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http://dx.doi.org/10.5392/JKCA.2019.19.11.144

Assessment of VARK Learning Styles in Medical School and the Influence of Gender Status, Academic Achievement  

Yoo, Hyo Hyun (전북대학교 의과대학)
Kim, Young-Jon (원광대학교 의과대학)
Publication Information
The Journal of the Korea Contents Association / v.19, no.11, 2019 , pp. 144-152 More about this Journal
Abstract
Learning styles are the methods of gathering, processing, interpreting, organizing the information. VARK learnig inventory is instructional preference classified according to their visual(V), aural(A), read-write(R), and/or kinesthetic(K) sensory modality preferences(SMP). Learner-centered learning is emphasized, but there are few studies on VARK learning styles in Korean medical school. The purposes of this study were to assess the student' SMPs and compare those with gender, status, and academic achievement. The subjects of study were 394 students at C Medical School and Graduate School of Medicine. For the study style test, 16 questions were used in Korean version of VARK test paper© 7.0 developed by Fleming provided on the VARK website. Academic achievement was converted into a standardized score(t score). Frequency analysis, cross analysis, and variance analysis(t-test, ANOVA) were conducted to identify learning style disposition and differences between groups. The uni-modal type was 87(22.1%) and the multimodal was 307(77.9%). Regardless of gender, quasi-modal VARK was the most preferred. There was no significant difference in learning styles by gender. The first grade in medicine was the lowest in uni-modal type(8.8%) and the highest in quasi-modal VARK type(47.8%), while the fourth grade was the highest in uni-modal type(30.7%) and the lowest in quasi-modal VARK type(19.8%) and tri-modal type(19.8%). There was no difference in academic achievement by all learning types(F=1.09, p=0.37). The knowledge about students' learning styles is helpful for instructors to apply more learner-centered teaching strategies in medical education.
Keywords
VARK; Learning Styles; Academic Achievement; Medical Students;
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