The Future of Education

Aim: the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between personality traits and learning methods with academic performance in distance education university students. Method: 185 distance education university students were randomly selected and responded to NEOPI-R inventory (short from, 60 items) that assesses five basic personality traits: Neuroticism (N), Extroversion (E), Openness to new experience (o), agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness(C); and learning  methods (concrete experience (CE), abstract conceptualization (AC), reflective  observation (RO), and active experimentation (AE) based on Kolb’s experiential learning  theory. In academic performance, general mean course obtained at university in the previous academic year were used. Results: Findings showed that there was negative correlation between neuroticism with academic performance, and positive correlation between Extroversion, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness with academic performance. In learning methods, there was negative correlation between reflective observation with academic performance, and positive correlation between active experimentation with academic performance. Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that personality factors and learning methods are good predictors of academic performance in distance education university students. These can be associated with effective learning in classroom environment and also community that influence on individual’s academic performance.