Vark Analysis Tanida Maselli
VARK Analysis Paper Tanida R. Maselli
Grand Canyon University: NRS 429V-0105
October 5, 2014
VARK Analysis Paper How an individual understand information and use them to solve complex problems are mainly influenced by his or her learning style. Basically, when you can learn about how you learn, you can study and absorb information much more effectively. In 1987, Neil Fleming who has dedicated his life to explore teaching and learning, developed a popular model called VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinesthetic) to show that there are many ways an individual can learn effectively. “VARK is a questionnaire that provides users with a profile of their learning preferences. These preferences are about the ways that they want to take-in and give-out information. ( Fleming, 2011) When we can learn about who we really are by knowing our preferences, we can reflect internally of what we can do to make a positive change for a better learning result. This paper will explore and analyze the scores received from VARK questionnaire which help identify learning styles for Tanida Maselli. It will also further investigate and compare the preferred learning styles and identified learning styles which influence teaching and learning.
Summary of the Learning Style After taking 16 VARK questions, the …show more content…
result shows that Tanida’s learning preference is a multimodal (VARK). Just like a majority of population, a person with multimodal learning style has no strong preference in studying strategy. David Lazear simply explains that it means, “the more different ways you learn something the more you will really learn it! The more different ways you learn something, the more you will remember it! The more different ways you learn something, the more you will genuinely understand it!” ( Lazear, 2008) . This explains the mostly even scores from each area being: visual 9, aural 9, read/write 6, and kinesthetic 10. These scores show that a multimodal learner must gather all the information in many different ways before the understanding can be reached. The great advantage of being multimodal learner is that when there in information being presented in different ways, she can adapt her learning style to take in and able to explain information according to the learner’s preference. However, many times, multimodal learner needs more than one type of preference in order to understand and trust the material. Scoring the highest in kinesthetic, visual and aural, it shows that the educational material is learned best through activities, pictures, and listening. The result from VARK model has shown that Tanida has no particular learning preference but in order to feel secure and have good understanding, she must use more than one learning strategy.
Preferred Learning Strategies
Upon finishing the VARK questionnaire and getting a result as a multimodal learner, it is surprising as the preferred learning method for Tanida has always been the read/write strategy which was the lowest scoring area. “Read/write learners need writing materials to take down points they think important from what they read, hear or see.” (Smith, 2014) Throughout college and nursing school, a self-dependent learning by rewriting the textbook, notes, and lectures has been the main method in studying. There was a need to make sure everything was memorized and the only way to do that without missing anything was copying everything all over and over again. Rarely, listening to others or lectures have been helpful as distraction by being around a group of people usually ended in socialization. However, the greatest success through out previous educational experience has been through kinesthetic learning style. Acting out different concepts and role playing with others have always helped in memorizing difficult concept. Among friends, the group will often make up a dance or an act in order to remember different disease processes. These time consuming preferred learning methods have been successful for Tanida’s studying strategy.
Comparison of Preferred and Identified Learning Strategies
VARK questionnaire reveals many interesting facts and an insight to Tanida’s learning style. It affirms that kinesthetic learning style which was the highest scoring area which has been the preferred learning style is identified as an effective learning strategy. In contrast, the read/write strategy which has been the most preferred method in learning received a score of 6 which was the lowest. This is somewhat a shocking finding but insightful as it shows that what has been used frequently as a main method of studying in the past, perhaps might not be the best for the personal learning style. Also, both of the visual and aural learning styles with score of 9 which have not been often utilized as a studying habit in the past also have been identified by VARK model. This shows that there is an adjustment that should be made in order to improve how information is being absorbed and understood. More over the result shows that as a multimodal learner, the best way to give in and take out information is to use many learning preferences. By understanding what type of person you are, you can realize what you need to do to improve the quality and make every learning experience more efficient. Psychology expert, Kendra Cherry points out that, learning in more than one way, you’re further cementing the knowledge in your mind which will help you to become more effective learner. (Cherry, 2014) These useful identified learning strategies from VARK model and the comparison to the preferred learning style are very useful and will great to be used a tool to understanding and improving learning and teaching.
