Vark Analysis
This model focuses on the best way for a student to learn and retain new information based on sensory modality. “The only perceptual modes, or senses, it does not address are taste and smell” (Thomas, H. F.
, Shah, A. J. , 2007). When a student knows his/her learning style preferences, he/she is able to learn more effectively and store and recall the information being taught. My learning style was identified as multimodal, consisting of auditory and reading and writing preferences. In the past, I have mainly used reading and writing as the way to learn.
According to the VARK analysis I now have to incorporate auditory learning in order to efficiently and effectively learn new information better. Learning Style Having aural and reading and writing categories as my strong points means I am multimodal. The aural mode includes information being spoken or heard. In today’s society, information is mainly conveyed through speech. An aural student learns the best via speaking, phones, lectures, group discussions, and talking things through. My strongest method of learning is reading and writing.
This means I have a preference for information being relayed as words. I am used to reading information in books and internet and then writing the material I just read into my own words. This helps me to process and retain information longer than just reading or listening. The VARK model was designed to find the best learning style(s) for a student. According to this model, I prefer two modes almost equally. There are two different ways to be multimodal.
One is to be context specific which means only one mode is chosen at a time to fit the situations.
The second kind is to gather information from each preferred mode before he/she is satisfied. I believe that I am the second kind who gathers information using all my preferred modes. Because of this, it takes a longer amount of time for me to gather the information in order to learn and understand it. When I take notes in a class, I usually write down almost every word. By doing this I have great notes and references.
Even though the VARK model predicted that I belong in the aural category also, I believe that I comprehend new information better with reading and writing.
When I listen more to the speaker than I do writing I have found that I forget information quicker. I agree that I am multimodal, but not in equal degrees. For example when I am sitting in class I need to hear the speaker, but I am not completely focused on him/ her. Next, I write what I hear and am completely focused on making sure I get almost every word being said.
Lastly, I read over the information as a mental review. By me learning in this manner, I believe it is the best way to achieve academic success. Changes Needed
There are necessary changes that I needed to make in my learning style. By me knowing now that I am strong in aural and reading/writing categories, I need to divide my attention equally between aural and reading and writing in class. These changes will be hard at first because I am more worried about missing a word while I am writing instead of trying to listen and comprehend what the speaker is trying to say.
I need to listen more, be less focused on writing, and worry less about how I missed important information that needed to be written down.
One situation that reflects these changes is attending a lecture and taking the time to listen and focus on a couple of sentences at a time before I write. While I am writing I should summarize what I heard, therefore allowing me additional time to continue listening to the speaker. Also, when I review the written material I should depend more on my memory than I had before. As students, our preferences will change over time due to different future experiences and aging.
It is our own responsibility to modify our learning styles as needed in order to improve our student performance.
Conclusion VARK promotes the idea that students have the capability to learn in different ways if they adjust their learning style preferences to best fit themselves. “VARK questions can be viewed as testlets because respondents can select multiple items within a question. The correlations between items within testlets are a type of method effect” (Leite, W. L. , Svinicki, M.
, ; Shi, Y. , 2009). The VARK questionnaire determines learning style preferences which will help the student and teacher in identifying the best way the information should be taught.
