Learning styles and strategies of public health students of Arak University of Medical Sciences during the covid-19 pandemic

 Students' learning styles and strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic have been impacted by virtual education, necessitating further investigation to provide more suitable educational content based on them. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the learning styles and learning strategies used by public health students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 This is a cross-sectional analytical study conducted in the form of a census on 81 public health students at Arak University of Medical Sciences who had completed at least one academic semester and were willing to participate in the study during the academic year 2021-2022. The data collection tools included the students' educational status questionnaire, the standard learning style questionnaire (VARK), and a 22-question standard learning strategies questionnaire by Pintrich and de Groot. Data were analyzed using Chi-2 and Mann-Whitney tests.

 The average age of the students was 22.59 ± 4.2 years, and the majority were female (84%). The average academic term of the students was 6 ± 2 semesters. According to the results, 76% of the students had a single style, with the dominant style being the listening style in 40% of boys and 33% of girls. The average score of students' self-regulated learning strategies was 86.27 ± 13.2, with 42% of students using self-regulated learning strategies at the intermediate level and 58% at the high level. A significant relationship was observed between the use of self-regulation learning guides and students' high school grade point average and probationary history (p < 0.05).

 The findings of this study can inform the design of educational content for students, enable adaptation of professors' teaching styles to students' learning preferences, and enhance teaching effectiveness in the post-coronavirus era.