How Learning Styles, Preferences and Strategies Influence Learning and Teaching
Understanding oneself and truly know how you learn reveal how these factors have shaped teaching and learning. As a learner, it shows that information usually must be validated from difference sources including visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic. Because one preference is usually is not satisfying, exploration by other methods to make sure the information is correctly understood is done. It has been an advantage that learning can be from different resources but many times, disadvantage happened when the resource is limited to one. This knowledge clearly points out that Tanida’s strong preference has always been learning by activities and this is evidence by many dances choreographed to teach her previous classmates in nursing school. The scores from VARK and preferred learning styles truly influenced the personal learning experience by showing that every lesson should be explained and learned more than in one way. The read/write method should no longer only be used. Learning strategy is best improved and no one area should be more focused than others. More over, learning should always be flexible. As a teacher, being a multimodal is usually is successful. It has made it easy to create a lesson using combinations of methods. Not knowing what kind of learner or patient one might has to teach, multimodal teaching appeals to all learning styles. When giving an education, learner is ensured to absorbed information from the method he or she can learn best from. Often, when teaching, Tanida will create a visual, a story, and act out an educational lesson with proper organization to engage the audience and encourage learning. Learning to be a great learner or a teacher will be a continuously learning experience throughout life.
Many times, one tend to study the way their peer do but often does not get the same result as others. By truly understanding oneself and how you take in and give out information best, it will help enforce and improve a person to be the most efficient learner and teacher you can be. Everyone is unique and it is the most important to remember that in order to make sure every lesson is an effective one. Fleming states that, “a learning style is, rather, a description of a process, or of preferences. Any inventory that encourages a learner to
think about the way that he or she learns is a useful step toward understanding, and hence improving, learning. ( Fleming, 2011) VARK questionnaire is insightful and a useful tool as a nurse who will have to continue education process throughout her career and a teacher to successfully provide many lessons for the patients.
References
Cherry, K. (2014). How to Become a More Effective Learner. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/tp/effective-learning.htm
Fleming, N. ( 2011). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=faq
Fleming, N., and Baume, D. (2006) Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the Right Tree!, Educational Developments, SEDA Ltd, Issue 7.4, Nov. 2006, p4-7.
Lazear, D. (2008). Multi-Modal Learning. . Retrieved from http://www.davidlazeargroup.com/free_articles/multi-modal.html
Smith, D. (2014). Advantages & Disadvantages of Different Learning Styles. Retrieved from http://classroom.synonym.com/advantages-disadvantages-different-learning-styles-2873.html
Grand Canyon University: NRS 429V-0105
October 5, 2014
VARK Analysis Paper How an individual understand information and use them to solve complex problems are mainly influenced by his or her learning style. Basically, when you can learn about how you learn, you can study and absorb information much more effectively. In 1987, Neil Fleming who has dedicated his life to explore teaching and learning, developed a popular model called VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinesthetic) to show that there are many ways an individual can learn effectively. “VARK is a questionnaire that provides users with a profile of their learning preferences. These preferences are about the ways that they want to take-in and give-out information. ( Fleming, 2011) When we can learn about who we really are by knowing our preferences, we can reflect internally of what we can do to make a positive change for a better learning result. This paper will explore and analyze the scores received from VARK questionnaire which help identify learning styles for Tanida Maselli. It will also further investigate and compare the preferred learning styles and identified learning styles which influence teaching and learning.
Summary of the Learning Style After taking 16 VARK questions, the …show more content…
result shows that Tanida’s learning preference is a multimodal (VARK). Just like a majority of population, a person with multimodal learning style has no strong preference in studying strategy. David Lazear simply explains that it means, “the more different ways you learn something the more you will really learn it! The more different ways you learn something, the more you will remember it! The more different ways you learn something, the more you will genuinely understand it!” ( Lazear, 2008) . This explains the mostly even scores from each area being: visual 9, aural 9, read/write 6, and kinesthetic 10. These scores show that a multimodal learner must gather all the information in many different ways before the understanding can be reached. The great advantage of being multimodal learner is that when there in information being presented in different ways, she can adapt her learning style to take in and able to explain information according to the learner’s preference. However, many times, multimodal learner needs more than one type of preference in order to understand and trust the material. Scoring the highest in kinesthetic, visual and aural, it shows that the educational material is learned best through activities, pictures, and listening. The result from VARK model has shown that Tanida has no particular learning preference but in order to feel secure and have good understanding, she must use more than one learning strategy.
