User:Dthurab/Learning Styles and Study Skills/Session 1: Introducing VARK

Introduction

VARK tells you something about yourself that you may or may not know. It can be used to understand your boss, your colleagues, your parents, your teacher, your relatives and yourself. It is a short, simple inventory that has been well-received because its dimensions are intuitively understood and its applications are practical. It has helped people understand each other and especially students to learn more effectively and teachers to become more sensitive to the diversity of teaching strategies necessary to reach all students.

You begin this session by going to the VARK website and completing a questionnaire to find out your learning preferences. We will explain the steps to access the questionnaire in this manual. Alternatively, you may log into Moodle and proceed to Unit 1 and follow the instructions there.

Objectives

After completing this session you will be able to: Identify your learning strategy; Identify and use a study strategy appropriate to your learning style.

The VARK questionnaire

• Please go to the VARK website, read the instructions and complete the on-line questionnaire.
• After completing the questionnaire, you should receive scores and an indication of your learning style

Activity

Complete the following: Encourage a friend or relative to do the VARK questionnaire. Look at his/her scores and suggest an appropriate study strategy. We are learning all the time. Over the next week, note when you encounter new information and how you process it. Which style do you use? For example, if your wish to learn more about computers in order to purchase one for your studies, do you read up on the subject, ask other people, look at a lot of pictures of computers, try some out, or a mixture of these?

The following self assessment activity will help you to better confirm your learning style and to pay more attention to study strategies.

Self Assessment

Go to the Learning Styles website. This is a Learning Style Survey, which is a bit different from the VARK questionnaire you just completed. After you have completed the survey, your scores will be calculated automatically and reported on a webpage. You will have to download a brief report. Your preferred learning style will be identified together with suggested learning strategies. Compare the results of this survey with what you got from the VARK study.

Summary

This session was intended to help you determine your learning style and be aware of the ways in which your learning style impacts on your study. You were introduced to VARK through the website and the questionnaire intended for you to identify your learning styles. You were also encouraged to find appropriate study strategies. You may now proceed to Session 2: Study Skills.