Abstract
Objective: Learning anatomy can be influenced by many factors including socio-cultural and education background. In New Zealand, Pasifika students are overrepresented in poor academic outcomes. Here, we aimed to: 1) compare the academic stress of Pasifika and New Zealand European (NZE) anatomy students at the University of Otago; 2) determine if they have different preferred learning strategies; 3) investigate how learning strategies are associated with academic stress.
Methods: We launched a brief (~10–15 minutes) online survey to Pasifika and NZE students. The survey includes basic demographics, the Perception of Academic Stress Scale, VARK® questionnaire, and twenty learning strategies.
Results: Pasifika students reported higher perception of academic stress (t(83) = 2.624, p = .010) than NZE students. 62.8%, 67.4%, 53.5%, 95.3% of Pasifika students were visual, aural, reader, and kinesthetic learners, whereas the proportions were 54.8%, 71.4%, 64.3%, 85.7% respectively among NZE students. Similarly, 20.9%, 25.6%, 7.0%, 46.5% of Pasifika students were mono-, bi-, tri-, quad-modal learners, whereas the proportions were 26.2%, 14.3%, 16.7%, 42.9% respectively in NZE students. Pasifika students reported lower preference in studying in libraries than NZE students (t(80) = 2.64, p = .010). Preferences of reading online materials (β = –.298, p = .016) and group study (β = .269, p = .025) were associated with academic stress, after controlling for age, ethnicity, and gender.
Conclusion: NZE and Pasifika anatomy students have similar learning strategies, but their learning strategy preferences may be related to their academic stress.