Introduction
Understanding one’s preferred learning style is essential for every student because this knowledge gives individuals the idea of the model they should follow during their courses. Not only this technique lets a person evaluate his or her results regarding the best methodology of studying, but it also makes one aware of the best ways to grasp particular information. The following paper will present the assessment of results acquired after completing the VARK (visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic) questionnaire that identified a person’s preferred learning techniques.
Summary
The VARK online platform made a list of my preferences regarding learning styles. Kinesthetic (score – 7) techniques appeared to be more efficient for me than other methods (visual score – 6; read/write score – 4, aural score – 3). The term kinesthetic learning implies a style that makes students experience or witness particular physical activities or demonstrations of how a certain theory or mechanism works (Wagner, 2014). It is essential to mention that students who prefer this method to all other options need all their body parts to be involved in the process of studying to grasp various materials accurately.
Skill memory is the most important factor that has to be developed and trained during courses with students who enjoy learning by experiencing different processes or knowledge. In other words, the best way to educate these people is to let them try particular things on their own (Wagner, 2014). Their muscles will remember all the necessary actions that will help them perform identical activities in the future again.
Preferred Learning Strategies
As it is mentioned in the previous paragraph, my preferred learning strategies include the following models:
- Multimodal
- Visual
- Kinesthetic
According to the results of the questionnaire completed on the VARK web source, I consider multimodal, visual, and kinesthetic strategies to be the most effective learning models for me. This means that I do not like to study theories by reading and trying to remember those (Prithishkumar & Michael, 2014). Instead, it is better to experience something new to make the process of education faster and more productive. Preferred learning strategies are not only beneficial for studying. They can also be used in everyday life to sort the available information faster and remember the most important points, appearances, and presentations of it.
Comparison
The following section is intended to provide a comparison of my preferred learning strategies to the ones that were identified by the website mentioned above. As my preferred learning strategy is kinesthetic and the identified ones also include visual and multimodal methods, the process of education has to become diverse. It appears that visual strategies are supposed to make people learn by observing and monitoring particular processes (Wagner, 2014). Multimodal strategies include all styles (read/write, aural, and so on), whereas the kinesthetic method is only responsible for a student’s muscular memory.
It is necessary to understand that mixing all the strategies discussed in the previous paragraph might be both beneficial and adverse for different people. It appears that the multimodal strategies can demonstrate positive results only with a limited number of learning activities. In other instances, it would be advantageous to focus on preferred learning styles to make a certain student’s attention concentrated on one method of gaining and training his or her skills (Wagner, 2014). If visual strategies can be implemented in a wide range of studies that cannot be experienced or demonstrated in real-time, they are acceptable for people whose results are similar to those of mine. In contrast, some activities that allow one to perform them without any adverse outcomes (development of treatment plans, making diagnoses of diseases by assessing symptoms, and so on) must be considered.
Discussion
The following section will present a discussion of how the awareness of personal, preferences, strategies, and learning styles impacts an individual’s contribution to both teaching and learning. To begin with, it is necessary to state that when a person knows his or her abilities regarding the process of learning, it reduces the time required for grasping certain information and makes the entire course more productive and beneficial for this individual’s development (Urval, 2014). Also, the awareness of the issues mentioned previously lets a person choose from several education techniques that are indented to provide him or her with new knowledge.
As to the process of teaching, the acquired information also becomes valuable because an educator can assess the preferences of their students and provide them with the necessary materials. Indeed, the process of evaluation might require more time than teaching a subject by applying the same techniques to every individual (Urval, 2014). Nevertheless, the learners’ progress and results will be more evident because then they will have an ability to demonstrate their precise knowledge, and hence show that the material they learned with the help of individual approaches made a significant impact on their ability to grasp it quicker than previously.
Conclusion
According to the VARK questionnaire that I had a chance to undergo recently, multimodal, visual, and kinesthetic are my preferred learning strategies. With this knowledge, I now can identify the best education techniques that will let me grasp more information at once. Also, these results will have a positive impact on my ability to teach and share certain information with others.
References
Prithishkumar, I., & Michael, S. (2014). Understanding your student: Using the VARK model. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, 60(2), 183-186. Web.
Urval, R. P., Kamath, A., Ullal, S., Shenoy, A. K., Shenoy, N., & Udupa, L. A. (2014). Assessment of learning styles of undergraduate medical students using the VARK questionnaire and the influence of sex and academic performance. Advances in Physiology Education, 38(3), 216-220. Web.
Wagner, E. A. (2014). Using a kinesthetic learning strategy to engage nursing student thinking, enhance retention, and improve critical thinking. Journal of Nursing Education, 53(6), 348-351. Web.