Menu
Back to Journals » Advances in Medical Education and Practice » Volume 10
Learning styles for medical students: role of VARK modality [Response to Letter]
Authors Parashar R, Hulke S, Pakhare A
Received 19 February 2019
Accepted for publication 20 February 2019
Published 5 June 2019 Volume 2019:10 Pages 401—402
Rachna Parashar,1 Sandip Hulke,1 Abhijit Pakhare2
1Department of Physiology, AIIMS Bhopal, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462024, India; 2Department of Community and Family Medicine, AIIMS Bhopal, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462024, India
It is really good on your part to show your interest in the article and putting your valid views. As you have pointed out: 1. The author highlighted that kinaesthetic and aural forms of learning are preferred by early year medical students; it also concludes that a multimodal approach is best for enhanced learning. We agree that a multifaceted approach should be used, but how is it applied. — Through VARK modality, we have touched the sensory domain for perception. Changing teaching styles during digitization has motivated us to study this topic.
View the original paper by Parashar and colleagues
Dear editor
It is really good on your part to show your interest in the article and putting your valid views.
As you have pointed out:
1. The author highlighted that kinaesthetic and aural forms of learning are preferred by early year medical students; it also concludes that a multimodal approach is best for enhanced learning. We agree that a multifaceted approach should be used, but how is it applied. — Through VARK modality, we have touched the sensory domain for perception. Changing teaching styles during digitization has motivated us to study this topic.
You are right, a multimodal approach should be used, With reference to Table 2 in our study, it was suggested that among four learning styles there was relatively more preference for aural and kinesthetic styles, which means considering a multimodality approach too.
2. Identified learning styles exhibited by students by using our distinct styles; there is little evidence to suggest that this model which attempts to valid. Instead, it is suggested that there are learning preferences exhibited by students, rather than a few distinct styles. — Study suggested by Papanagnou et al and Peyman et al may prove it is valid to use VARK as a study tool for classification of learners based on sensory modality.1–3
3. We hold the view that pedagogy should be classified in accordance to the topic being covered. In our experience, different modules require different facets of teaching. — Here we have taken the classification of learners based on sensory modality that generally touches almost every aspect of learning preferences, such as how case-based learning reflects the kinesthetic aspect.
Cadaver teaching in anatomy also reflects the kinesthetic and visual aspect of learning. Moreover, cadaver teaching is difficult to inculcate in the minds of learners until they have a better auditory explanation of it and we should not neglect other aspects like visual modal and reading and writing as the more you read the more you will be able to learn.
As you have rightly mentioned, keeping in mind the pedagogy of learning, we should do some cohort studies to prioritize the different methods of learning in medical education and studies should be done to match the academic performance. We are looking forward to study in this area.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this communication.
References
1. Peyman H, Sadeghifar J, Khajavikhan J, et al. Using VARK approach for assessing preferred learning styles of first year medical sciences students: a survey from Iran. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014;8(8):GC01–GC04. doi:10.7860/JCDR/2014/8089.4667.
2. Brumpton K, Kitchener S, Sweet L. Learning styles in vertically integrated teaching. Clin Teach. 2013;10(5):282–286. doi:10.1111/tct.1202
3. Papanagnou D, Serrano A, Barkley K, et al. Does tailoring instructional style to a medical student’s self-perceived learning style improve performance when teaching intravenous catheter placement? A randomized controlled study. BMC Med Educ. 2016;16(1):205. doi:10.1186/s12909-016-0720-3
© 2019 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.
By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.