Assessment of learning preferences among dental students using Visual, Aural, Read-Write, Kinesthetic questionnaire: An institutional experience

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Every individual has different learning style. As dental educators, it is necessary to recognize the fact that each dental student may have a preference of acquiring information and skill in one style over another. The objective of this study was to determine the learning style preferences of dental students using the Visual, Aural, Read-Write, Kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire. Materials and Methods: The VARK questionnaire was administered to 20 1 st year and 40 2 nd year dental students of Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal University to determine their preferred mode of learning. Completed questionnaires were scored and tabulated to determine the distribution of VARK preferences. Results: Nearly 50% of 1 st year students were quadmodal whereas 55% of 2 nd year students were unimodal in which kinesthetic preference was dominant. Mean V and A scores were significantly higher for 1 st year than 2 nd year students. No significant gender difference was seen. Conclusion: The dental students in this study had varied learning preferences. As dental educators, we need to adopt different methods of teaching in order to reach most of the students and make the educational experience more productive.