The influence of students’ intelligence types and personality traits on academic performance in distance learning in the digital environment

Abstract

The academic paper investigates the influence of students’ intelligence types and personality traits on academic performance in order to increase the remote (distance) or online learning effectiveness. The research was conducted in 2019–2021 on the basis of three groups of bachelor students who studied in different training forms, namely: full-time (classroom) form in 2019 and 2021 and remote (distance) form in 2020. The students were tested annually in accordance with J. Bruner’s methodology adapted by G.V. Rezapkina in order to determine the leading intelligence types; as well as according to the Russian-language version of the Big Five Inventory questionnaire adapted by S.A. Shchebetenko for the purpose of analysing students’ personal traits. The data obtained in the full-time (classroom) and remote (distance) form of training were processed statistically and compared with each other for interpretation and the practical recommendations formation. The research result was an empirical model of the intelligence types and personality traits influencing academic performance in different training forms. Therefore, as a positive factor in the transfer to distance training mode, the authors highlighted the expressiveness of students’ creative thinking. Conversely, the prevalence of the verbal-logical intelligence type is rather a factor in favour of the classic classroom interaction format. Regardless of the chosen training form, the general relevance of the activation and adaptation of students of humanitarian specialties with a pronounced visual-figurative and subject-effective thinking is emphasised. Previously obtained data on the general positive influence of such personal qualities as: benevolence, conscientiousness and openness to new experience on the training effectiveness are also confirmed. Neuroticism, on the other hand, is an insignificant personal factor that has a negative impact in the framework of the classroom format, and the positive influence in distance training mode. By the way, a hypothesis has been put forward about the lower efficiency of online (as opposed to full-time) team activities, including design works in groups with pronounced extraversion.

Keywords

• academic performance
• student group
• e-leaning
• distance technologies
• covid-19 pandemic
• settled thinking mode
• personality traits
• learning efficiency