ABSTRACT
The existence of the construct of cognitive style has been well documented in the literature. Its orientation and distribution among subjects of different cultural settings have been the focus of most published reports. The efforts at classification however have limited educational value unless they can be employed to improve the teaching - learning processes. The purposes of the present study were to re-confirm the distribution of cognitive style among a General class chemistry students (of GCE A Level equivalents), validate another self-designed instrument (the DIT) which may be used to assess the distribution of subjects on the four dimensional model proposed by Heath, identify the teachers perception of their students cognitive styles so as to draw inferences on the possible influence of the teachers perception of students cognitive styles on the students own cognitive styles, and finally determine the effectiveness of an attempt to shift students cognitive styles through teaching. A total of three hypotheses on the distribution of cognitive styles among subjects, the effect of teachers perception of students cognitive styles on students own cognitive styles, and the effectiveness of the experimental treatment were tested In the experimental part of the study, the Solomon 4-way (Pre-and Post-test Control Group) design was employed, with a total of 69 students and 3 chemistry teachers. The non-parametric statistics of X2 and Mann-Whitney U-tests were used for the analyses. The results showed that : 1. The College of Agriculture students have a comparable pattern of cognitive styles with their SBS/ABU counterparts, showing a greater preference for recall style than any other style. The relative proportions of the distributions however differed with the College of Agriculture students exhibiting greater proportion of Application and Questioning styles than SBS/ABU students, 2. Teachers can influence their students cognitive styles, for the students cognitive styles tend to correlate significantly with the teachers perception of their students cognitive styles. 3. It is possible to shift students cognitive styles from predominantly recall to a more even distribution of cognitive style on the 4 - mode model of Heath using an instructional strategy that emphasizes questioning. 4. Between the criterion measures, the Heaths model proved to be more consistent than the D..I.T, in demonstrating a shift in cognitive style from Recall to Questioning.