DO WE NEED TO TEACH EVERY BATCH OF STUDENTS DIFFERENTLY? A VARK PROFILE STUDY.

Vaibhav Jansale Nayak*, Akshatha Shivanand Kamath, Shamshad Begum, Veerabhadrappa Veerappa Yenni.

ABSTRACT

Among the various instructional preference tools available the VARK(an acronym for visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic) questionnaire happens to be simple, easy to administer, freely available tool that aids the students to understand their learning preferences in a manner they can identify with and accept. The aim of this study wasto assess the differences in learning preferences among medical students studying in different terms. Three hundred and twenty eight undergraduate students undergoing training at our medical college were approached to participate in the exercise. 273(83.2%) consenting studentswere administered a printed form of version 7.8 of the VARK questionnaire. In addition, we also collected demographic data. The majority of students in our study preferred more than one sensory modality (64.3%) for learning. There was significant difference in learning preferences among students studying in various terms. The study demonstrates the diversity that exists in learning preferences in each batch of students and the need to do away with teaching every batch of students and every student the same way. Teachers have to recognise the need to enhance their teaching methods depending on learning preferences of students.We hope theseresults will help us reach out to students better and improve the teaching learning experience.

Keywords: learning preference; learning style; VARK; visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic.