Learning
styles represent the different approaches to learning based on preferences,
weaknesses, and strengths. For learners to best achieve the desired educational
outcome, learning styles must be considered when creating a plan. Complete
“The VARK Questionnaire,” located on the VARK website, and then
complete the following:
- Click “OK” to receive your questionnaire scores.
- Once you have determined your preferred learning style, review the
corresponding link to view your learning preference.
- Review the other learning styles: visual, aural, read/write,
kinesthetic, and multimodal (listed on the VARK Questionnaire Results page).
- Compare your current preferred learning strategies to the
identified strategies for your preferred learning style.
- Examine how awareness of learning styles has influenced your
perceptions of teaching and learning.
In a
paper (750‐1,000 words), summarize your analysis of this exercise and discuss
the overall value of learning styles. Include the following:
- Provide a summary of your learning style according the VARK
questionnaire.
- Describe your preferred learning strategies. Compare your current
preferred learning strategies to the identified strategies for your preferred
learning style.
- Describe how individual learning styles affect the degree to which
a learner can understand or perform educational activities. Discuss the
importance of an educator identifying individual learning styles and
preferences when working with learners.
- Discuss why understanding the learning styles of individuals
participating in health promotion is important to achieving the desired
outcome. How do learning styles ultimately affect the possibility for a
behavioral change? How would different learning styles be accommodated in health
promotion?
Cite to
at least three peer‐reviewed or scholarly sources to complete this assignment.
Sources should be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the
assignment criteria
The result for my VARK is the
learning style of the “R” which is meant (read/ write).
People with a strong
reading and writing preference for learning like list, note and text in all its
formats and whether in print or online.
People with a Read/Write preference prefer:
- to write and read.
They like words that have interesting meanings and backgrounds.
- to use lists (a, b, c,
d, and 1, 2, 3, 4) and to order things into categories.
- to arrange words into
hierarchies and points; order and structure in anything presented
- extracting meanings
from headings and titles
- correcting mistakes
- clarity in what has
been written
- challenging rules and
regulations because of their wording
- people who write or
speak using challenging words
To take in information:
- use lists (like this
one!)
- use titles and
headings that clearly explain what follows
- use bullet points and
numbered paragraphs
- use dictionaries and
glossaries, articles about trends in word usage
- spell-check; correct
written language errors
- read handouts
- read books that are
dense with text, essays, manuals, reading lists
- use definitions,
constitutions, legal documents, minutes and rules
- write notes (often
verbatim)
- get information from
people who use words well and have lots of information in their sentences
- as you listen, sort
out what they are saying into your own categories and lists
To present information to others:
- Order things into
priorities of importance, or categories, or schemas…
- Contribute in print to
a variety of print media
- Rewrite any ideas and
principles in your own words
- Be aware that others
may not have a Read/Write preference like you, so respect their differences.
In education:
- Convert your “notes”
into a learnable package by reducing them from three pages down to one page.
- Write out the words
again and again.
- Read your notes
(silently) again and again.
- Do any “extra”
suggested reading
- Organize any diagrams,
graphs … into statements, e.g. “This graph shows that the trend is…”
- Use a digital device
to arrange your ideas and to “try” different words.
- Imagine your lists
arranged in multiple choice questions and distinguish each from each.
In the workplace:
- Use SWOT analyses
showing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats.
- Use Risk analyses
- Strategic and
management plans e.g. management by objectives (MBO), especially written ones.
- Write out your words
for others to read, use handouts, noticeboards, and post-its.
- Read carefully what
others have written
- Watch and read new
material appearing on noticeboards – in the workplace, office, and online.
- Have current business
news running on your computer
- Quote from business
magazines and journals
- Write lists of tasks
and carefully record important print information.
- Find out the
preferences of others and deliver in their preferred modes.
