It is acknowledged that not all invidividuals learn in the same way (Torre, 2013) and that the consideration of learning styles can assist students to learn more effectively (Kinshuk, Liu, & Graf, 2009). Students often have specific preferences in the way they obtain and process information presented to them (Uğur, Akkoyunlu, & Kurbanoğlu, 2011). Therefore, it makes sense for instructional procedures to accommodate students’ individual learning preferences in order to enable them to achieve learning outcomes more efficiently.

As observed by Snowball (2014), blended learning environments have the potential to offer a variety of instructional materials and activities that can accommodate student preferences in a way that would not be possible with more traditional formats. Studies conducted on students’ perceptions of blended learning and their learning styles suggested mixed results (e.g. Akkoyunlu & Soylu, 2008; Snowball, 2014). For example, Akkoyunlu and Soylu (2008) found that students’ opinion on blended learning differed according to their learning style. More research is needed to investigate how individual differences can be accommodated in such environments (Torre, 2013).

With this in mind, we explored students’ perceptions of their preferred instructional formats based on their learning styles in a blended learning graduate course offered in the United Arab Emirates in the academic year of 2014-2015. To achieve the study goal, the researchers created and made available different instructional materials. This research endeavors to advance greater understanding of the design of content formats to meet students’ preferences.

Akkoyunlu, B., & Soylu, M. Y. (2008) ‘A Study of student’s perceptions in a blended learning environment based on different learning styles’, Educational Technology & Society, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 183-193. Kinshuk, Liu, T., & Graf, S. (2009) Coping with mismatched courses: Students’ behaviour and performace in courses mismatched to their learning styles. Education tehcnology Research Development, no. 57, pp. 739-752. Torre, J. M. D. (2013) ‘Variances on students’ blended learning perception according to learning style preferences’, Journal of Education and Practice, vol. 4, no. 20, pp. 160-168. Uğur, B. Akkoyunlu, B, & Kurbanoğlu, S. (2011) ‘Students’ perceptions on blended learning and its implementation in terms of their learning styles’, Education, Information Technologies, no. 16, pp. 5-23. Snowball, J. D. (2014) Using interactive content and online activities to accommodate diversity in a large first year class. High Education, no. 67, pp. 823-838.