The Impact of Cognitive Styles on Academic Program Satisfaction: A Correlational Study at Pwani University, Kilifi, Kenya

Choosing a university academic programme is an important task and a key defining moment in a learner’s career life. Besides, placement in a programme that matches one’s cognitive style is just as critical. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive styles of undergraduate students at Pwani University, Kenya. A correlational study design was applied in the study. The tool for data collection was a cognitive style and programme satisfaction (CS&PS) students’ questionnaire. The study’s target population comprised of 1,926 first and 1,671 third year undergraduate students. The study made use Krejcie and Morgan Sampling table to obtain a sample size of 351. Proportionate sampling was used to sample the respondents to represent schools, departments and gender. Test-retest procedure was run to enhance reliability and validity of the tool. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to determine the reliability of the piloted questionnaires. The content validity of the study instruments was ensured through expert review and pilot study. Data was analyzed using chi-square, Pearson correlation and regression analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study found that 54.9% of respondents were Field Independent (FI) learners, while 44.8% were Field Dependent (FD). Further, more female students (69.5%) had FD cognitive style while more male students (74.8%) had FI cognitive style. The study concluded that that there was a various (22.7%) cognitive style of undergraduate students’ at Pwani University. The study recommended that Pwani university management through academic mentorship programmes should encourage undergraduate students to identify their cognitive styles and the learning strategies to enhance their optimal performance. The study also recommends that lecturers should apply variety of teaching methodologies and resources in a bid to accommodate each individual learner’s cognitive style preferences during learning.