-
VARK provides students with an indication of their preferences
for learning and as such it will indicate stronger and weaker preferences. It
would be wonderful if students could explore their weaker preferences and
enhance them by using all the VARK strategies associated with them. A student
with a strong Read/Write preference might learn to
use Visualstrategies for note-taking or
expressing his/her learning. Or, a student with a strong Visual preference
might attend a course to assist with Kinesthetic ways
of taking information in or for expressing it. Indeed, there are a number of
such courses available in most communities. For example, there are usually
seminars and workshops for developing mind-mapping skills or creative writing
or improving reading comprehension or accelerated learning.
- But there is at least
one point on which students and faculty differ. For most students there are
stressful tests and examinations where they are expected to indicate how much
they have learned. For faculty there are fewer stress times in their lives
because of their prior experience and learning. This has a significant effect
on whether VARK can be used for the development of new skills or the
reinforcement of older ones. While some students seek opportunities to learn
new strategies at every opportunity that is not general. Many students in
higher education are at critical points in their search for employment, or
partners, or self-esteem, and they often cling to the strategies and
preferences that they have, rather than extending themselves into unknown
areas. For them it is often a matter of staying with what they know best,
despite some professors urging them, to expand their repertoire.
- The Absence of a
Visual Preference (An example from the text in the book).
- So your results show
an absence (a zero score) on the Visual (V) preference dimension!
- “You may have some
distrust of graphs and diagrams and anything that relies on symbolism. You
don’t always share the same meaning of these symbols as others do. An arrow representing
a flow may mean something quite different to you. The placement of words on a
page has little added meaning and things like layout and style are not as
important as they are to some others. You may have difficulty understanding why
others place so much importance on trivial things like fonts and formats and
layouts. You probably get lost trying to find your way to other places and you
may have little memory for the surroundings in a room, an auditorium or a
house. You might prefer not to use a map to find your way.
Remembering what people wear or what they look like is probably not a strong
point for you. Who cares about merely pictures!
- Just because it
is on a screen does not make something suitable for a student with a
Visual preference. “
A Brief Overview of VARK and its Development. VARK is an
acronym made from the initial letters of Visual, Aural, Read/Write and
Kinesthetic. These four communication modes are used in learning. Learners use
them when they are taking in or giving out information. They have preferences
for some modes and not for others. For example, some learners prefer to ‘read
about it’ others to talk or draw or experience their learning. Some have no
strong preferences for any single communication mode. They may be indifferent
to which method they use to express their learning – they are multimodal in
their preferences. This book is about identifying preferences and using them to
be successful learners. It will provide strategies that align with your
preferences and it will encourage you to play to your strengths. Although we
have known for centuries about different communication modes, the VARK package,
initially developed in 1987 by Neil Fleming, was the first to systematically
present a modal preferences questionnaire with VARK Help sheets for learners,
teachers, employers, trainers, employees and others to use when communicating.
It also sought to be advisory rather than diagnostic or predictive. A brief
inventory (16 questions) is another advantage because it reduces “survey
burnout and fatigue”! Many researchers had focused on visual, aural and
kinesthetic characteristics (V, A and K), but Fleming subdivided the visual
mode into two parts; visual (iconic) and text (symbolic), creating four
possibilities for modality preferences. A fifth category was added to cater for
the 55% – 60% of respondents who have multiple preferences (multimodal). The
VARK materials are widely used in educational and business institutions and
have received high acclaim for their powerful simplicity, their ability to
spark discussion about learning and the fact that VARK makes intuitive good
sense. The questionnaire is now in over 30 languages. The first VARK
questionnaire was designed in 1987. Version 2.0 was launched in January 1998
with the assistance and insights of Dr. Charles Bonwell, then at St Louis
College of Pharmacy, Missouri, USA. The questionnaire has been altered since
and, after major reviews in 2006, 2009 and 2013. This major revision in 2019
has produced Version 8.0. “It does seem, then, that teachers may unconsciously
try to push their pupils into their own mode of thinking, once again a result
of people’s inability to appreciate the radical ways that pupils think.” S.V.
