This study provided valuable information on the differential impact of learning styles of university students
with and without LD. However, the findings should be
viewed in light of several limitations.
First, the results are limited by the relatively small
group of students with LD (n= 32) who volunteered to
participate, and whose commonality is an elected
major in social sciences. The attempt to explain the
academic achievements of students with LD in higher
education must take into consideration this limitation.
It may be worthwhile to validate the results using a
larger sample. Moreover, as the respondents majored in
the social sciences, generalizing the results to all students may be inappropriate. Therfore, studies should
examine students majoring in different fields.
Second, the students were asked to provide selfreports on their preferred learning styles and their
achievement scores. Further studies may verify these
findings by supplementing observation instruments to
measure students’ learning styles across academic contexts.
The third limitation relates to the composition of the
LD group, which was a non-homogenous sample that
consisted of students with a range of learning difficulties. It is well known that the diagnosis of LD includes
various deficiencies (e.g., difficulties in reading, arithmetic, cognitive processing, spatial or visual perception). Therefore, further investigation is necessary to
consider the effects of these different deficiencies on
learning styles.
Fourth, the findings may be unique to students at
OUI, where the particular teaching methods may have
affected the students’ learning styles. For example,
Open University’s extensive use of modern communication techniques for distance learning enables students to choose between distance learning through
interactive virtual sessions via the Internet, attending
weekly face-to-face tutorial sessions, or a combination
of these. For this study, participants were students who
attended face-to-face courses. A generalization of the
present findings would, therefore, require sampling
students who choose different models of academic
study (e.g., only interactive sessions). In addition, further research is necessary to compare these findings
with those obtained for LD and NLD students at traditional universities.