VARK Analysis Essay Example for Free

VARK Analysis Essay Learning is a process that may occur consciously or unconsciously. Differences in the process through which different people accept/acquire information, process and interpret it, greatly influences the way individuals will react to the same stimuli. These differences carry on with an individual into the educational system and depending on an individual’s preference, their performance in school is greatly influenced-both academically and socially. There are several learning modes that individuals may ascribe to, the common ones being visual representation, audio representation, reading and writing and activity. This paper seeks to discuss these modes as brought out through the VARK analysis and give recommendations on how to make the best out of a particular learning mode. Learning Style To understand a concept, some people may prefer to observe others doing the same thing, others may prefer to be involved while others may prefer to read about it or be told about it by another person who they may regard as having a better understanding. These are learning styles that we employ to gather and process information. According to Keefe (1979), a learning style can be defined as â€Å"the composite of characteristic cognitive, affective, and physiological factors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how a learner perceives, interacts with, and responds to the learning environment. † As an individual, I particularly prefer to learn by being involved physically or doing something practically. This helps in embedding a concept or procedure to memory and allow for troubleshooting. Information gathered from literature is visualized and sometimes put in form of diagrams or patterns that can be easy to remember. Charts and graphs also serve as easy ways to grasp ideas being presented. In class setting, I prefer to look up information on my own, reading from different sources until a concept is understood. Occasionally I may enquire of others after exhausting all other avenues. Comparison of learning strategies According to the VARK analysis, individuals are considered to be able to take in and process information in through four channels; visual, aural, reading/writing or kinesthetic. No single way can be considered better than the others but understanding ones acceptance and processing channel can help in developing a study strategy to help the individual be able to improve the speed and learning efficiency. Any combination of the above learning preferences results in a multimodal (VARK) learning preference which may -in my opinion- be deemed more desirable than the single preference learning style. Being multimodal, having all preferences, allows the learner to be able to cope with learning challenges better as they are able to switch between preferences to the one most applicable in a given situation. This mode though may become a hindrance in itself in that the individual may be unable to decide fast enough onto which mode to switch into thereby resulting in delay in decision making or being out of sync with the learning environment. Following VARK analysis I am considered as multimodal with higher preference to kinesthetic, visual and reading/writing and least to aural which I consider as a true evaluation. Further analysis classifies me as a whole-sense multimodal individual – score over 25 – who makes use of several strategies before making a final decision (Fleming N. D. , 2010). This in itself is identified as a weakness due to the indecisive nature that results from taking to long to decide when presented with information through only one channel. Changes needed Though slowness in decision making is being viewed as a weakness, in some instances it is an advantage in that it prevents rash decision making and allows more time for reflection on any given topic. A most critical change required is in self-confidence, a capacity to take risk and act on the information at hand. This I consider as the most critical since in hospital setting, incase of a casualty case, there is not enough time to verify all information and instant decisions have to be made to save a patient. Another would be to determine the objectives of learning a particular subject and this would allow for faster decision making as it would allow for assumption to be made when only trying to get an idea (Bradford K. , Stewart K. L. , 1992) Summarization VARK analysis though not a learning strategy in itself, is a helpful tool in identifying ones own weaknesses and thus be in a position to identify the course of action to be taken. Instances where an individual is not able to integrate into a new learning environment can easily be dealt with since the individual knowing their strengths and weaknesses would easily try to adapt themselves to the environment or if possible change it to their preferred one. It also increases ones confidence when learning as clarification may be sought in a way the learner feels most comfortable with. Conclusion Though this analysis does give one a powerful tool with which to strategize their studies, it is important to understand that the outcome of studies depends entirely on that individual’s willingness to change their strategies to take advantage of their strengths and work on their weaknesses. It is also to be understood that learning styles in themselves are just preferences that an individual has and are not sure guarantees that presented with information in such a way they will instantly understand it. Although everyone has a preferred way of learning, it is possible for everyone to combine several strategies in order t achieve a set learning goal. ? References Flemiming N. D. (2010). VARK: A review of those who are multimodal. Accessed July 11, 2010 from http://www. vark-learn.com/english/page_content/multimodality. htm Keefe, J. W. (1979). Learning style: An overview. In NASSPs Student learning styles:Diagnosing and prescribing programs (pp. 1-17). Reston, VA: National Association of Secondary School Principals. Overview of Learning Styles, (2010). Accessed July 11, 2010 from http://www. learning-styles-online. com/overview/ Stewart, K. L. , and Felicetti, L. A. (1992). Learning styles of marketing majors. Educational Research Quarterly, 15(2), 15-23.