Thompson (1990) in Visual Imagery. People benefit from knowing about their
individualized ways of learning. Even the exercise of reflecting about learning
(metacognition) is a useful technique for improving our communication. VARK is
a tool for any learning task. It is as helpful in running a business as it is
for studying at a college or university or coaching a team or an athlete. One
of its side benefits is that it is a catalyst for conversations between coaches
and mentors, learners and learners; teachers and teachers; and trainers and
their clients.
The citation for the initial research paper that launched
VARK is: Fleming, N. D. and Mills, C. (1992), Not Another Inventory, Rather a
Catalyst for Reflection From To Improve the Academy, Vol. 11, 1992. page 137.
WHAT IS VARK? WHAT ARE LEARNING STYLES? Firstly, VARK is not
a learning style. The term learning styles is frequently used in businesses,
schools, universities and colleges and there are a variety of books about them.
A learning style refers to an individual’s preferred ways of gathering, organizing,
and thinking about information1 . There are various authors who have written
about different types or categories within the field of learning styles.2 A
learning style is an amalgam of preferences and VARK is not a learning style
because it is only one of the preferences that make up a learning style. VARK
is the part that deals with perceptual modes, which means that it is focused on
the different ways that learners take in and give out or express information.
Learners have different learning styles, they learn in different ways and one
preference in a learning style is the preferences for the intake and the output
of ideas and information. No learner or teacher is restricted to only one mode
for communication intake or output. Even so, it is interesting to note that
there are some dominant preferences and some voids (zero scores for a
preference) among different people. Some exhibit not only a strong preference
for one particular mode but also relative weaknesses in other modes. For taking
in our environment we use our senses – sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.
In academic learning we usually use our sight, our speech and our hearing
(Visual, Aural and Read./write) with less importance placed on taste, touch and
smell. Some learners like to use all their senses at once by experiencing their
learning and this uses their Kinesthetic preferences. The power of VARK is that
learners, understand it intuitively and it seems to fit best practices. It
provides a useful way, therefore, to begin our discussion with the four VARK
modality preferences shown in italics above. WHY VARK? The acronym VARK stands
for Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic. These are the sensory
modalities that are used for learning any information. When we are training,
teaching, coaching or mentoring these four categories seem to reflect the
experiences of our learners. Although there is some overlap between them, for
the purposes of this book, they are defined as follows. But, before reading
about the definitions, keep in mind that there will be combinations of these.
So a learner may have a preference for using Visual and Read/Write (V and R),
or Aural and Kinethetic (A and K) or all four (V, A, R and K). All the possible
combinations of V, A, R and K are part of having Multimodal preferences. Visual
(V): This preference includes the depiction of information in charts, graphs,
flow charts, and all the symbolic arrows, circles, hierarchies and other
devices that are used to represent what might have been presented in words.
Layout, whitespace, headings, patterns, designs and color are important in
establishing meaning. Learners with a strong Visual preference are more aware
of their immediate environment and their place in space. It does not include
pictures, movies, videos and animated websites (simulation). They belong with
Kinesthetic, defined below. Aural (A): This perceptual mode describes a
preference for information that is spoken or heard. Learners with this modality
report that they learn best from discussion, oral feedback, asking questions,
email, mobile chat, texting, discussion boards, oral presentations, classes,
tutorials, and talking with others. Read/Write (R): This preference is for
information displayed as words, either read or written. Typically it means
those who prefer books and handouts – anything with text. Not surprisingly,
many academics and high-achieving learners have a strong preference for this
modality. These learners place importance on precision in language and are keen
to use quotes, lists, texts, books, brochures, handouts and manuals. They have
a strong reverence for words. Kinesthetic (K): By definition, this modality
refers to the “perceptual preference related to the use of experience and
practice (simulated or real).” Although such an experience may use other
modalities, the key part of any definition is that the learner is connected to
reality, “either through experience, example, practice or simulation,” It is
often referred to as 1 Davis, 1993, p. 185 2 Murrell and Claxton (1987)
categorized learning styles into four groups: models that focus on 1)
personality characteristics (e.g., extrovert v. introvert); 2) information
processing (e.g., a holistic v. a sequential approach); 3) social interaction,
how students behave and interact in the classroom e.g., learning oriented v.
