Preferred Learning Style Between Iranian and International Medical Students: A Comparative Study

Background: learning styles as student preferences for acquiringand nurturing knowledge are different by considering theirindividual and social factors. socio-cultural factors and theeducational structure of different countries are some of the factorsaffecting this matter. the present study aimed to compare thelearning style of iranian and international medical students oftehran university of medical sciences. the present descriptivecross-sectional study was conducted among the medical studentsstudying in the basic science courses of tehran university ofmedical sciences during the educational year of 2018-2019.methods: in the present study the complete enumeration was usedfor sampling and data were collected by using vark standardquestionnaire, and then they were analyzed by spss 21.results: among 225 students participating in the present study 46.4and 53.5% of the participants were iranian and internationalstudents, respectively. based on comparing the mean score of fourlearning styles among iranian and international medical students,two kinesthetic (p<0.05) and aural (p<0.05) styles weresignificantly different. the results of the present study representedthe preference of bi-model learning style among iranian andinternational students (87%) compared to that of tri- and quad-modelones.conclusion: based on the results of the present study, the learningstyle of both groups was bi-model although a difference wasobserved between iranian and international students regardinguni-model style. thus, different active education methods shouldbe used to improve the academic performance of students in orderto utilize all senses for learning.