Enhancing ICT Skills Learning through Peer Learning: Perspectives of Learning Style and Gender

In the present study, peer learning was implemented to enhance secondary school learners' learning process and performance in a collaborative ICT project. There were 139 8th graders, 72 males and 67 females, participated in the experimental instruction. Participants' learning styles were identified based on the perspective of Verbal-Imaginal information processing. Peer learning process was implemented to support and enahnce the collaborative learning process. The results revealed that (a) the female learners achieved higher comprehension and application performance than the males, (b) the female learners also perceived the employed peer learning to be more "compensation" than the male learners, (c) the "enhancement" effect of peer learning on learning style was found for the imaginal learners on comprehension performance, (d) the "compensation" effect of peer learning on learning style was found for the verbalizer on application performance, and (e) the gender difference effect was significant on learners' performance, learning progress and attitudes.