VARK

VARK Learning Styles

VARK refers to the Visual, Auditory, Read & Write, and Kinaesthetic learning styles. The learning styles could be viewed as a sub-set of Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.

Visual

• People with a visual approach to learning will learn faster when they can look at something or study pictures and diagrams. They like to underline or highlight text with colour. They learn best when things are shown and illustrated. For such a student it is beneficial to summarize the learning visually.

Auditory

 * People with an auditory learning style learn better by listening to other people. These students should pay particular attention to attend lectures, listen to audio recordings, discuss with others, etc. The auditory student often benefits from reading the text aloud to him or herself or formulating the words silently with lip movements. 

Read and write

 * People with a read and write approach like to read, write, make lists and write definitions. This is the most common learning style of the traditional school. These students love reading and adore texts. Such a student can improve learning by writing the main content down on a sheet of paper. 

Kinaesthetic
People with a kinaesthetic, or tactile, learning style learn best if they can move, use their body or touch something in any way. The kinaesthetic students should combine reflection and movement. Take a walk, or dance on the floor and reflect on what you've read, seen or heard.

The learning styles just indicate a preference. It is very common to have more than one preference. All learning styles contribute to the learning, even the ones that are not preferred. The more senses you use to learn, the more fields in the brain are activated. This is essential for deeper understanding.

In some cases teachers are good at building a rich and varied learning environment accommodating different learning styles. Whenever this is not the case, students themselves should build their own learning environment and cater for their learning style. Learning is associated with using several fields of the brain, and therefore the more varied your approach in learning is the higher the learning outcome. However, make sure to always include your favourite learning style for your brain to work best.