Education and Preferred Learning Style Essay example

Submitted By cassiehyden
Words: 780
Pages: 4

VARK Analysis Cassandra Hyden
Grand Canyon University: NRS 429V
September 28, 2014

VARK Analysis
This paper will provide a summary of the author’s preferred learning style as assessed by the VARK questionnaire. The author will list their own preferred learning strategies and compare them to the identified strategies for their preferred learning style. Also, this paper will discuss how the knowledge of an individual learning styles influence teaching and learning.
Student Learning Style
Based on the VARK questionnaire with results of visual 0, aural 1, read/write 1 and kinesthetic 14, the author of this paper is a kinesthetic learner, an individual who learns best by actively participating in the learning process (Roell, 2014). This could not be more true for the author. The author learns more quickly and easily by doing hands on activities and experimentation. Sitting in a classroom, listening to someone talk, is very boring for the author and causes her mind to wander. She has to stand up and move around in order to grasp the information that is being taught. The author has to be actively involved and stay motivated in order to understand and remember what is being taught. When reading, the author must read out loud to herself in order to understand the reading. Highlighting and taking notes is very important. Writing examples of real-life stories while reading will allow the author to remember the important material.
Strategy Comparison
The authors learning strategies compared to the identified learning strategies are very similar. Sitting in the front of the classroom to actively participate in the lecture is a definite comparison. Doing hands on activities and using all senses (sight, touch, smell, hearing, and taste) to experiment with, can all improve learning for the kinesthetic learner (Fleming, 2011). Doing two things at once, like moving around and listening to class lecture, can allow the information to be memorized for the kinesthetic learner. The more muscles and skin a person uses, the better chance they have at remembering (Nelson, 2013).
Learning Styles
Every teaching technique has its advantages and disadvantages because each learner/student has their own way of learning and it can affect how they process information. Giving students tools can help them be actively involved in their education and help them become better learners (Khanal, Koirala, and Shah, 2014). Tools, such as learning styles, can guide the teachers to use a variety of teaching techniques based on the different learning styles of students. A learning style is used to point out styles of collecting, converting, interpreting, coordinating and thinking about information (Khanal et al, 2014).
Students learn in different ways and may learn more quickly if they are able to make use of their preferred learning style (Cox, Robertson, Smellie, and Wilson, 2011). The value of establishing knowledge of learning styles can guide students in knowing their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning. There are several different ways of classifying learning styles, but the VARK model is one of the most favored. Developed in 1987 by Neil Fleming, the VARK (an acronym for Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinesthetic) is a learning inventory created to guide students and others to acquire information about their individual learning preference. Visual learners receive information best by seeing: charts, diagrams, handouts, and videos. Aural learners receive information best by hearing: