VARK Analysis
Kristi Hillis
Grand Canyon University
July 5th, 2015

If we think back to our high school days, we probably can all recall a time of high anxiety. These times are probably associated with tests or papers. We can also recall what study habits we used to help decrease the anxiety. There are several different ways to learn. Everybody has their favorite study habits. After taking the VARK assessment tool, my preferred learning style was determined. My preferred learning style was a combination of kinesthetic and reading and writing. A reading and writing learner is the “typical” student learner. They learn by reading and taking notes. They take detailed notes and read those notes over and over until they understand the material. Kinesthetic learning “uses your experiences and the things that are real even when they are shown in pictures and on screens.” (VARK) These type of learners like to move around a lot while they are learning. They do not do well sitting still. This type learns well through experiencing things. This type of learner does well in science classes that have labs associated with them. There several learning strategies that help me learn best. I like to take detailed notes and read over them several times until I am comfortable with what I’m learning. I like to read the textbook material several times if needed to understand the material. I have to have a quiet environment when I am studying or writing a paper. One of my preferred strategies for kinesthetic learning are hands on activities. I learn better if I can try the activity. I use color coded index cards when I take notes. This makes it easier to organize ideas and thoughts. I use lots of examples and stories when I give a presentation. This makes the presentation more realistic to the people in the audience. The use of graphs and charts make learning more enjoyable for me. I like to see the information in the graphs or charts. It makes it easier to understand. I like to take classes that have labs or hands on portions. I really enjoy science classes that is my favorite subject. I like the challenge of trying to growing specimens in chemistry or dissecting animals in biology. The textbook definition of a read and write learner is “this preference uses the printed word as the most important way to convey and receive information.” (VARK) This learning style has several different strategies that I do not partake in. I take very detailed notes. However I do not rewrite or use bullet points in my notes. I don’t write my notes in full paragraph. I write them in sentences or I sometimes paraphrase them if there are lot of notes to take. The definition of kinesthetic learning is “this preference uses your experiences and the things that are real even when they are shown in pictures and on screens.” (VARK) I like it to be quiet when I study unlike listening to music. I do like to write notes on index cards, but I write sentences instead of key words. I do not like to sit in the front of the class. I like to sit in the back. Instead of skimming though the material to locate the main idea, I like to read through the whole section to understand the main idea. When a teacher begins the school year they have a new group of students that they have to teach. They have to get to each and every student. They have to learn how each student learns, and if there are any obstacles that the student might have. By knowing the different types of learning strategies and what works best for these learners the teacher can help the students. A successful teacher