Preferred Learning Strategies
Upon finishing the VARK questionnaire and getting a result as a multimodal learner, it is surprising as the preferred learning method for Tanida has always been the read/write strategy which was the lowest scoring area. “Read/write learners need writing materials to take down points they think important from what they read, hear or see.” (Smith, 2014) Throughout college and nursing school, a self-dependent learning by rewriting the textbook, notes, and lectures has been the main method in studying. There was a need to make sure everything was memorized and the only way to do that without missing anything was copying everything all over and over again. Rarely, listening to others or lectures have been helpful as distraction by being around a group of people usually ended in socialization. However, the greatest success through out previous educational experience has been through kinesthetic learning style. Acting out different concepts and role playing with others have always helped in memorizing difficult concept. Among friends, the group will often make up a dance or an act in order to remember different disease processes. These time consuming preferred learning methods have been successful for Tanida’s studying strategy.
Comparison of Preferred and Identified Learning Strategies
VARK questionnaire reveals many interesting facts and an insight to Tanida’s learning style. It affirms that kinesthetic learning style which was the highest scoring area which has been the preferred learning style is identified as an effective learning strategy. In contrast, the read/write strategy which has been the most preferred method in learning received a score of 6 which was the lowest. This is somewhat a shocking finding but insightful as it shows that what has been used frequently as a main method of studying in the past, perhaps might not be the best for the personal learning style. Also, both of the visual and aural learning styles with score of 9 which have not been often utilized as a studying habit in the past also have been identified by VARK model. This shows that there is an adjustment that should be made in order to improve how information is being absorbed and understood. More over the result shows that as a multimodal learner, the best way to give in and take out information is to use many learning preferences. By understanding what type of person you are, you can realize what you need to do to improve the quality and make every learning experience more efficient. Psychology expert, Kendra Cherry points out that, learning in more than one way, you’re further cementing the knowledge in your mind which will help you to become more effective learner. (Cherry, 2014) These useful identified learning strategies from VARK model and the comparison to the preferred learning style are very useful and will great to be used a tool to understanding and improving learning and teaching.
How Learning Styles, Preferences and Strategies Influence Learning and Teaching
Understanding oneself and truly know how you learn reveal how these factors have shaped teaching and learning. As a learner, it shows that information usually must be validated from difference sources including visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic. Because one preference is usually is not satisfying, exploration by other methods to make sure the information is correctly understood is done. It has been an advantage that learning can be from different resources but many times, disadvantage happened when the resource is limited to one. This knowledge clearly points out that Tanida’s strong preference has always been learning by activities and this is evidence by many dances choreographed to teach her previous classmates in nursing school. The scores from VARK and preferred learning styles truly influenced the personal learning experience by showing that every lesson should be explained and learned more than in one way. The read/write method should no longer only be used. Learning strategy is best improved and no one area should be more focused than others. More over, learning should always be flexible. As a teacher, being a multimodal is usually is successful. It has made it easy to create a lesson using combinations of methods. Not knowing what kind of learner or patient one might has to teach, multimodal teaching appeals to all learning styles. When giving an education, learner is ensured to absorbed information from the method he or she can learn best from. Often, when teaching, Tanida will create a visual, a story, and act out an educational lesson with proper organization to engage the audience and encourage learning. Learning to be a great learner or a teacher will be a continuously learning experience throughout life.
Many times, one tend to study the way their peer do but often does not get the same result as others. By truly understanding oneself and how you take in and give out information best, it will help enforce and improve a person to be the most efficient learner and teacher you can be. Everyone is unique and it is the most important to remember that in order to make sure every lesson is an effective one. Fleming states that, “a learning style is, rather, a description of a process, or of preferences. Any inventory that encourages a learner to
think about the way that he or she learns is a useful step toward understanding, and hence improving, learning. ( Fleming, 2011) VARK questionnaire is insightful and a useful tool as a nurse who will have to continue education process throughout her career and a teacher to successfully provide many lessons for the patients.
References
Cherry, K. (2014). How to Become a More Effective Learner. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/educationalpsychology/tp/effective-learning.htm
Fleming, N. ( 2011). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved from http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=faq
Fleming, N., and Baume, D. (2006) Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the Right Tree!, Educational Developments, SEDA Ltd, Issue 7.4, Nov. 2006, p4-7.
Lazear, D. (2008). Multi-Modal Learning. . Retrieved from http://www.davidlazeargroup.com/free_articles/multi-modal.html
Smith, D. (2014). Advantages & Disadvantages of Different Learning Styles. Retrieved from http://classroom.synonym.com/advantages-disadvantages-different-learning-styles-2873.html