Assessment of Ideal Learning Style among Medical Students using VARK Learning Approach

Abstract

Objective: Learning styles are important in the learning process so that students can learn in shorter time according to their preferred style. The objective of this study is to observe ideal preferred learning style among medical students and the association of the academic year with the preferred learning style. Study Design and Setting: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Central Park Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan from September 2021 to December 2021. Methodology: VARK learning approach was used to identify the ideal learning style. The data was collected using systematic sampling from 148 medical students. The frequency distribution of various preferences of the students was given. Distribution of gender and academic year across their ideal learning style was observed. The association of categorical factors with preferred style was tested using Chi-square test with a level of significance of 5%. SPSS version 26 was used for data analysis. Results: About 64.8% of the students who participated in the study were female. Nearly 44.6% of the students liked the single modal learning style. Approximately 58% of students prefer K-learning style. Reading was seen as least popular single modal. About 7.4%% of the students liked quad/ multi-modal learning styles. Conclusion: The most preferred learning style among students was the single learning style. Among single learning styles most of the students preferred kinesthetic followed by aural. The least preferred learning style was found to be quad-modal. Gender and academic year were significant associated factors for preferred learning style.

Assessment of Preferred Learning Styles of Medical Students at Wah Medical College Using VARK Questionnaire

“…18 A study conducted at Central Park Medical College, Lahore, and another study conducted in Iran found that the learning preferences of the students and their academic years are strongly associated. 15,19 In our study, we also found that students in the preclinical and clinical stages had significantly different learning styles. A study suggested that the preclinical curriculum involves theoretical instructional strategies majorly, while clinical students are likely to have a learning style involving the psychomotor domain.…”

“…14 Contrary to it, two studies conducted in Lahore reported that there is a significant difference in learning style preferences among male and female medical students. 2,15 Our statistical data showed that the students in the sample who were 21 years old, most of them preferred the kinesthetic learning style (37 out of 60 students), whereas a review study, which explored learning styles across the globe, showed that age factor has no relationship with learning styles. 17 It included postgraduate and undergraduate medical students, while our study was conducted among undergraduate students.…”

“…14 On the other hand, a study conducted in a medical college of Lahore reported contrary results in terms of mode of learning as the majority of students opted for unimodal learning, but the most preferred learning style was again kinesthetic. 15 A study conducted in India regarding the assessment of learning style preferences among medical students suggested that gender differences in learning preferences should be assessed. 16 Our study made an attempt in this regard and found that there is no association between gender and learning styles used by students.…”

Face-to-Face and Distance Learning and Teaching Styles as Perceived by Tanta University First Year Medical Students

“…One of the most popular is the VARK Questionnaire created by Fleming and Baume. The estimated high validation and reliability of the VARK Questionnaire make it one of the widest used approaches [14].…”