Learning style and teaching methodology preferences of dental students

Abstract

The purpose of teaching is to encourage students to learn better so as to provide better knowledge and understanding of subject. Therefore it is also important for a teacher to acquire the different learning styles so as to provide the best education which can be easily understood by the student for better learning. Learning style assessment can be carried out by a Visual Auditory Reading Kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire which is the most accepted one. Aim and objectiveTo study the preferred learning style among the 3rd & 4th year dental students & the preference of teaching learning methodology. MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted on 185 dental students of 3rd year & final year. Two questionnaires were used: The VARK questionnaire version 7.1 & a second questionnaire were prepared to obtain the basic demographic information of the student as well as the order of preference of teaching methodology. ResultsThe majority of students had Quadrimodal VARK preference followed by Unimodal learning style. The kinesthetic learning style was the most predominant. The most preferred teaching methodology was Practical/Clinical which was in accordance with the results obtained from the VARK study. ConclusionProblem based teaching methods are currently being more preferred over traditional methods. No one single tailor-made teaching approach is superior to other teaching methods, no matter how good the teacher is, therefore, a more individualistic approach should be followed taking students preference of teaching method and understanding into consideration. More of student and teacher orientation programs are required to create a friendly learning environment for all.