ESTILOS DE APRENDIZAJE EN ESTUDIANTES DE LA LICENCIATURA EN ENFEMERIA DE TRES INSTITUCIONES DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR EN MÉXICO / LEARNING STYLES IN NURSING DEGREE STUDENTS FROM THREE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN MEXICO

INTRODUCCIÓN. La sociedad actual demanda de enfermeros que desarrollen la autonomía necesaria para la resolución de problemas, la planificación, el seguimiento y la evaluación de su propio desempeño. Esta autonomía proviene del aprendizaje permanente. OBJETIVO. Determinar los Estilos de Aprendizaje predominantes entre los estudiantes de primer año matriculados en tres instituciones de educación superior en México para cursar la carrera de enfermería. METODOLOGÍA: Estudio cuantitativo y multicéntrico con un diseño descriptivo, y una muestra no probabilística. Para identificar los Estilos de aprendizaje de los estudiantes se utilizó el cuestionario VARK, con coeficiente alfa de Cronbach osciló entre 0.77 y 0.85. La escala fue digitalizada y programada mediante la herramienta Formulario de Google Drive. Se obtuvo un dictamen favorable por el comité de ética de las instituciones. Los resultados se procesaron en el programa estadístico SPSS versión 25.0. RESULTADOS: Se aplicaron 305 cuestionarios, donde 88,63 % fueron mujeres. El estilo de aprendizaje más preponderante fue el Quinestésico (30.39 %), seguido por el Lectura/Escritura (27.42 %), auditivo (26,58 %) y visual (15.61 %). De acuerdo con el estilo modal más del 50 % son multimodales. CONCLUSIÓN: Los resultados muestran que es fundamental contar con datos tanto individuales como grupales de los estudiantes para pensar estrategias de enseñanza y aprendizaje que tengan en cuenta las preferencias de aprendizaje de los estudiantes y la orientación temática del orden disciplinario, desde su ingreso a la universidad.

INTRODUCTION. Today's society demands that nurses develop the necessary autonomy to solve problems, plan, monitor and evaluate their own performance. This autonomy comes from lifelong learning. AIM. To determine the predominant learning styles among first-year nursing students enrolled in three higher education institutions in Mexico. METHODOLOGY: Quantitative and multicenter study with a descriptive designand a non-probabilistic sample. To identify the learning styles of the students, the VARK questionnaire was used, with Cronbach's alpha coefficient ranging between 0.77 and 0.85. The scale was digitized and programmed using the Google Drive Form tool. A favorable opinion was obtained by the ethics committee of each institution. The results were processed in the statistical program SPSS, version 25.0. RESULTS: 305 questionnaires were completed by respondents, 88.63% of which were women. The most predominant learning style was kinesthetic (30.39%), followed by reading/writing (27.42%), auditory (26.58%) and visual (15.61%). As to the modal style, more than 50% were multimodal. CONCLUSION: The results show that it is essential to have both individual and group data related to students so that teaching and learning strategies can take into account their learning preferences, as well as the thematic orientation of the discipline of nursing, from the time of their admission to the university.

Evaluation of preferred learning styles among undergraduate students of Government Medical College, Jammu

Background: A person’s preferred method of collecting, processing, interpreting, and organizing knowledge is referred to as his/her “learning style” and several models exist to assess one’s preferred learning style. The VARK model that encompasses four sensory modalities, namely, Visual (V), Auditory (A), Read/Write (R), and Kinesthetic (K) provides students with insight into their preferred forms of sensory information perception. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was (1) to evaluate the learning styles of medical undergraduates, and (2) to determine the gender-specific relationship between learning style and academic performance. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out for duration of three months, covering 200 MBBS students (males and females both) from all phases of the MBBS. The VARK self-administered structured questionnaire, version 7.8, was distributed among students and their response collected. Results: About 53% of pupils in the current study utilized multimodal learning, while 47% utilized unimodal knowledge. Kinesthetic approach was the most prevalent unimodal approach (22%), followed by auditory (21%). Bimodal was the most common multimodal strategy, accounting for 31% of all multimodal techniques (Audio and kinesthetic together). About 1% were tetramodal (visual, aural, read/write, and kinesthetic), and 21% were trimodal (auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic). There was no statistically significant correlation between gender and learning styles. Conclusion: VARK is a useful tool to collect information about different learning styles. It makes the student as well as the educator aware about different learning style preferences. Moreover, it is better if students in a teaching medical institute are made aware of their preferred learning style.

