LEARNING STYLE PREFRENCES IN MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

Introduction  ;-Learning style is sometimes defined as the characteristic cognitive, affective, social, and physiological behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment”.Every student has its own preference in learning style, teachers should formulate their training programs and training methods to maximize the outcome of the training by adjusting their teaching style so that it is more congruent with a given student's or class of students' learning style. The ability to understand student learning styles can increase the teaching experience. Fleming and Mills (1995) developed an inventory of learning styles known as VARK. Most commonly and widely used learning style is Fleming’s VARK (1995). The four modes in VARK are visual (V), aural (A), read/write (R), and kinesthetic (K). These modes are frequently referred to as a person’s “sensory modality preferences.”  A person may show no preference, unimodal, or multiple modes of sensory preference. Teachers can incorporate these learning styles in their curriculum activities so that students are able to succeed in their classes.

Material and methods ;- In this observational study Fleming’s VARK questionnairewas applied and survey was conducted among 400 medical students in which 374 students consented for study.  Proforma containing questionnaire regarding learning styles based on Fleming’s VARK theory was distributed after taking informed consent for study.The most recent version of the VARK questionnaire8.01 was used,which consists of 16 questions and identifies a person’s preferred method or mode of presenting and processing information.

Conclusion ;-This study shows that there are variations in learning preference. Most of the students fall within aural and kinesthetic categories. The study also confirmed that the students could possibly have more than one learning styles and the practical implication is that the trainers/teachers should adopt various learning strategies to achieve the learning objective. The purpose of this study is to increase faculty awareness and understanding of the effect of learning styles on the teaching process.