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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH RESEARCH IN MODERN INTEGRATED MEDICAL SCIENCES, ISSN 2394-8612 (P), ISSN 2394-8620 (O), Vol-2, Issue-1, Jan-Mar 2015

Original Article

Learning style preferences of first-year undergraduate medical students

studying Physiology
Gandhi Bhaskar Pathrudu, Siva Sankara Murty YV
Abstract: Different students choose to learn information in different ways or styles. A tool to assess the learning styles
of students in terms of visual, aural, read and write and kinaesthetic sensory modalities, called the VARK questionnaire
was developed by Flemming .The VARK questionnaire was administered to 124 first year undergraduate medical
students .Most students (70.2%) preferred multiple modes. Among these the percentages of modalities were, 2 modes,
14.5%; 3 modes, 11.3%; & 4 modes, 44.3%. 29.8 % of the students preferred a single mode of information presentation.
Calculating the individual K,A,R,V among all the modalities (unimodal, bimodal, trimodal, multimodal) put together,
the order of preference of learning styles of students was kinaesthetic ( 81.4% ) followed by aural (79.8%), read and
write (58.9%) and visual (50% ). As, most students preferred kinaesthetic (81.4%) among all the modalities put together,
more emphasis should be given to practical orientation and real life experience of knowledge. Overall, most students
preferred multiple modes, and hence teaching presentation should be multimodal, i.e. Visual, Auditory, Read and Write
and Kinaesthetic. Information about students learning styles can help in improvement of teaching strategies and is
beneficial to the students because they can learn the information easily if the subject is taught in their preferred learning
style.
Key Words: learning styles, VARK, Visual, Aural, Read & Write, Kinesthetic, medical teaching, sensory modalities
Introduction
A learning style is a method by which a student can learn
information better and easily. Researchers doing studies
on learning styles say that each person has different
learning styles. 3, 10. Learning styles can be classified in
one way, through different sensory modes by which a
person can learn best. Learning styles can be assessed by
different learning style questionnaires or inventories.
Learning style questionnaires are based upon informationprocessing models that aim to depict a persons preferred
mental approaches to assimilating knowledge. 15. Flemming
developed a questionnaire called VARK inventory for
assessing learning styles in terms of different sensory
modes like visual, aural, read and write and kinaesthetic.
The VARK inventory can be accessed online and also can
be downloaded for free. According to Flemming, the
creator of VARK questionnaire, visual learners learn best
using demonstrations and models.2, 12. Auditory modality
students learn easily when they engage in discussion,
debate.14, collaborative testing, answering questions and
games.3, 11. Read and write learners learn better by engaging
in writing tasks and reading activities. Kinaesthetic learners
learn easily by role playing. 6, practical procedures,
Corresponding author
Gandhi Bhaskar Pathrudu
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology
Maharajahs Institute of Medical Sciences, Nellimarla,
Vizianagaram - 535 217, Andhra Pradesh, India.

manipulating models 2 /learning through hands on

experience.
Awareness of the learning styles of students can help in
planning better teaching strategies which are beneficial
to the students for easy learning. When the teaching style
matches the learning styles and preferences, students
perform better and their motivation improves 9, 10. The
VARK questionnaire can inspire teachers to change from
their preferred teaching methods to using novel and
effective teaching methods. By doing this they can help
more students to learn effectively because of better co
ordination between teaching and learning styles. 1, 3, 4, 7, 9,
13, 17.

Materials & Methods: The VARK questionnaire

developed by Flemming, was administered to 150
Physiology medical students of Andhra medical college,
Visakhapatnam, at the end of a Cardiovascular physiology
lecture session. Of the 150 students, 126 students returned
the completed questionnaire. Instructions were given on
how to fill the questionnaire, according to the rules laid
out on the VARK website. Students were told that they
can leave one or more questions blank and that they can
mark more than one answer for each question. The
answered questionnaires were collected back, and they
were analysed.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH RESEARCH IN MODERN INTEGRATED MEDICAL SCIENCES, ISSN 2394-8612 (P), ISSN 2394-8620 (O), Vol-2, Issue-1, Jan-Mar 2015

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Analysis was done using the stepping stone method

described in the VARK website .The percentage of each
modality (Visual Aural read and write) or a combination
of modalities (Bimodal, Trimodal/Multimodal) preferred
by the students was determined.
Results: Majority of students (70.2 %) preferred multiple
modes of information presentation(Bimodal/trimodal/
quadrimodal).Of the 70.2% of students(87 students) who
preferred multiple modes, 14.5% preferred two modes
(bimodal) ;11.3% preferred three modes (trimodal) &
44.3% preferred four modes (quadrimodal).

Fig. 3. Percentages of students with Bimodal learning style

preferences (VK, 0.8% ; AK, 9.7% ; AR, 1.6% ; RK, 2.4% )

Trimodal:
Of the 11.3% of students who preferred three modes of
information presentation ,0.8% preferred visual ,reading
or writing and kinaesthetic combination (VRK) ; 3.2 %
preferred the combined use of visual auditory &
kinaesthetic (VAK) & 7.3% preferred auditory, reading
or writing & kinaesthetic combination (ARK).
Fig. 1. Percentages of students with different modalities of
learning style preferences (Unimodal, 29.8% ; Bimodal
14.5% ; Trimodal, 11.3% ; Quadrimodal, 44.3%)

Unimodal:
29.8% of the students preferred a single mode of
information presentation. Among these, 0.81% preferred
visual mode (V) ;13.71 % preferred auditory mode (A) ;
2.42% preferred read & write mode (R) & 12.90%
preferred kinaesthetic mode(K).