Estilos de aprendizaje de preferencia entre estudiantes de Medicina en La Gambia / Learning styles proffered by medical students in The Gambia

Introducción: En las últimas tres décadas, la proposición de que los estudiantes aprenden siguiendo diferentes estilos se ha convertido en un prominente tema en pedagogía a nivel mundial. En La Gambia no se conoce cuáles son los estilos de aprendizaje en estudiantes de Medicina. Objetivo: Caracterizar los estilos de aprendizaje de preferencia en estudiantes de la Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias Afines de la Salud en La Gambia. Métodos: Se aplicó un diseño transversal mediante el cuestionario estandarizado VARK para la recolección de datos, cuyo análisis se realizó con el uso del software SPSS. Resultados: La mayoría de los estudiantes prefirieron variantes multimodales de aprendizaje; la variante bimodal se escogió con más frecuencia. No se obtuvieron asociaciones significativas entre las puntuaciones VARK y el sexo o la edad de los estudiantes (p > 0,05). Se alcanzaron diferencias significativas para las puntuaciones kinestésicas entre estudiantes de preclínica y clínica (p = 0,031). Además, se logró una asociación significativa con relación a las variantes unimodales preferidas entre los estudiantes de preclínica y clínica. No fueron encontradas diferencias significativas en cuanto al rendimiento académico entre estudiantes con preferencias unimodales o multimodales (p > 0,05). Conclusiones: La aplicación del cuestionario VARK permitió la identificación de los estilos preferidos de aprendizaje para modos particulares de presentación de la información en estudiantes de Medicina en La Gambia. Los estilos de aprendizaje difirieron entre los estudiantes, la mayoría de los cuales tuvieron preferencia por los estilos multimodales, que incluían la variante kinestésica. Estos hallazgos pudieran emplearse para mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza(AU)

Introduction: In the last three decades, the proposition that students learn by following different styles has become a prominent topic in pedagogy worldwide. In The Gambia, learning styles in medical students are not known. Objective: To characterize the learning styles preferred by the students of the School of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences of The Gambia. Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied using the standardized VARK questionnaire for data collection, the analysis of which was performed using the SPSS software. Results: Most students preferred multimodal variants of learning; the bimodal variant was chosen more frequently. No significant associations were obtained between VARK scores and the sex or age of the students (p>0.05). Significant differences were reached for kinesthetic scores between preclinical and clinical students (p=0.031). In addition, a significant association was achieved in relation to the preferred unimodal variants among preclinical and clinical students. No significant differences were found regarding academic performance among students with unimodal or multimodal preferences (p>0.05). Conclusions: The application of the VARK questionnaire allowed the identification of preferred learning styles for particular ways of presenting information among medical students in The Gambia. Learning styles differed among students, most of whom had a preference for multimodal styles, which included the kinesthetic variant. These findings could be used to improve the quality of teaching(AU)

Study Of Learning Style Preferences In Students Of Different Phases Of Medical Undergraduate Course In Relation To Gender And Academic Performance

Background: To become effective faculty, he should understand a learner’s characteristics and their learningstyle. Matching students’ learning styles with a learning framework has resulted in improved test scores. Thisstudy was initiated to identify the learning styles of MBBS students and explored the relationship betweenlearning style preferences and students’ gender and academic achievement.Methods: We conducted cross-sectional study on students from the medical college studying in MBBS second,final prof (part-I) and final prof (part-II). The VARK questionnaire was used to identify the learning style preference. Based on the instructions given for the VARK inventory, scores were calculated to determine the predominant learning modality used by each individual.Results: The students of MBBS showed multiple learning preferences (52%) only slightly more than unimodalstyle (48 %). None of the students showed quadrimodal learning preference.In 2nd professional students, readwrite was preferred mode followed by auditory while in final prof (both part 1 & 2) kinesthetic /read-writelearning style was preferred in unimodal types.Female students scored higher in all four components as compared to male students.There was no relationship between learning style preference and academic achievement.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that many medical students at this single medical institution prefer to learnusing all VARK modalities. There can be different type of learners in a single batch of medical students, soeducators’ awareness of various learning styles of students is a must. Identifying differences in learning stylescould potentially be used in medical curriculum.

