Abstract

• The purpose of the study is to explore student teachers’ learning styles and their engagement in learning mathematics at Sagaing University of Education. A cross-sectional survey was used to get the required data. The participants were (216) mathematics specialized student teachers at Sagaing University of Education during 2023-2024 Academic Year and were selected using a simple random sampling method. Learning styles questionnaire based on Grasha-Riechmann Learning Scales (GRLSS) of Grasha (1996) and the student engagement questionnaire designed on the school’s questionnaire (SESQ) by Lam and Jimerson (2008) were used as instruments to collect data. A pilot study was made with (30) mathematics specialized student teachers at University for the Development of the National Races of the Union. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the learning styles questionnaire was (.852), and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the student engagement questionnaire was (.872). The obtained data were systematically analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman rank-order correlation. According to the results, most student teachers (44%) preferred the dependent learning style, and no student teacher (0%) preferred the avoidant learning style. Most student teachers (63%) had a moderate level of engagement, and the least student teachers (17.6%) had a high level of engagement. Based on the correlation results, it can be concluded that there was a positive correlation between student teachers’ independent, dependent, competitive, collaborative, and participant learning styles and their engagement in learning mathematics. Thus, student teachers will be motivated to engage in learning activities that lead to improved educational outcomes if they have the opportunity to learn in their preferred learning styles.