COGNITIVE STYLE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY TEACHER TRAINEES (Pages 34-40) by Mrs. M. T. Manjula Devi * and Dr. B. William Dharma Raja ** in THE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SPECIALIST / ISSN: 2350-1499 (Online); 2350-0751 (Print)

Cognitive style is described as a personality dimension which influences attitudes, values and social interaction. Mikeney and Keen (1974) and Botkin (1974) categorized the cognitive style into two namely systematic style and intuitive style. Survey method was adopted for this study. The objective of the study is to find the predominance of cognitive style prevailing among elementary teacher trainees. The tool used was Cognitive-Style Inventory developed by Praveen Kumar Jha (2001). A sample comprised of 768 elementary teacher trainees who were studying Diploma in Elementary Education in four districts in Tamil Nadu.. Random sampling technique was adopted. 60.6% of standard XI students have systematic cognitive style and 39.4 % of intuitive style. Hence teachers should follow logical, step by step sequential approach to thinking, learning, problem solving and decision making which helps to attain more academic scores.ognitive style is described as a personality dimension which influences attitudes, values and social interaction. Mikeney and Keen (1974) and Botkin (1974) categorized the cognitive style into two namely systematic style and intuitive style. Survey method was adopted for this study. The objective of the study is to find the predominance of cognitive style prevailing among elementary teacher trainees. The tool used was Cognitive-Style Inventory developed by Praveen Kumar Jha (2001). A sample comprised of 768 elementary teacher trainees who were studying Diploma in Elementary Education in four districts in Tamil Nadu.. Random sampling technique was adopted. 60.6% of standard XI students have systematic cognitive style and 39.4 % of intuitive style. Hence teachers should follow logical, step by step sequential approach to thinking, learning, problem solving and decision making which helps to attain more academic scores.Keywords: Cognitive style, achievement, systematic style, Intuitive style