The preferred learning styles utilizing VARK among nursing students with bachelor degrees and associate degrees in China

Abstract Objective This study aimed to determine the differences in learning style preferences among bachelor degree nursing students at Central South University and associate degree nursing students at the Vocational Health School in China. Methods This study was a cross-sectional survey using the Chinese version of the VARK questionnaire to assess preferred learning styles: 159 enrolled bachelor degree nursing students and 199 enrolled associate degree nursing students completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 96.8%. Results The bachelor degree nursing students tend to prefer a multimodal learning style (58.49%), which significantly differed from that of associate degree nursing students (45.77%). The kinaesthetic modality was the predominant unimodal learning style among the bachelor degree and associate degree nursing students (18.20% and 33.67%), and the read-write modality was the least popular modality (2.5% and 4.02%). Conclusion There are both differences and similarities between the learning style preferences of bachelor degree and associate degree nursing students. Educational background is one of the most critical factors that influence the learning style preference of nursing students. This finding may be necessary and beneficial for carrying out future curricula reform. In addition, further comprehensive research should be conducted to examine the relationships between learning style preferences and academic performance, as well as learning style preferences and teaching methods.

Another analysis method of VARK questionnaire results based on medical students in shanghai and it's empirical application / 中华医学教育探索杂志

Objective To make up for losing more information of original classification method of VARK questionnaire author ( especially for mixed styles ) , and put another analytical method based on"whether contain or not"principle and put it in empirical analysis and application. Methods The students in 4 medial colleges in Shanghai were surveyed with VARK 7.0 version in May, 2017. 4488 questionnaires were sent out and 4054 were effectively returned (90.3％). Statistical analyses were done with SPSS 20.0 software and the enumeration data were compared by chi-square test. Results ①The percentage of con-taining"V"type of Sensory Learning Styles in the whole students was 44.8％(n=1815), which had no statis-tical significance in different college levels, college sorts, genders, specialties and whether they were military academy students or not (χ2=5.958, 0.257, 1.386, 5.922, 4.146; P=0.051, 0.612, 0.239, 0.052, 0.042), while there was significantly statistical difference in data among students of different grades ( χ2=13.400;P=0.009).②The percentage of containing"A"type was 57.1％(n=2313), which had no statistical significance in different genders, specialties, grades and whether they were military academy students (χ2=0.536, 4.038, 8.274, 4.256;P=0.464, 0.133, 0.082, 0.039), while there was still statistical significance in different college levels and sorts (χ2=10.516, 10.447;P=0.005, 0.001). ③The percentage of containing"R"type was 53.9％(n=2185), which had no statistical significance in different college levels, college sorts, genders, specialties, grades and whether they were academy students (χ2=4.563, 0.417, 0.228, 0.433, 2.136, 0.863; P=0.102, 0.518, 0.633, 0.805, 0.711, 0.353). ④The percentage of containing "K" type was 64.8％ (n=2625), which had no statistical significance in different college levels, college sorts, specialties, grades and whether they were academy students (χ2=3.680, 3.391, 1.070, 9.708, 2.711; P=0.159, 0.066, 0.586, 0.046, 0.100), while there was still statistical significance in different genders (χ2=6.789;P=0.009).⑤According to original clas-sification of VARK questionnaire author, the percentage of mixed styles were at the most (57.0％), followed by"K"(17.3％), and then"A" (11.2％) and"R" (10.0％), and the least was"V" (4.5％), which had no sta-tistical significance in different college levels, college sorts, genders, specialties, grades and whether they were academy students (χ2=6.044, 18.045, 8.575, 5.955, 28.866, 11.622; P=0.196, 0.021, 0.073, 0.652, 0.025, 0.020). Conclusion The analytical classification method based on"whether to contain" is a scientific improvement and beneficial supplement to the original classification method of the author of VARK scale in practical application because it embodies the mixed style and contains more comprehensive and accurate information. And through the empirical test, it verifies that medical students have distinctive sensory learn-ing styles.

