Running head: LEARNING STYLE 1

The VARK Questionnaire : How do I Learn Best? Suresh Philip Grand Canyon University

LEARNING STYLE The VARK Questionnaire : How Do I Learn Best? Learning is the way you take in information, organize and make use of it, differs from person to person. Difference of learning style is not proportionate to a persons abilities, but knowing their own style of learning will help them to make the task easier. By knowing their

strength and weakness of learning will help them to do more what they are at best and work on to overcome their weakness. This will help them to try different learning strategies on different situations and improve the quality of learning and successful in life. There are predominantly four types of learning style, Visual, Auditory, Read/Write and Kinesthetic. Some students learn by seeing the materials like pictures, flash cards, power point presentation, illustrated text books etc. When taking notes they try to replace words with pictures or symbols and will highlight notes relating to one topic with same color. They try to recall work by images than words and the drawback of this learning is they can easily get distracted by other visuals like television or computer screen when studying. Certain students try to learn by hearing. These Auditory learners prefer to sit in front of the class when Instructor is lecturing and will repeat the information silently to themselves. They would read out the books loudly and will attend group discussion and debates. However the negative side is they get easily distracted by outside voices. Kinesthetic learners are who try to learn by physically experiencing or doing things. They would have a hard time in sitting for a long lecture and instead would love to take a short break in-between. Since they want hands-on experience in learning these learners would prefer lab experiments and tutorials.

LEARNING STYLE Read/Write learners as the name suggests are the types who learn by reading and writing. They would write down notes when lecturing and read out again and again to understand the concept. VARK questionnaire is based on natural questions developed to find out ones preferred

learning style. It is important one should know what their learning style is and also identify their strengths and weakness in order to perform better. We have to take different learning approaches when we are in school, colleges and universities. Identifying the learning strategies and making changes if necessary will help them to be successful. Based on VARK questionnaire this learners preferred style is Read/Write which is style preferred by most instructors and students in universities. Read/Write style adopts a deep approach learning strategy which performs better academically. These types of learners enjoy reading books and takes down a lot of notes and will also re-write it. They will usually make a list of key words and organize them into categories and sections. A Read/Write learner prefers a quiet learning atmosphere and easily gets distracted by noise and other external disturbances. They would keep all the handouts provided by instructors throughout the year and turn diagrams and charts into their own words for better understanding. The disadvantage of read/write learners are that it is hard for them to learn when the only medium of instruction is visual presentation and have no access to writing. They also have a hard time to figure out the exact meaning of a process when it is given in diagrams or charts. This learner has identified the read/write learning style as her preferred style of learning which she is using successfully throughout her career. She takes down detailed notes when during lecture and asks instructor when a point is not understood to her. The concept sometimes taught in class may be different from the textbook and notes taken during lecture help her to understand

LEARNING STYLE harder ideas and fill the gap. She reads books and makes a bullet list of points and organizes them into categories and sub-sections. After reading a book she makes notes in her own words which she reads before examination and finds no difficulty in this pattern of learning. She tries to make use of new vocabulary which comes across lecture and readings in notes and essays. Also she understands a new word by finding out the meaning and usages and thereby enhances

her own word power. Two learning strategies used by this learner are writing out key words in a list form and writing summary about a topic. During lecture or reading books this learner writes down key words used in that lecture/book in a listed form which is very helpful when reviewing course materials. Writing a summary about a topic helps to recall the subject at a later time. These two learning strategies are also some of the preferred strategies suggested by VARK for read/write type of learners. This learner does not find any difficulty in this style of learning and hence prefer to continue the same. Although according to VARK analysis this learner have a predominantly read/write style of learning she scored some points in other style of learning also. This suggests she can very well change to other style of learning if need arises. Learning style remains the same during a period of time but as time passes and changes in learning environment will tend to makes changes in learning style. So it is important to take VARK questionnaire at regular intervals to find out if any changes are required in our learning style to meet our current needs. Even though we will be comfortable in our present learning style, it is advisable that we try out other types of learning styles. It is not easy to adopt to new style of learning but regular practicing helps them to develop new learning styles.

LEARNING STYLE References Study Skills & Supplemental Instruction Center (2008). Understanding Your Learning Style. Retrieved from http://www.wlu.ca/learning_resources/pdfs/Learning_Styles.pdf The Study Gurus (2010), Study advice for read & write learners. Clare, Retrieved from http://www.thestudygurus.com/read-write-study-tips/ The University of Western Ontario (2009). Student Development Center, Learning styles & preferences, Retrieved from http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/learning/index.html?styles VARK, A Guide to Learning Styles (2001-2011). VARK Modalities. Retrieved from http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=categories

LEARNING STYLE VARK Questionnaire Results

This learners score were:

Visual: 3 Aural: 4 Read/Write: 12 Kinesthetic: 3