VARK…or how do you learn…
June 14th, 2010
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Have you ever wondered about the way you learn things. When I was studying education for my MS, I was introduced to amazing test called the VARK test. It’s a series of multiple choice questions like:
You are going to cook something as a special treat for your family. You would:
- use a cookbook where you know there is a good recipe.
- ask a friend for a suggestion
- cook something you know without the need for instructions
- look through a cookbook with pictures for ideas.
The answer you provide combines with other questions to tell you the style of learning you are best adapted to. These include: Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic. You probably won’t find that you learn just one way, but it’s an exciting illustration that people don’t all learn the same way. Some prefer lectures and listening to the instructor describe things, Aural; some like illustrations and drawings that show the material being covered, Visual; some prefer to read about a subject in a book or website, Read/Write; and the Kinesthetic learner likes to interact and explore things and an experiential fashion.
As a student of Online Learning, I was studying the same elements of instructional design that trainers and developers of computer/web based training learned. What’s ironic is that I use the VARK test in a class in Information Design I teach future Web Designers for the Art Institute. Yet, those becoming professional K-12 or even College teachers are rarely exposed to this. And, if you examine standardized learning and the lesson plans that result; all too often the focus on online one or maybe two of these methods.
In order to a class to be successful, it must be able to teach students that learn in a variety of ways. If, for example, one History teacher presents their material using a combination of lectures and reading, then verifies this knowledge using essays and written exams, you can see that those students who are better learners through visual and kinesthetic means will be left out. Another teacher that combines videos and role playing to their class would end up benefiting a much larger range of students. Yet, in most standardized lesson plans for history the limited methods fo the first teacher would be preferred.
Too often any push to try to create lessons that appeal to other learning methods is met with the challenge that it costs too much to create these. Yet, it’s actually surprisingly easy to adapt a curriculum to provide a variety of learning experiences that will appeal to a broader range of students.
Additionally, a real effort must be made to let people know that if they do not learn in the limited manner that a lesson is designed, it doesn’t mean they are stupid or have some kind of learning disability. MOST people learn in ways that often do not match the traditional Aural or Read/Write types used.
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Categories: Higher Eduction, K12 Education, Online Learning, Parents, Secondary Education, Teachers, Uncategorized
