The VARK Model (Copyright Version 7. 0 (1992) held by Neil D The VARK Model (Copyright Version 7.0 (1992) held by Neil D. Fleming, Christchurch, New Zealand and Charles C. Bonwell, Springfield, MO 65804, USA.) V – visual A – aural (auditory) R – reading and writing K – kinesthetic

Advantages of Knowing your Learning Style Helps you adapt your study habits This makes you more prepared for classes and exams Stress Self-esteem Grades/Success in School

Victor (V-Visual): This preference works best with information in the forms of maps, spider diagrams, charts, graphs, flow charts, labeled diagrams, symbolic arrows, circles, etc. It is best for these students if teachers use these symbols to represent what could have been presented in words. You might also call this a graphic style or preference. This preference does NOT include movies, videos or PowerPoint. It does include designs, whitespace, patterns, shapes and the different formats that are used to highlight and convey information.

Anna (A -Aural /Auditory): This mode describes a preference for information that is "heard or spoken." Students with this modality learn best from lectures, tutorials, tapes, group discussion, email, using mobile phones, speaking, web chat and talking things through. It includes talking out loud as well as talking to yourself. Often people with this preference want to sort things out by speaking, rather than sort things out and then speak.

Critical Questions for Learning Styles In your experience, have most of your professors and teachers favored one or more of these styles in their teaching methods? That is, which of the learning styles do you most often see taught to in classrooms? Do dominant learning style teaching methods change from kindergarten elementary school middle school university? If some learning styles are favored by teaching methods, how does this affect students who prefer different styles? How does this affect the democracy in the classroom?

Roberto (R-Read/write): This preference is for information displayed as words. Not surprisingly, many academics (scholars, professors, researchers, etc.) have a strong preference for this modality. This preference emphasizes reading and writing in all its forms. People who prefer this modality are often addicted to PowerPoint, the Internet, lists, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, etc.

Katherine (K-Kinesthetic): This modality refers to “real” things. People with this learning style prefer to learn through real experience and practice, or stories about other people’s real experiences or practice. The key here is a connection to reality, "either through concrete personal experiences, examples, practice or simulation" [See Fleming & Mills, 1992, pp. 140-141]. It includes demonstrations, simulations, videos and movies of "real" things, as well as case studies, practice and applications.

What about Mixtures? Multimodals (MM): Life is multimodal. This means that things and people can rarely be described in only one way. There are seldom instances where one mode is used, so we have a four-part VARK profile. That is why the VARK questionnaire gives you four scores. People who prefer many modes almost equally are of two types. Also, some people show preferences for different modes in different situations. Some other people are not satisfied until they have had input (or output) in all of their preferred modes. They take longer to gather information from each mode and, as a result, they often have a deeper and broader understanding.