Resumo Introdução A educação em ciências da saúde tem passado por profundas mudanças devido à incorporação de tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TICs). Os estudantes aprendem através de diferentes abordagens, de acordo com o seu estilo de aprendizagem. O ensino híbrido, que combina tecnologia (e-learning) com o ensino face-a-face, tem apresentado bons resultados. Objetivo Os objetivos deste estudo são avaliar os estilos de aprendizagem de alunos de graduação em Odontologia e a experiência com e-learning. Material e método Dois questionários eletrônicos foram enviados a 174 estudantes. Os estilos de aprendizagem foram determinados pelo Índice de Felder & Soloman (ILS), que avalia as quatro dimensões do aprendizado: processamento da informação (ativo-reflexivo); percepção da informação (sensorial-intuitivo); recebimento da informação (visual-verbal); e entendimento da informação (sequencial-global). Para determinar a experiência com e-learning foram usadas quatro perguntas (escala Likert de cinco pontos) sobre o uso das TICs. Resultado A maioria dos estudantes apresentou um estilo equilibrado para ativo-reflexivo (60%) e sequencial-global (68%). O estilo sensitivo (64%) foi predominante. Uma porcentagem mais baixa apresentou características globais (9%). Não foram encontradas diferenças quanto aos grupos de idades (19-21 e 22-33 anos) e aos gêneros (P>0,05, χ2). Contudo, houve diferença entre os grupos de idades considerando a ajuda dos websites no aprendizado (P =0,0363, Mann-Whitney). Conclusão Os estudantes não têm os mesmos estilos de aprendizado e experiência com e-learning. Métodos alternativos ao ensino convencional, como o ensino híbrido, podem significar vantagens no ensino da graduação em Odontologia.

Abstract Introduction Education in the health sciences has been undergoing profound changes due to the incorporation of information and communication technologies. Students learn through a variety of approaches, according to their learning styles. Blended learning, which combines technology-aided learning (e-learning) with traditional face-to-face teaching methods, has been found to improve learning outcomes. Objective The aims of the present study were to evaluate the learning styles of undergraduate dental students and their experience towards the use of e-learning. Material and method Two electronic questionnaires were sent to 174 students. The learning styles were determined by the Felder & Soloman Index (ILS), which evaluates the following four dimensions of learning: processing information (active-reflexive); perceiving information (sensorial-intuitive); receiving information (visual-verbal); and understanding information (sequential-global). To determine the e-learning experience we used four questions (Likert scale – five-point) which addressed the experience and the use of information and communication technologies. Result Most students presented a well-balanced style for the active-reflective (60%) and sequential-global (68%) domains. The sensing style (64%) was predominant. A lower percentage presented a global characteristic (9%). We did not find significant differences regarding the age groups (19-21 and 22-33 years) and genders (P>0.05, χ 2). However, in terms of age the difference was significant concerning websites helping in learning (P=0.0363, Mann-Whitney). Conclusion We conclude that the students do not have the same learning styles and e-learning experience. Methods such as blended learning could provide advantages when teaching undergraduate dental students.

Introduction: The exponential growth of medical knowledge has been calling for a better training of students in a series of abilities such as creativity, critical thinking, group collaboration skills, and self learning skills. It is therefore important to generate varied and dynamical teaching strategies intended to make student learning easier and to promote the development of the required skills; identifying student learning preferences may facilitate these tasks. Objective: To assess the reliability of the Learning Styles Questionnaire developed by Felder and Soloman, to identify the learning styles of medical students attending the Human Physiology course at the School of Medicine, and to determine if there exist gender-related differences in their learning styles. Methods: This research was conducted in a group of second-year medical students attending the Gastrointestinal Physiology theory and laboratory sessions of the Human Physiology course during the 2009-2010, 2011-2012 y 2012-2013 school years. Felder and Soloman's questionnaire was applied to 459 students and it was answered completely by 265 students (126 women and 139 men). At the end, the reliability of the questionnaire was calculated. Results: The value of Cronbach's alpha for each of the four dimensions of Felder and Soloman's questionnaire was found to be between 0.38 and 0.61. The active, sensing, visual, and sequential learning styles were the predominant learning preferences of the students in our study. There were no significant differences in learning styles between genders. Conclusions: Our results support the reliability of the active-reflective and visual-verbal dimensions, but the sensing-intuitive and sequential-global dimensions require further assessment. Further studies using larger numbers of students to estimate the validity and reliability of the questionnaire are needed. Studies to show if there exists a positive relation between learning styles and teaching strategies are also recommended.

