School thoughts

[quesarah]

In week two, we've begun a discussion of VARK, which is an acronym for a tool to evaluate students' learning preferences. It's a short quiz intended to ascertain a student's preference for learning by Visual, Aural, Reading/writing, or Kinesthetic modes. We each took the quiz and then posted our thoughts about the results, and how we intend to utilize the concepts of learning styles in our courses. I'm going to post my results and comments, to see if it generates any discussion here.

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My VARK results are Visual 9, Aural 12, Read/Write 9 and Kinesthetic 8. This suggests I have a preference for multimodal learning styles, although I do show a stronger preference for Aural learning styles. These results seem very accurate to me. Although Read/Write is the primary learning modality in Western culture, in the biological sciences there can be a stronger emphasis placed on multimodal learning. Students are instructed to “look through the microscope and draw what you see,” or “be able to draw a clear diagram of the Krebs cycle,” or to take the laboratory tools and perform a procedure under supervision. I am curious whether students with multimodal learning preferences are drawn to subjects like biology, or whether success mandates they learn to use multiple learning modes.

I suspect the latter may be true in my case, as I've been predominantly an auditory learner all my life. In college, I quickly realized that if I spent too much time taking notes in lecture, I'd never remember anything the professor said. My preferred strategy was to listen attentively while making a few brief notes, and tape record the lecture so I could go back at a later time and re-listen. Talking about course concepts with a study buddy, repeating things out loud to reinforce memorization; all of these strategies helped me the most. In general, my family always said that if they write something down I'll never remember it. But if they tell me something, six months later I'll be able to recall everything they said in perfect detail. And then there's the matter of what my co-workers refer to as my “mutant ability” to remember song lyrics from the radio; it's not really useful, but it's great at parties.

Getting back to the matter of applying these concepts to our classes, I think using multiple modes of information transfer will be very useful in our online classes. We typically stress visual information, providing graphs, symbols and diagrams in our presentations. The handbooks we supply and the quizzes we administer address read/write learning modes. WebEx recordings provide an aural learning component, and the practical hands-on software exercises will round out the delivery.

Comments

[an-gealach.livejournal.com]

I took a class last semester for the "math phobic". It was part of a study: "Improving Math Learning in Higher Education," and we had to sign an informed consent document. It included several evaluations of learning styles, and we spent a great deal of time discussing our personal learning styles, as well as working in groups. I am predominantly a visual and reading/writing learner, but auditory and tactile are not far behind. I do have to write things down in order to remember them, however, and I often draw diagrams, as well. In the Kolb learning style inventory, I am a "divergent" learner. The basic description is "being imaginative, understanding people, recognizing problems, brainstorming, and being open minded." All of these skills come into play in the veterinary field. The experience of participating in the study was incredibly helpful, and I did get an "A" in the corresponding algebra class.

[an-gealach.livejournal.com]

I found my results for VARK- I guess aural wasn't as high as I'd remembered! oops.
Read/Write: 11
Visual: 10
Kinesthetic: 7
Aural: 5

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

I knew aural was going to be high for me. I'm actually surprised that the read/write was as high as it was. I hate learning by reading a textbook; nothing sinks in and it frustrates me.

[an-gealach.livejournal.com]

I learn and remember things by writing or drawing more than by reading- particularly when it comes to the bio-chem stuff. Hoo boy, that is some dry reading!

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

That seems like a really interesting class. Did they discuss study strategies that complement your preferred learning styles? Have you been able to use them in your other coursework?

[an-gealach.livejournal.com]

We did discuss strategies that complimented our learning styles, and we also worked in groups with others that had similar learning styles. I have used some of the strategies we discussed, including the use of color when reworking notes, and drawing diagrams in order to understand a problem. I have to write or visualize things in order to remember them, but I've always known that.
One of the things we did that really helped me was in relation to math anxiety. We learned about short term and working memory and the ways that anxiety can interfere with learning new things. It was a very interesting class!

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

And then there's the matter of what my co-workers refer to as my “mutant ability” to remember song lyrics from the radio; it's not really useful, but it's great at parties.

*imagines all the awesome things Sylar could do with this...*

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

He'd be a blast at all the hero parties, at least until he had too much to drink and started cutting open their skulls.

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

OMG who invited Sylar??

He invited himself. Ever since he beheaded Isaac and Matt, we totally can't keep secrets from him.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

It's bad enough he's a total creep, but then he gets drunk and sloppy and he can't control all the powers he's taken. His eyes turn white, or he'll start seeping radioactivity. The last time he crashed a party, he accidentally melted my grandma's antique silver set. He was all "oh I guess I can't control my specialness" and I was all "whatever loser, you're totally paying for that."

[geli-tripping.livejournal.com]

But why isn't there a category for the nasally fixated? I learn by smelling, man! ;)

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Clearly you are more advanced than the fools who wrote up the test. Maybe you should devise your own!

[geli-tripping.livejournal.com]

Your scores were:

Visual: 3
Aural: 7
Read/Write: 8
Kinesthetic: 7

Them's my results, I too am "multimodal"! That makes sense, I never like to limit myself to just one thing! :)

But I agree, nasal learning is clearly the more advanced method!