The match/mismatch relationship between teaching and learning styles and its implication for students' academic performance: Evidence from Taiwanese pre-service teachers

The purpose of the current study was to examine the match/mismatch relationship between teaching styles and learning styles in terms of student academic achievement in a Taiwanese teacher-training program, utilizing Four Model Application Techniques (4MAT) as a theoretical model. In a convenience sampling, 707 pre-service teaching program students and 22 professors participated in the survey study by completing the McCarthy Learning Type Measure Inventory (LTM) and Teaching Style Inventory (TSI), respectively. Academic achievement was measure by the professors' assigned final grades. Findings showed that the majority of educational university professors preferred the Analytic teaching style (Type II) while the dominant learning style was the Imaginative (Type I). Style match/mismatch on academic performance was examined in two statistical models. A dichotomous variable model for academic performance failed to show a significant relationship. A second model implemented mean differences between each teaching and each learning style. The findings revealed McCarthy's analytic match (Type II) had a significant positive relationship with student final scores while the dynamic match (Type IV) displayed a negative relationship with academic outcomes. The result indicated that style match matters, especially for Analytic and Dynamic learners. Along these lines, future studies may explore the following areas in terms of style match: experimental/qualitative research design employing other measurements for achievement and examination of teaching and learning styles in different cultures or groups.