VARK learning questionnaire (designed by Neil Fleming, New Zealand,) :
MY PROFILE
- Visual: 8
- Aural: 7
- Read/Write: 8
- Kinesthetic: 12
l have a
multimodal (VARK) learning preference.
This is
the preference held by the majority of people who take the questionnaire.
I have a
Vark Type 2 or “whole sense approach”,
again the majority sub group
This
score and its implications for learning does fit with my own
understanding/experience of my
learning preferences
I like to use all my senses when I try
to learn new material or skills. I often find it difficult to feel I really ‘know’ something unless I
use at least two or three
modalities …and therefore it can
take longer for me to learn and to
make decisions (although there are obviously other factors involved ). I do often feel like I only half learn things, due to a lack
of being able to experience learning through all 4 senses.
In his website article “multimodality”, the Neil Fleming explains that
“Another clue to multimodality might be in the order
in which people gather information. …This may indicate that within their VARK
multimodality, there is a primary mode and that they use the others only as
support. They should redo the VARK questionnaire and select only one answer per
question”
Hence I redid the test:
- Visual: 2
- Aural: 2
- Read/Write: 4
- Kinesthetic: 8 = my primary mode.
This surprised me
somewhat. I’ve always thought of myself as a strong visual/auditory
learner and I don’t prioritise
learning in a kinaesthetic way.
This is probably because of my formation as an academic learner flooded with read/write/listen teaching
...................................................................................................................................................................................
My ANALYSIS
There are many different theories of learning: Felder –Silver learning style model,
Myers- Briggs type indicator and Kolb’s learning styles are but to name a few
of the other main ones. I suspect they all have some value: looking at learning
from different perspectives. It
would be interesting to do a wider learning assessment: Would this add to an individual’s
metacognitive insights or create confusion?
As a stand-alone tool, the VARK questionnaire and associated
information is a quick, useful tool to encourage learners to think about their
learning. It gave me some new insights. The site importantly
offers practical suggestions
as to how to change learning activities according to your preferences
The biggest gap in VARK theory
is one that seems ignored by most learning theorists.
Prensky (2000) points out
that we don’t often hear about learning in the context of
what type of material is being learnt.
Do people learn facts in a different way to how they
learn physical skills or theory or analysis or creative problem solving? Prensky suggests, for example, that we learn facts through questions,
associations, drill, memorization
We learn skills (physical and mental) through imitation feedback
continuous practice and increasing challenges.
I suspect that thinking about what I am trying to learn is just as
important as how I prefer to learn when applied to a given task.
So how does my
own learning style affect my teaching style?
I naturally aim
to present material using as many modalities as possible
However, this
is often restricted by
·
the type
of material involved,
·
my role
in the learning environment and
·
my
access/awareness of diverse resources.
I have had comments
from students that I am a “hands on teacher”, which they find very helpful when
I am teaching clinical skills.
I would have assumed multimodal teaching
was generally a good thing and so l was surprised to read from the VARK
websites ‘FAQ’ page:
‘Q If I use all four modes in my teaching will that improve learning for
all my students? .
A Not necessarily!
It may confuse some learners who might prefer that Read/write modes were used
more often or some learners might want a bigger emphasis on Visual teaching
strategies. Learners like variety to prevent boredom but using all four modes
in a brief learning session can be counter-productive. Using variety within
several sessions is helpful. ‘
This seems rather a minor point, given that the majority are multimodal learners and as Fleming himself points out “Learners are adept at using their preferred modes to adapt incoming messages to suit their strategies”
I shall continue to teach
aiming to use all 4 modalities as much as possible. I shall also think more
about techniques appropriate to what is being learnt.
I think it would be useful to incorporate the VARK questionnaire with my
students at the beginning of each teaching year. In my experience thus far students
are still largely unfamiliar with metacognitive practices.
As I teach the same small group all year, it could also benefit me to
have some sense of each students preferred style.
As for online learning it seems obvious that online courses should aim
to utilize tools that allow learning in all 4 modalities: images, graphs, audio
and video podcasts interactive sites, real stories and images as well as the
traditional read and write formats
A study I came across looked at on- line learning and learner preferences
(based on the Felder and Solomon theory of learning):
“Our results suggest that
active learners, who enjoy brain- storming and gathering input from various
sources, were more likely to use the online materials than reflective learners,
who prefer to work independently. Intuitive learners, who prefer to seek out
relationships within topics and concepts (consistent with the intent of the
materials) were also more likely to use the online study aids. Visual learners
also preferred the online materials, which were largely diagrams and flow
charts, when compared to verbal learners.
In summary, student
learning style assessment enables pre- clinical educators to devise learning
algorithms and resources that target all learning styles reflected in their
students and assists students in selecting those learning resources that best
suit their preferred style:”
References
Halbert C., Kriebel R., Cuzzolino R., Coughling P., &
Fresa-Dillon K. (2011) Self-assessed learning style correlates to use of
supplemental learning materials in an online course management system, Medical
teacher 33 (4) 331-333
DOI:
10.3109/0142159X.2011.542209
Prensky, M. (2003)
“e-Nough” On the Horizon 11(1)
Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=1074-8121
No comments:
Post a Comment