grade oriented); and 4) instructional preference, the medium in which learning
occurs (e.g., graphic representation, listening, reading, or direct
experience). VARK is clearly an example of the instructional preference category
How Do I Learn Best? “learning by doing” but that is an
oversimplification especially for higher levels of learning which are often
abstract and sometimes difficult or dangerous or slow. Such learning can still
be made accessible for learners with a Kinesthetic VARK preference. This mode
uses many senses (sight, touch, taste and smell) to take in their environment
and to experience and learn new things. Some theorists believe that movement is
important for this mode, but it is the reality of the situation that appeals
most. Before you read any further you should complete the 16 questions below.
It is not a test, but it will make more sense of what you are about to read.
There are some instructions at the top of the questionnaire. Not everybody
reads them. The most important instruction is that you may choose more than one
answer to any of the questions. It may be somewhat more interesting to later
limit yourself to one answer per question or maybe two, but that is your
choice. Please fill in the questionnaire even if you have filled it in before.
Just one more time! If you prefer to complete the questionnaire online go to
www.vark-learn.com get your four scores and find out your VARK learning
preference. 3 The VARK questionnaire indicates your preferences for the way you
work with information. When you have completed the questionnaire, you should
fill in the boxes on page 4 and record your profile of preferences.
A Brief Biography of Neil Fleming Neil D Fleming is first
and foremost a teacher. He has taught in universities, teacher education
centers and high schools. Before working for eleven years in faculty
development at Lincoln University, he was for nine years a senior inspector for
the 105 high schools in the South Island of New Zealand. This involved being a
critical observer of over 9000 ‘lessons’ in classrooms. His task in those years
involved observing teachers and learners and writing a report for the college
or high school about the effectiveness of the teaching by its impact on
learning. He developed a healthy respect for the different ways in which
learners learned and teachers taught. He re-established a faculty development
center (1987-98) and developed an ambitious web-based learning project and a
strategic plan for information technology at Lincoln University, New Zealand.
In this work he encouraged teachers to respond to the diversity of learning
styles among their learners. He also worked closely to improve learners’
strategies for academic success as well as teaching regular classes in communication
and extension. Neil has written best-selling educational textbooks on Consumer
Education and Economics and with Dr. Charles Bonwell developed the VARK
questionnaire and support materials that can be viewed interactively at
www.varklearn.com. One of his books applies the VARK principles to athletics
and sports and is titled Sports Coaching and Learning. Another applies VARK
principles and best practice to the world of business. Neil has presented
active, participatory workshops at major conferences in the UK, USA, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand, Turkey, Thailand, India, Malaysia and Brunei on such
topics as assessment and evaluation, curriculum redesign, marking and grading,
learning styles and shifting the campus focus from teaching to learning. As a
scholar with an international perspective, his writing can be found in key
faculty development journals in Britain, North America and Australasia. He has
undertaken educational consultancies in Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, the Cook Islands
and Papua New Guinea. Today, Neil, in semi retirement, tends to his very active
website and has a regular seat as a lay member of the Ethics Committee for
Education Research at the University of Canterbury. He is an active volunteer
for his local primary school and for a health provider and he has a beehive and
makes solid-wood furniture as hobbies. A Brief Biography of CHUCK BONWELL
Charles C. Bonwell has been engaged in the scholarship of teaching for over
twenty years. A former Professor of History, he has facilitated workshops
nationally and internationally for faculty and teaching assistants on active
learning and critical thinking, and has given the keynote address at numerous
regional, national, and international conferences. In 1986 Bonwell was one of
50 faculty honored by the American Association of Higher Education and the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for his “outstanding
educational leadership.” He is co-author, with James Eison, of the best-selling
ASHE-ERIC monograph Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom
(1991). In 1996, Jossey-Bass published Using Active Learning in College
Classrooms:
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