Fig. 4. Percentages of students with Trimodal learning style

preferences (VRK, 0.8% ; VAK, 3.2% ; ARK, 7.3%)

Calculating the individual K,A,R,V among all the

modalities(unimodal, bimodal, trimodal & quadrimodal)
put together, the order of preference of learning styles of
students was kinaesthetic ( 81.4% ) followed by aural
(79.8%), read and write (58.9%) and visual (50%).

Fig. 2. Percentages of students with unimodal learning style

preferences( Visual, 0.81% ; Aural, 13.71% ; Read and Write,
2.42% ; Kinaesthetic, 12.90 % )

Bimodal: Of the 14.5% of students who preferred two

modes of information presentation ,0.8% preferred visual
& kinaesthetic (VK) ; 9.7% preferred auditory &
kinaesthetic(AK) ; 1.6% preferred auditory and reading
or writing(AR) ; 2.4% preferred reading/writing &
kinaesthetic(RK).

Discussion: Since majority of students (70.2%) preferred

more than one mode as a combination, information
presentation should be multimodal. Also as about half
(44.3%) of the total students preferred all the four modes
in combination (quadrimodal), information should be
presented in a combination of visual, aural, read & write
and kinaesthetic.
In the present study, about one third of the class (29.8%),
are unimodal (i.e) prefer to take in information through a
single sensory modality. This is similar to Lujan and

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH RESEARCH IN MODERN INTEGRATED MEDICAL SCIENCES, ISSN 2394-8612 (P), ISSN 2394-8620 (O), Vol-2, Issue-1, Jan-Mar 2015

DiCarlos assessment of learning style preferences among

first-year medical students, which showed that, only 36.1%
of the students preferred a single mode of information
presentation. 8 Also, in his study, most students (63.8%)
preferred multiple modes of information presentation ,
which is similar to the present study (70.2%).
Among the students who preferred unimodal learning
style, the order of preference was auditory (13.71%),
followed by kinaesthetic (12.90%) , followed by reading/
writing (2.42%) & visual (0.81%).Since among the
unimodal students, most students preferred auditory and
kinaesthetic, care should be taken so that these two styles
are compulsorily taken care of in teaching.
Of the 70.2% of multimodal students who preferred more
than one mode in a combination, majority (44.3%)
preferred a combination of all four modes namely, visual,
aural read & write and kinaesthetic. This is followed by
bimodal students (14.5%) ,who preferred receiving
information through a combination of two modes. Next
came the trimodal (11.3%) , who preferred a combination
of three modes.
Of the 14.5% of students who preferred bimodal
presentation, most students (9.7%), preferred auditory and
kinaesthetic (AK) . This is followed by reading/writing &
kinaesthetic(RK), (2.4%). Next came the auditory and
reading or writing (AR) combination(1.6%).
Since among the bimodal students most students preferred
auditory & kinaesthetic combination & also as among
unimodal students a combination of auditory and
kinaesthetic students were the majority, information
presentation/ teaching should always include auditory and
kinaesthetic modes.
Among 11.3% of students who were trimodal ,most
students (7.3%) preferred (i.e) auditory reading/writing
& kinaesthetic (ARK) combination .This is followed by
Visual ,auditory & kinaesthetic combination (VAK), 3.2%.
Next came the visual reading /writing & kinaesthetic
combination (VRK), (0.8%).
As most students preferred kinaesthetic (81.4%) and
auditory (79.8%) modes by calculating the individual
K,A,R,V among all the modalities (Unimodal, Bimodal,
Trimodal,Quadrimodal) put together, teaching should
compulsorily include practical orientation, real life
experience of knowledge and auditory method of teaching
in addition to other modes.

Assessment of the studies on learning styles show that

learning style preferences of students in health profession
may be specifically unique. Nevertheless, it cannot be
concluded that they are fixed learning styles (5). A strategy
for making majority of students interested in learning, is
instruction adapted to the learning styles of students, a
teaching method that involves multiple teaching style
approaches and not a single method16. Awareness of the
students learning styles can help teachers to modify their
habitual predisposition to teach all students in the same
way and motivate them to change from their preferred
teaching methods to ones that benefit the majority or all.
All types of students will benefit if teaching is done in a
combination of styles i.e., a combination of visual,
auditory, read and write and kinaesthetic.
Teaching can be done in auditory style by conventional
lectures, making audio recordings , group discussions etc.
Visual mode of delivery of information can be done by
diagrams, flow charts, pictures, models and other methods.
Read and write method of information presentation can
be done by giving students notes of the lectures, written
or printed handouts and by instructing them to write notes
as the teacher delivers the lecture. Kinaesthetic method
of information presentation can be done by including
practical experiments, hands on training, role playing etc
in the teaching schedule. Students academic achievement
is likely to improve if teaching is done in all the sensory
modalities.
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