Introducción: El aumento exponencial del conocimiento en el área de la medicina ha exigido la formación de estudiantes con una serie de competencias como la creatividad, el razonamiento crítico, el trabajo en equipo y el auto-aprendizaje. Por ello, es importante planear estrategias de enseñanza, dinámicas y variadas, que promuevan el desarrollo de las competencias requeridas; el identificar los estilos de aprendizaje de los estudiantes puede facilitar dicha planeación. Objetivo: Analizar la fiabilidad del cuestionario sobre estilos de aprendizaje de Felder y Soloman, identificar los estilos de aprendizaje de los estudiantes del curso de Fisiología Humana y su laboratorio de la carrera de medicina y determinar si hay diferencias debido al género. Método: Este estudio se llevó a cabo con alumnos de segundo año de la carrera que cursaron la sección de Fisiología Gastrointestinal de la materia de Fisiología Humana y su Laboratorio en los ciclos escolares 2009-2010, 2011-2012 y 2012-2013. Se aplicó el inventario de Felder y Soloman a un total de 459 estudiantes; 265 (126 mujeres y 139 hombres) lo contestaron completamente. Se calculó, al final, la fiabilidad del instrumento. Resultados: El valor del alfa de Cronbach para cada una de las cuatro dimensiones del cuestionario quedó comprendido entre 0.38 y 0.61. Los estilos de aprendizaje predominantes de los alumnos fueron el activo, el sensitivo, el visual y el secuencial. No hubo diferencias significativas entre los estilos de aprendizaje por género. Conclusiones: Los datos apoyan la confiabilidad de las dimensiones activo-reflexivo y visual-verbal, pero las dimensiones sensitivo-intuitivo y secuencial-global requieren re-evaluación. Son necesarios trabajos adicionales con poblaciones mayores de estudiantes que validen el cuestionario, a través de estimar tanto su validez como su confiabilidad. De igual forma, se recomiendan investigaciones que determinen si existe alguna relación positiva entre los estilos de aprendizaje y diversas estrategias de enseñanza.

The research objective was to verify the validity and reliability of Felder's learning styles instrument applied to engineering students at Instituto Politécnico Nacional and the relation to age, gender, and semester of enrolment. The validity and reliability of the instrument was proven. The results reveal a population of students with balanced learning styles in the active-reflective, sensory-intuitive, and sequential-global dimensions. Learning styles are independent from student age. With respect to gender, in the active-reflective dimension, the females have a tendency to adopt a style that is more active than reflective, while the males show balance. The students have a tendency to adopt a learning style that is more sensory than intuitive, regardless of their semester of enrolment.

El objetivo de la investigación es verificar la validez y confiabilidad del instrumento de estilos de aprendizaje de Felder aplicado en estudiantes de Ingeniería del Instituto Politécnico Nacional y su relación con su edad, género y semestre en curso. Se corroboró la validez y confiabilidad del instrumento aplicado. Los resultados revelan una población de estudiantes con estilos de aprendizaje equilibrados en las dimensiones activo-reflexiva, sensitivo-intuitiva y secuencial-global. En cuanto a la edad, los estilos de aprendizaje son independientes de la edad de los alumnos. Respecto del género, en la dimensión activo-reflexiva son las mujeres quienes tienen una tendencia a adoptar un estilo más activo que reflexivo, en tanto los hombres muestran equilibrio. Finalmente, los estudiantes tienen una tendencia a adoptar un estilo de aprendizaje más sensitivo que intuitivo, independientemente del semestre que cursen.