.136	.215	.611	.963
Knowledge	.060	−.062	.007	.010	.021	.286	.379	.256	.921
Mental reasoning	.048	−.093	.012	.023	.312	.096	.161	.722	.979
Maps is useful	.059	−.013	.000	.003	.162	.006	.046	.894	.946
Inhibited	.035	−.241	.058	.529	.010	.110	.864	.005	.979
Thinking	.058	−.153	.039	.069	.026	.363	.555	.068	.986
STEM	.050	−.102	.015	.059	.022	.153	.522	.063	.739
Learn from mistakes	.059	−.013	.000	.059	.008	.005	.887	.041	.933
Student centered strategy	.052	.138	.028	.001	.001	.796	.031	.008	.834
Useful for written work	.058	.066	.007	.008	.099	.162	.158	.638	.958
Visual learning style	.125	−.147	.077	.080	.017	.510	.453	.032	.995
Auditory style	.123	−.021	.001	.110	.166	.010	.648	.324	.983
Practical learning style	.102	.504	.739	.028	.000	.967	.031	.000	.998
Active Total	1.000		1.000	1.000	1.000

The three dimensions correlate to the different learning styles: 1-Visual, 2-Auditory, and 3-Practical. The rows in the questionnaire indicate all the variables that were included in the statistical analysis based on these styles (12 + 3). The statistical study reveals the impact of learning styles on the development of cognitive and emotional abilities through the use of Kahoot.

Kahoot is considered a creative method and has a contribution of .401 (i.e. 40%) among students with the auditory learning style. Kahoot facilitates the ability to concentrate, and has a contribution of .783 (i.e. 78%) among auditory learners. Logical thinking is a skill and it is stimulated by the use of Kahoot, especially among students with a practical learning style, with a contribution of .611 (i.e. 61%).

Kahoot is particularly effective in stimulating logical thinking, especially among students who prefer a practical learning approach. It has a significant contribution of 61% in developing this skill. When considering each learning style separately, we observe that the Visual style has a significant impact (78%) on the development of concentration abilities, the opinion that Kahoot is a student-centered technique (79%), and the enhancement of thinking and memory (36%). Auditory science has a significant influence on forming connections that result in several advantages, including a high percentage (88%) of learning from mistakes, stimulating thinking and memory (55%), enhancing STEM abilities (52%), employing innovative methods (40%), and not causing inhibition (86%). The practical method is particularly relevant in creating correlations with the utility of incorporating maps and visuals (89%), engaging in cognitive reasoning (72%), employing logical and intuitive thinking (61%), and preparing for theses and Baccalaureate exams (63%).

Given the significant proportion of students who possess advanced proficiency in at least two learning styles, it is important to emphasise the specific impact that the combination of Visual + Auditory and Auditory + Practical skills has on skill development. Practically speaking, these data provided statistical validation for the working hypothesis.

Discussion

The target group has a high learning potential since 11.23% have all three learning styles simultaneously, 42.69% have two highly developed learning styles, 33.70% have one well developed learning style together with at least one medium level learning style. As high school students, they had time to form their learning styles during the secondary school cycle due to the national assessments and exams they had to take in 4th and 6th grades, as well as the National Assessment Examination at the end of 8th grade.

For students who possess 2-3 highly developed learning styles, we observe that they consistently adapt their learning approaches (Willingham et al., 2015). They do so by switching between different styles depending on the subject and content, utilising auditory style at times and visual or practical style at other times. The combination of Visual + Auditory is the most common among students, with a frequency of 25. This is followed by Visual + Practical, which has a frequency of 9. The least common combination is Auditory + Practical, with 4 individuals.

However, the kinaesthetic style has a medium representativity in the sample. With such a target group, the teacher can introduce new teaching strategies in Geography lessons as students will have the ability to make use of a diverse range of teaching resources and literature. Adapting teaching strategies to students’ styles is becoming increasingly useful as modern pedagogical methods allow the use of a complex set of audio, video/practical materials to support students’ learning.

This project has established correlations between students’ learning styles, the Kahoot method and the development of competencies as the learning outcome. The questionnaire was a method of collecting information directly from students on the benefits of Kahoot in the formation of cognitive skills (those that develop thinking skills), socio-affective skills (inhibition), and digital skills (STEM). Kahoot was introduced into the instructional process as a teaching strategy capable of supporting learning, both as a strategy for managing one’s own learning and as a strategy for processing information. The Kahoot educational software allows the insertion of audio-video materials, maps, and graphs. Through its digital presentation, it acquires a deeply practical character (it helps the formation of digital competences or uses the digital skills they have already formed facilitating the introduction of ITC in teaching-learning). The students received a link with the applications created by the teacher on the subjects taught in Geography classes. The applications were solved by the students both at home and at school. The links enabled autonomous, individualised learning of the content and cross-curricular skills training. The strong association between the students’ practical learning style and the benefits of Kahoot in terms of cognitive skills training (logical reasoning, logical and intuitive thinking) is supported by the technical design of the application which allows the insertion of maps and images. Thus, by using the digital skills they already possess, students can find text, maps, images and video material on the same page without having to learn in the traditional way with a notebook and Atlas at hand.

