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.

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.

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.

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.