Evaluación de los estilos de aprendizaje en estudiantes de medicina / Assessing learning styles in medical students

Los estudiantes se diferencian en sus preferencias de los estilos (modalidades) para aprender. Los estilos de aprendizaje han ganado un lugar de importancia entre los docentes en los diferentes niveles de educación. Conocerlas puede mejorar no sólo el enfoque del estudiante en particular, de la producción de cursos de capacitación, escritura de libros o materiales de enseñanza, sino, también, del ambiente y los procesos educativos. Realizamos este estudio para conocer las preferencias de estilos de aprendizaje de nuestros estudiantes en el Departamento de Salud Colectiva de la Carrera de Medicina de la Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Se realizó un estudio de diseño transversal. Participaron 95 estudiantes de la cátedra de Fisiopatología del año 2014. Fue utilizado el cuestionario VARK. Fueron 69% mujeres y 31% hombres. Cuando se realizó la comparación de las modalidades de acuerdo con el sexo, se observó mayor proporción de hombres con modalidad unimodal (48%) que de mujeres (27%). Del total, el 33.7% presentó un modalidad unimodal; al realizar la agrupación de modalidades, el 40% fue bimodal, el 20% trimodal y el 6.3% cuatrimodal. Del 40% que presentó preferencia bimodal, el 36% fue la combinación de auditivo/lectoescritura, seguido por el 26% que fue auditivo/cinestésico. Los resultados nos muestran que la mayoría de nuestros estudiantes tuvieron un modo multimodal de aprendizaje. Se destacan dos preferencias sensoriales, la auditiva y la cinestésica, seguida por la lectoescritura y, por último, la modalidad visual. No todos aprendemos de la misma manera, esto lo debemos tener en cuenta para diseñar las estrategias de enseñanza a nuestros estudiantes. El conocimiento de las modalidades de aprendizaje en nuestros estudiantes nos muestra que el diseño propuesto de técnicas de enseñanza aprendizaje que estamos utilizando sería adecuado a ellas

Students differ in their preferences for learning styles (modalities). Knowledge about learning styles among students has become a relevant issue for teachers from all educational levels. Therefore, knowing those preferences would allow teachers not only to focus on development of training programs, textbooks and educational materials but also on the teaching-learning process. We conducted this study to determine the preferences of learning styles of our students from the Collective Health Department at the School of Medicine of the Universidad Nacional del Comahue. It was a cross-sectional study involving ninety-five students from the 2014 Pathophysiology course. The VARK questionnaire was used. 69% of students were women and 31% were men. When comparing the styles according to gender a greater proportion of men showed unimodal modality (48%), while 33.7% of students presented a unimodal mode of learning. On the other hand, of those who presented more than one modality of learning, 40% preferred bimodal style, 20% trimodal and 6.3% cuatrimodal. Of the 40% presenting a bimodal modality, 36% were a combination between auditory/reading-writing and 26% were auditory/kinesthetic. The results showed that most of our students used a multimodal form of learning. The most common sensory preferences were auditory and kinesthetic, secondly reading-writing, and lastly the visual mode. We do not all learn in the same way, and this must be borne in mind when designing teaching strategies for our students. Knowledge of their styles of learning shows us that the teaching and learning techniques we are using appear to be adequate

Learning Styles Preferences of First Year Medical Students Of J N Medical College Belgaum: A Single Institute Experience In Karnataka, India.

