Identification of preferred learning styles as per VARK model in the undergraduate medical students

Abstract

Background: Four sensory modalities of learning styles have been defined: Visual (V), auditory (A), read-write (R), and kinesthetic-(K) (acronym VARK). Any learner can be unimodal (i.e., using only one learning style) or may have more modalities mixed. Irrespective of strength (mild/strong), as many as 17 sets of VARK permutation combinations can be there. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to identify and analyze the learning styles of Indian medical undergraduates and analyze an association with gender or year of professional course, if any. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Permission to use standardized VARK questionnaire (version 8.1) from the author, ethical approval from the institution, and informed consent from the volunteering students were obtained. The questionnaire consisted of 16 questions. To leave, a question unanswered or to tick multiple choices for any one question was allowed. Total 376 students (of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd phase MBBS) participated. Results: (1). Unimodal style of leaning was the commonest (2). Compared to VARK1, VARK2 was the more preferred (3). A gradual increase in opting multi-modal learning style was observed as students pass to successive higher phases. (4). Gender did not alter the unimodal or mutlimodal learning preference significantly. (5). VARK1 was more preferred in male students, while VARK2 was more preferred in female students. Conclusion: Most of the students used unimodal style for leaning – though the preference proportion for unimodal learning decreased on successive passage to higher Phases. VARK2 was preferred over VARK1 among tetramodal learners.