RESUMO

BACKGROUND: Learning styles are cognitive, emotional, and physiological traits, as well as indicators of how learners perceive, interact, and respond to their learning environments. According to Honey-Mumford, learning styles are classified as active, reflexive, theoretical, and pragmatic. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify the predominant learning styles among pharmacy students at the Federal University of Paraná, Brazil. METHODS: An observational, cross-sectional, and descriptive study was conducted using the Honey-Alonso Learning Style Questionnaire. Students in the Bachelor of Pharmacy program were invited to participate in this study. The questionnaire comprised 80 randomized questions, 20 for each of the four learning styles. The maximum possible score was 20 points for each learning style, and cumulative scores indicated the predominant learning styles among the participants. Honey-Mumford (1986) proposed five preference levels for each style (very low, low, moderate, high, and very high), called a general interpretation scale, to avoid student identification with one learning style and ignoring the characteristics of the other styles. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. RESULTS: This study included 297 students (70% of all pharmacy students at the time) with a median age of 21 years old. Women comprised 77.1% of participants. The predominant style among pharmacy students at the Federal University of Paraná was the pragmatist, with a median of 14 (high preference). The pragmatist style prevails in people who are able to discover techniques related to their daily learning because such people are curious to discover new strategies and attempt to verify whether the strategies are efficient and valid. Because these people are direct and objective in their actions, pragmatists prefer to focus on practical issues that are validated and on problem situations. There was no statistically significant difference between genders with regard to learning styles. CONCLUSION: The pragmatist style is the prevailing style among pharmacy students at the Federal University of Paraná. Although students may have a learning preference that preference is not the only manner in which students can learn, neither their preference is the only manner in which students can be taught. Awareness of students' learning styles can be used to adapt the methodology used by teachers to render the teaching-learning process effective and long lasting. The content taught to students should be presented in different manners because varying teaching methods can develop learning skills in students.

RESUMO

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo o estabelecimento de parâmetros para análise morfo-anatômica das partes aéreas (caule e folhas) da planta Wedelia paludosa DC., Asteraceae. A droga vegetal e o respectivo pó foram submetidos às análises macro e microscópica após preparação de lâminas semi-permanentes de cortes transversais e paradérmicos. O pó foi analisado após diafanização com cloral hidratado. É uma planta herbácea com caule castanho-avermelhado, folhas opostas, curto-pecioladas e membranáceas, apresentando pêlos nas duas faces, estreitada em direção à base acima do meio provida de dois pequenos lobos laterais e um terminal, maior e denteado. A planta apresenta secção circular de caule, que em crescimento primário, possui epiderme, colênquima angular, parênquima cortical e cilindro vascular, assim como oxalato de cálcio (várias drusas e alguns cristais prismáticos). A folha é simples, contendo tricomas tectores e estômato anomocítico. O mesofilo possui organização dorso-ventral e a nervura central, em corte transversal, apresenta-se côncavo-convexo com três feixes colaterais e presença de drusas de oxalato de cálcio nas células parenquimáticas. No pó obtido da droga vegetal foram verificadas as mesmas estruturas microscópicas observadas na droga vegetal rasurada. Os parâmetros morfo-anatômicos estabelecidos neste trabalho permitem o controle de qualidade macro e microscópico da planta tanto rasurada como na forma de pó.

This study aimed to establish parameters for morphoanatomical analysis of the aerial parts (stem and leaves) of the plant Wedelia paludosa DC., Asteraceae. The drug and its respective powder were characterized by macro and microscopic analysis after obtaining semi-permanent lamina of transverse and paradermal sections. The powder was analyzed after being cleared with chloral hydrate. It is an herbaceous plant with reddish-brown stems, opposite leaves, short-petiolated and membranous, with hair on both faces, narrowed towards the base up the middle provided with two small lateral lobes and a, large and jagged terminal. The plant has circular cross-section of stem, in which the primary growth, has epidermis, angular collenchyma, cortical parenchyma and vascular cylinder, as well as calcium oxalate (several clusters and some prismatic crystals). The leaf is simple, containing trichomes and stomata. The mesophyll has dorsiventral organization and the midrib, in cross section presents concave-convex face with three bundles and presence of calcium oxalate in parenchymal cells. In the powder was found the same structures observed in microscopic drug erased. The morphoanatomical parameters established in this work allow the macro and microscopic quality control of power and sectioned drug.