Abstracts: Background: Researchers agree that in addition to cognitive factor, non-cognitive factors like learning style are predictors of performance. Students use different sensory modalities for assembling knowledge and information. This study was aim to recognize preferred learning styles of first year medical students at KLE university’s J N Medical college Belgaum India. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted on 150 consented students .The students were subjected to VARK learning style questionnaire to identify their learning styles preferences. The questionnaires which identify four learning style preferences/modes as visual (v), auditory (A), read and write(R) and kinaesthetic (K). Descriptive statistics was used to identify the learning styles of the students. Results: Hundred present students preferred multimodal style of learning, while 92%preferred quadrimodal, 7% trimodal , 1% bimodal. Among the four learning style preferences it was found that 99% of them preferred kinaesthetic, followed by, auditory, read/ write and visual modality. Conclusion: This study gives insight that no single teaching –learning strategy can work for effective teaching learning in medical students. Faculty teaching first year medical students has to adopt multi modal teaching-learning strategies to create effective teaching and learning environment.

To describe VARK learning styles of students in Nursing / Шинэ санаа Шинэ нээлт

The term ‘‘learning styles’’ refers to the concept that individuals differ in regard to what mode of instruction or study is most effective for them. There are some types of learning style model in the world and one of them is VARK model which was developed by N.Fleming. Teaching willbecome more effective when determine learning styles of students and teach them suitable way with their learning styles. The main goal of our study is to determine learning styles of nursing students. A descriptiveconfidential questionnaire survey was conducted on 100 students who are learning at Nursing School of MNUMS. They filled VARK questionnaire with 16 question.There are most common learning style was kinesthetic one and it means teaching will be more effective when simulation, close handed and practical sets are used and increased practice hours in the curriculum.

Towards Better Understanding of Medical Students: Learning Styles of Preclinical and Clinical Medical Students.

Introduction: Medical students represent a broad spectrum of diversity that presents a challenge for instructors to meet their educational needs. Four sensory modalities of learning have been described: visual, auditory, read-write, and kinaesthetic (VARK). In order to strengthen students' non preferred learning styles, their preferred styles must be identified. This study aims at understanding the learning styles of medical students in order to develop appropriate learning approaches. Materials and methods: The English version of the VARK questionnaire was distributed to preclinical and clinical students. Students were classified into Uni-, Bi-, Tri- or Quadri-modal. Results: There were statistically significant differences between preclinical and clinical students in the means of different VARK styles. The Quadri-modal preference (VARK) was the most preferred followed by Kinaesthetic. The most common in bimodal was Auditory-Kinaesthetic while in tri-modal Auditory-Read-Kinaesthetic and Visual-Auditory-Kinaesthetic. There were statistically significant differences between Preclinical and Clinical students in (Visual-Read) preference and (Auditory-Read-Kinaesthetic) and (Visual-Auditory-Kinaesthetic) preferences. Conclusion: A hypothesis that medical students had higher preference for Kinaesthetic learning compared to average students, was confirmed in this study. Further studies are recommended to investigate the correlation between different learning styles and performance of students in different types of exams.

Learning Styles of Medical Students.

Introduction: Knowledge of learning styles of the students helps educators to address various needs of learners. Study objective was to determine learning styles of undergraduate medical students. Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted at Lahore Medical & Dental College (LMDC), Lahore, between January and March 2011 among students from first to fourth year MBBS classes using an online VARK inventory. Additional information was obtained using a structured questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS version 16 computer package. Chi square test was applied for association and statistical significance was determined with p ≤0.05 as the cut-off point. Results: Among the 338 study participants, 61% were females, 63% were between the age groups 20-23 years and 78% had done FSc. Each class representation was 1st year (26%), 2nd year (25%), 3rd year (29%) and 4th year (20%). Most students depicted multimodal learning style (69%). The preferred unimodal styles were aural (14%) and kinesthetic (12%). In different combinations, the favoured learning modes were kinesthetic (70%), read/write (60%), aural (57%) and visual (55%). Around 89% of ―A‖ level students, compared with 66% of those who had done FSc were multimodal (p=0.002). The preference for multiple learning modes increased with the transition from pre-clinical first and second years to the clinical third and fourth years (p= 0.006). Conclusion: Medical students prefer multiple variety of information transfer. For a better impact, learning style diversity can be converted into appropriate teaching and learning methods that enable more students to attain success.

