A Commognitive Perspective: How Visual, Auditorial, and Kinesthetic Learners Solve Linear Programming Problem?

Students often struggle to express their mathematical reasoning due to limited discussion opportunities and differing learning styles, which affect how they process and communicate problem solving strategies. Commognitive theory, linking communication and cognition, provides insight into how students think and solve problems. This qualitative study explored students’ commognitive processes in solving linear programming problems based on their learning styles. Three Year 11 female students from a high school in Palu, Indonesia, each representing a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learning style participated in the study. Data were collected through a learning style questionnaire, problem-solving tasks, and interviews. The results reveal that the visual learner demonstrated all four commognitive indicators keywords, visual mediators, endorsed narratives, and routines with strong visualization and structured reasoning. The auditory learner also showed all indicators but struggled with routines, especially in translating problems into narrative form. The kinesthetic learner responded accurately and used gestures when explaining but relied more on physical interaction than detailed verbal reasoning, particularly in the narrative aspect. These findings suggest commognitive processes vary according to students’ learning style. Understanding these differences is important for developing teaching strategies that align with students’ cognitive and communicative tendencies, ultimately improving the effectiveness of math instruction.