The availability and quick access to learning resources embedded in Kahoot facilitate modern learning. For instance, students no longer waste time searching for maps in their Atlas, printing out charts or applications as they would in the traditional method. Learning becomes more engaging and efficient for students with a practical style, as proven by the strong association with Kahoot’s usefulness in test and Baccalaureate preparation. Once we were aware of students’ learning styles, we were able to introduce a variety of digital resources to help them solve items similar to those on the Baccalaureate exam or summative assessments. This method increases student motivation, engagement and improved performance (Wang, 2015; Wang & Tahir, 2020).

By utilising Kahoot’s apps, students with Visual and Auditory learning styles had greater learning capacity and improved cognitive abilities, such as focus, reasoning, and STEM proficiency, in the processing of information and Geography knowledge. The primary educational tasks and exercises presented in the Kahoot application encompassed spatial analysis of human geographical components, establishing connections, identifying physical-geographical elements on maps, interpreting data presented as diagrams and cartograms, as well as analysing and interpreting video material.

Learning is a process that involves both individual and collective aspects. The 89 students were part of several groups, and the distribution of learning styles within each group varied from that of the entire sample. The teacher adapts his teaching strategies to the particularities of the students’ collectives and the statistical analysis revealed that the 10th, 11th and 12th grade classes are dominated by the Visual and Auditory styles and the 9th grade only by the Practical style. In 9th grade the teacher is expected to work more with the pupils to help them form the other two styles, namely Visual and Auditory, even insisting on applications that allow the formation of the key competence "Learning to learn". The distribution of students to different areas of specialisation according to their choices and the results obtained in secondary school and in the National Assessment may determine a greater concentration of students with a certain learning style and certain skills, as shown by the frequency of students with the Visual style (94%) in the Social Studies profile, the combination of Visual and Practical (89%) in Humanities/Philology and the combination of Auditory and Practical (84%) in Economics.

Students’ specialisation was also a major predictor. For example, the students who studied Social Studies recorded higher grades than students in Philology and Economics for many variables (creative method, learning from mistakes, consolidation of knowledge, map insertion, logical thinking, ability to concentrate, STEM, inhibition). The associations are by no means surprising given that all of them opted to sit the 3rd Baccalaureate exam in Geography, they were practically motivated to learn Geography using as many modern teaching methods and tools as possible, being very open to digital platforms and software such as Kahoot. The students in the Philology class obtain higher averages than the other two areas of study only in some variables that indicate as benefits: usefulness in preparing for tests and Baccalaureate, logical thinking, student-centred strategy, mental reasoning. These elements indicate a focus on the benefits that will greatly help students through the student-centered nature of the educational process and learning outcomes as the end of this process.

Kahoot is both advantageous and disadvantageous. Kahoot platform features relevant benefits: the options to download, review and save students’ results (Plump & LaRosa, 2017). However, in Geography classes it is recommended to use the application on a tablet or laptop to allow the visualisation of high resolution maps, those with a higher degree of difficulty.

If I were to state in general terms what the limitations of this study might be, I would start by mentioning that there may inevitably be some economic and technical ones, especially among students from disadvantaged groups. Many pupils do not have the best learning conditions at home, either they do not have access to the internet or they do not own tablets and laptops.Thus, these modern means of learning can become instruments of school exclusion. The phone’s display is not very conducive to identifying the answer in shield time and making logical connections. However, in this study, all students in the target group were provided with the necessary technical tools, receiving a free tablet and internet from the college to use at home. I would include the price of the yearly Kahoot subscription (full package) as a limitation, which I had to pay out of my own funds because the institution does not purchase teacher’s kits. Not to be neglected is also the resource of time. We spent a lot of time creating the content, the items introduced in Kahoot, correlating them with the curriculum etc.

Long-term use of a single tool such as Kahoot may lead to a decrease in students’ interest in it. We have to take into account that it can lead to the development of automatic thinking which could result in demotivation. Students’ interest in the study of Geography and the improvement of learning styles requires a constant diversification of the tools used. Given this context, the creators of Kahoot software should improve it annually, adding new, more complex functions to facilitate learning and school progress among students of all ages.

Furthermore, some errors may have occurred in the process of identifying the learning style, considering that the students answered the questions of the VAK questionnaire in a subjective way, as they felt at the time of the application. Overall, the questionnaires have a subjective side, respondents responding as they wish.

The novelty of this study lies in the correlation of students’ learning styles with the formation of competences such as STEM, critical thinking, logical reasoning, etc. The items included in the Kahoot were aimed at the formation of competences in Geography so that students not only have practiced the contents of Geography through this interactive game but have also developed these competences in terms of the purpose of learning. The results of the study should encourage fellow teachers to introduce digital tools such as Kahoot in their Geography teaching and learning process and to pursue personalised learning adapted to the learning styles of the students.

