VARK Analysis: The Catalyst By Fleming And Mills

Carr identifies how reading a book is different from reading online because when you read online, you don’t think deeply about what it is you’re reading, and you don’t have to concentrate nearly as much. Carr also mentions that the Internet is something people find themselves going to more often than books because it is more time efficient.

Dictionary.com defines a student as “a person formally engaged in learning” (Student, 2012). Students of any age know that comprehending and retaining information is essential to educational success. Just as every student had unique physical attributes, they also have unique learning styles in which they best retain new and important information. The VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic) is a questionnaire that is given to help individual find their unique learning style. This allows students and non students alike to explore the way in which the not only retain information, but the best way to present information. Each type of learning style is broken down with ways in which to

From the time of birth, individuals are constantly learning. Individual learning styles vary from person to person. It is essential to the education of the individual to learn the particular style of learning that best serves them. One particular analysis tool is the visual, aural, read/write, kinesthetic or V.A.R.K. tool (VARK, 2011). This tool allows the individual to identify their particular learning style which will better prepare them throughout their education.

All learners have different learning styles. Using materials at the initial stage of the learning process can highlight preferred styles. Honey and Mumford show four learning styles – activists, theorists, reflectors and pragmatists, while VAK highlights visual, auditory and kinaesthetic preferences.

The research article “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking” was written by Pam A. Muller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer, and published by the Psychological Science in 2014. The article focuses on a series of previous research on the topic and studies with the goal of providing evidence to answer their two main questions. The first question is which one the two note taking strategies works better and increases academic performance longhand note taking or laptop note taking. The second question is how verbatim overlap (word for word) affects our learning. In the article, three studies were conducted similarly but as the studies were made something new was added to explore new aspects of learning.

Our first step to identify the individual learning style of the learners’ (ergo to identify their needs), is performing ‘VAK’ (visual, aural, kinaesthetic) assessment. Francis and Gould (2013) describe it as a model of

According to the International Adult Literacy Survey there are a great number of people in Canada that do not have the required literacy skills to fully comprehend written material (Statistics Canada, 2007: 17). However, the internet has a solution. Imbedded within informative websites are often links to activities, videos and simulations which may serve to enable those with lower literacy levels better comprehension of the material at hand. This is evidenced by findings of the International Adult Literacy survey that determined that individuals who use computers generally scored higher in prose literacy defined as the ability to understand and apply concepts learned from text (Statistics Canada, 2005). The internet has the potential to provide these individuals with a better understand the concepts contained within text through the use of multimedia beyond the one dimensional pictures contained in a traditional book. Therefore, the internet serves as a means of transferring knowledge that is more inclusive than traditional print media. Although the internet facilitates the transfer of information, there are concerns about how this information is interpreted and understood.

“Just as students have different personalities, they also have different ways of learing (Slavin, 107).” Learning styles are another important factor to incorporate when implementing the best learning environment. Learning styles are defined as an individual's mode of gaining knowledge. The most common learning styles addressed are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory leaners understand information through hearing. Visual learners need more visual aids in the learning process, such as diagrams, webs, or pictures. Kinesthetic learners learn better by using manipulatives or by being physically involved in the learning process. Learning styles is a piece of the “backbone” of differentiated learning. Both are used to individualize instruction to help students achieve the most success.

Carr’s premise is that the Web is interfering with our ability to focus on lengthy material. On the contrary, the internet is actually aiding our ability to focus on reading. This holds true for younger children, who are known as the digital natives in our generation. In a research conducted by The National Center for Education shows that “by altering the mode of reading material from traditional paper-based reading to online reading,” the interest of elementary school children increased (Wright 367). Because children of the 21st century are surrounded by technology, they are more likely to gear towards digital media for their mode of learning. Contrary to Carr’s view that the internet “is chipping away [the] capacity for concentration and contemplation,” these children are more likely to read and focus as a result of

VARK questionnaire is composed of many fundamentals that associated with people’s preferred learning styles. VARK questionnaire help leaners identify their specific learning methods to focus on learning material with important segments. Any profession can use VARK learning methods to teach or introduce study materiel to their associates. The VARK questionnaire is based on four scores and there are five different learning strategies and they are, multimodal, visual, aural, read-write, kinesthetic. When an Individual takes the VARK questionnaire assessment, they will be scored under these four learning methods: visual aural, read/write, and kinesthetic. Each individual learning method are

In today’s day and age, it is common knowledge that students possess different learning styles than those of generations before them. In the essays by Marc Prensky “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” (2001) and “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?” (2001) the author clearly argues a need to adapt to students modern learning styles. In Lotta Larson’s “The Learning Potential of e-Books” (2015) Larson also argues the clear benefits of eLearning for today’s students. Finally, is Naomi S. Baron’s “How E-Reading Threatens Learning is the Humanities” (2014) a different approach is noted as eLearning could be argued as distracting to a student’s learning process. It is no question that pupils today can

Review the other learning styles: visual, aural, read/write, kinesthetic, and multimodal (listed on the VARK Questionnaire Results page).

The VARK learning preference tool provides individuals with information that they can utilize to enhance their learning process by helping them to study more effectively and efficiently. The VARK tool consists of a questionnaire that the learner takes to identify which senses the individual uses to capture and process information, and serves as a guide to assist the individual to improve their learning by providing a summary of their preferred learning style. The VARK questionnaire contains 16 questions that identify four sensory

Learning styles and barriers to learning can be by the VARK to give a profile of learning preferences of how a person takes in and gives out information or Tidwell and Rodgers Practical learning styles Questionnaire. The VARK learning styles determines if the person learns by being a theorist, reflector, activist and/or pragmatist. The practical learning styles questionnaire looks at how people learn by their orientation, whether they are a realistic or creative, by their interaction, are they a doer or a thinker, by how they represent things, either by words or pictures, and how they process information, whether they are a surface or deep processor. There are many other

VARK stands for visual, auditory, reading and writing and kinesthetic learners. When using VARK a person must understand that the questionnaire alerts people to the variety of different approaches to learning. It supports those who have been having difficulties with their learning and has particular applications in business, sport, training and education. This model focuses on the best way for a student to learn and retain new information based on sensory modality. (Fleming, 2011) When a student knows his/her learning style preferences, he/she is able to learn more effectively and store and