How different are students and their learning styles.

Introduction: Students, like anybody else differ from each other. As students they differ in their preferred mode of learning, i.e. their preferred modes in gathering, organizing and thinking about information. A recent classification proposed by Neil Fleming and associates state that students learning styles can be divided into Visual/graphic, Aural, Read/write and Kinesthetic types, VARK. Aim: The aim of the recent study is to investigate learning styles among dental students in two different dental colleges of India. Method: The VARK-questionnaire contains 15 multiple-choice- questions with four possibilities to select an answer. Each possibility represents one of the four modes of perception. But, one can select more than one answer to each question, which is necessary for the identification of poly modal modes of perception and learning. This is also a psychometric problem when trying to state a measure of the reliability of the questionnaire. The VARK-questionnaire was distributed among 200 students and was collected back. This sample size represents 100% response rate from the students in the class and is markedly above the level required to make conclusions about student preferences for receiving and processing information. The students spent about 10 minutes in an ordinary lesson to fill in the questionnaire. Students register number and name were used in the study and there was no blinding practiced. Study Design: Questionnaire based clinical study Results: The responses from the students in our University where classified into multi-modal (VARK), tri-modal (VRK, VAK, VAR, ARK), bi-modal (VR, VA, VK, RK) and uni-modal (V, A, R.K) categories. Results showed that subjects had a higher preference for multimodal learning. Conclusion: We conclude that students in our set up prefer multimodal and more of Kinesthetic of learning. To meet their needs, a variation in teaching, learning and examination must be implemented. If not, these students with a high kinesthetic preference for perception and learning may be at the losing end.

Learning style preferences of preclinical medical students in a Malaysian university.

Background: Academic demands of medical students are quite high. They require several skills involving sensory components such as visual, auditory, reading-writing and kinesthetic modes. The academic performance naturally differs in students and depends on their study habits including the learning style. It is believed that self- confidence is the first requisite to great achievements. Objective: We undertook this study to establish our hypothesis based on the assumption that students’ self-confidence and academic performance are directly related and the differences in learning style of each student could influence the academic performance. Method: To explore the pattern of preferred learning styles of 82 students, we administered the VARK questionnaire to the participants. To assess self-esteem, Rosenberg self-esteem questionnaire was used and the academic performance was based on the overall results of the formative assessments. Results: Among the respondents, 84% preferred multimodal style of learning. Out of that, dual, trimodal and quadrimodal styles were preferred by 8.5%, 2.4% and 73.2% respectively. The remaining 16% of the students preferred single mode. Female students had more diverse learning style preferences with several VARK combinations. A large proportion of our students were in the average group in terms of self- confidence and academic performance. Conclusion: Most students in this study preferred multimodal inputs in their learning process. Our study did not reveal any major gender differences in preferred learning styles. The results of selfesteem, learning style preference and academic performance did not have any bearing on each other.

Perception of the learning strategies and the learning styles among first year medical students: A cross sectional survey.

Objectives: This paper investigates the perceptions of the current teaching strategies among first year medical students. It further assessed the predominant learning style preferences using the VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing and Kinesthetic) questionnaire and the gender differences for learning style preferences. Methods: This study was conducted among the first year medical students in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo (n=192) and descriptive cross sectional design was adopted. Data was collected using a self-administered multiple choice questionnaire. Frequencies were calculated followed by cross-tabulations to generate descriptive statistics and analyzed with Chi Square distribution test. Results: Majority of the students found lectures and small group activities as useful learning experiences most of the time; 60.4% and 47.4% respectively. The multimodal preference was commoner, 59.8% (n=115) than the unimodal preference, 40.2% (n=77). Among the unimodal learners, the majority preferred aural modality, 55.8% (n=43). Bimodal preference was the most common among multimodal learners, 31.2% (N=60). Learning styles did not significantly differ between male and female students (p=0.115, n=192). Conclusions: To facilitate multimodal learning, combination of teaching techniques should be employed. Active learning should be further encouraged using a variety of learning tools such as video clips, computer simulations and interactive models.