The findings of the learning type identification questionnaire were conveyed to the students and discussed in order to confirm and validate the results. We ensured that they were not answered randomly. Once the learning style of the students has been identified, the teacher can develop personalised teaching-learning-assessment strategies and Kahoot can become a tool to support personalised learning. Kahoot prioritises the learner and offers a diverse software menu that enables the integration of various audio-video-graphic content. It provides students with varied items which facilitate the learning-assessment process. The students are encouraged to set their own objectives, to delve deeper into the subject and learn at their own pace whether at home or in school.

The significant prevalence of students with multiple learning styles is advantageous for personalised learning and the use of technologies to facilitate learning, with Kahoot being one such tool. The pandemic has transformed education globally by stimulating the widespread use of virtual teaching technologies. Practically, this period has accelerated the transformation of teachers into facilitators (Castleford & Robinson, 1998; Lemberg & Stoltman, 1999; McNail, 1987) and has even created the necessary framework for exploiting new learning opportunities (Schuck et al., 2017; Traxler, 2009). The role of the teacher facilitator is to assist students in cultivating their own learning strategies, instructing them in the art of acquiring knowledge, establishing associations, posing inquiries, and assessing their own progress.

Through its facilitating role (Tsvetkova et al., 2017), technology can insure, if used appropriately, a facilitating role in human- machines interaction creating a hybrid learning space which, when experienced in a directed manner within the context of schooling, can stimulate the creativity of students and teachers much more than when used individually and unilaterally by each actor (Gadille et al., 2021).

Conclusions

The Geography syllabus is rich in content and needs to be taught in a short time. The teacher is required to teach a lot of different content and concepts in each lesson in order to develop all the necessary skills. Since there are many students (28–30), there is not a sufficient amount of time to cover all subjects. The lack of time for revision and reinforcement of contents and skills makes the students accumulate numerous gaps. Therefore, they do not have time to catch up. Pupils’ interest in our Geography lessons tends to decrease when teaching and assessment is done according to traditional methods. Consequently, pupils’ motivation for learning decreases, as does their academic achievement. The present paper is an attempt to show how we can design a teaching strategy based on the identification and knowledge of students’ learning styles in order to adapt and facilitate personalised, student-centred learning using a creative method (Kahoot) to improve cognitive skills. Based on the premise that all learners have the potential to learn effectively if their own learning styles are taken into account, the teacher can adapt teaching strategies to the particularities of the learners. Employing Kahoot as a stimulating method for students to learn Geography has required the teacher to allocate additional time resources needed for content creation. Developing a teaching strategy based on digital tools is time-consuming, even more so when trying to personalise learning according to learning styles.

Acknowledgements

The author give special acknowledgments to all participating interviewees. The author give special acknowledgements to anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marioara Pascu

Marioara Pascu is a geography teacher at the “D.Ghika” Technical College and for more than 20 years she has been combining teaching and research activities. Author of three books and numerous research studies on geography teaching and learning. In the last 3 years she conducting research studies in collaboration with teachers from the University of Bucharest, on Geography skills training of students through gamification and online learning. In present is a Postdoctoral MSCA at University of Mons, Teacher Traing School, in Belgium.

Annex 1.

Questionnaire

Dear students, you are participating in a scientific research conducted by Teacher PhD Mărioara Pascu on Geography learning through the Gamification method using the educational software Kahoot. With the help of this questionnaire I would like to know your perception of the Kahoot method. The data are used only to improve my pedagogical method in Geography lessons, therefore there are no right or wrong answers.

To what extent do you consider Kahoot to be a creative and innovative method of teaching Geography?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

To what extent do you consider that Kahoot has improved your concentration ability?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

Did Kahoot help you think logically, intuitively?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

Did Kahoot help you consolidate your Geography knowledge?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

Did the sequence and speed of Kahoot questions correspond to the time taken to answer, to carry out different mental reasoning?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

To what extent do you consider it necessary/useful to insert maps and images in Kahoot?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a large extent □ to a very large extent

Kahoot as designed has inhibited you :

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a large extent □ to a very large extent

Did the use of images, maps, spatial information, video images in Kahoot boost your thinking, memory?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

To what extent do you consider that Kahoot has helped you improve your digital skills? (STEM)

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

Do you consider that you can learn from your mistakes with Kahoot, (as it gives you the possibility to see immediately what you did wrong)?

(STEM)

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

Do you think that your teacher after viewing your results on Kahoot can/should adapt his/her student-centered teaching strategy to help you improve your results in the future? (STEM)

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent

How useful has Kahoot been in your preparation for written work/essays or the Baccalaureate exam?

□ not at all □ to a small extent □ moderately □ to a great extent □ to a very great extent