Banca de DEFESA: CARLA ALBERGARIA MACHADO

EXECUTIVE ROLES, LEARNING STYLES AND STRATEGIES IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Executive functions; learning styles. learning strategies

Learning is a complex mental process that depends on a variety of factors to be effective (Pozo,
1996). In this way, the interpretation of the differences found in the students during the learning

process and in the results achieved led to the awareness of the existence of different learning
styles and their influence on the way each individual understands reality and appropriates and
processes information in a way to transform it into knowledge (Dunn and Dunn, 1992; Kolb,
1984; Sadler-Smith, 1998). According to the required demand, each learning style performs a
combination of activities, also called learning strategies (Boruchovitch, 1999). In the learning
process, self-regulation, internalization and adherence to social norms are essential factors.
Executive Functions (EF) are fundamental for the performance of complex acts and play a role in
all processes, since they include the ability to plan, sequence, initiate and organize actions,
establish priorities, guide behavior, maintain focus on distraction, change strategies, and inhibit
responses as needed (Armengol & Moes, 2014). The present study aimed to identify learning
styles and strategies in university students and their relationship with Executive Functions. The
spiritual study I sought to analyze the styles and learning strategies most used by university
students, with the accommodating style being the most frequently found (39.58%), represented
by students who learn by acting and feeling, and a preferential tendency in the use of social self-
regulation strategies (79.5%), that is, participants who tend to have actions that promote the relationship
with the other aiming at their own learning, such as group study. The empirical study II proposed to
analyze the relationship between Executive Functions and learning styles and strategies in
university students, resulting in the lack of significant difference between the groups, that is, no
relationship was shown between the constructs.