Learning styles and academic performance in engineering students: A pre- and pos-pandemic bibliometric study

Abstract

Introduction: The relationship between learning styles and academic performance has gained significant attention, particularly in engineering education, as it plays an important role in enhancing the quality of the learning process. This study aims to provide a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research trends in this field, focusing on pre- and post-pandemic periods. Methods: A total of 1397 articles from the Scopus database were analyzed using VOSviewer software to map the scientific production until 2023. The analysis was divided into two periods: 2016-2019 and 2020-2023, identifying clústers of research focused on learning styles, academic performance, and the growing importance of e-learning post-pandemic.
Results: Five main clústers were identified between 2016-2019, including learning styles, the development of evaluation instruments, psychological aspects, curricular development, and general learning. In the post-pandemic period, three dominant clústers emerged, focused on learning styles, academic performance, and e-learning. Co-authorship analysis revealed changes in collaboration patterns, with increased global cooperation, particularly in the United States, China, and Spain during the 2020-2023 period. Conclusions: The study highlights the increasing relevance of research on learning styles and the shift toward remote learning triggered by the pandemic. These findings underscore the need for further exploration of adaptive teaching strategies to diverse learning preferences in the evolving educational landscape.