A Cognitive Preference Profiles in Engineering Students: A Cluster Analysis of Learning Tendencies and Cerebral Hemispheric Orientation

Abstract; School dropout in the first year of engineering faculties is a current topic. Possible solutions depend on many variables like the students’ learning style, the teaching methods, learning material, etc; Therefore, solutions can only be proposed adapted to the particularities of the study group (students learning style, teacher methods, material, etc). This study analyzes the cognitive preference profiles in a sample of engineering students. In this respect, a correlation between the learning style and the cerebral hemispheric orientation for each student in sample has been done using the “Preference learning style questionnaire” and the “Cerebral hemispheric preference” questionnaire, both created by Ricki Linksman (1999). Furthermore, cluster analyses were used to determine the student’s cognitive profiles based on which pedagogical recommendations and teaching methods for engineering education are made.