My VARK questionnaire results indicate that I prefer learning through different formats, graphs, diagrams, maps, interesting layouts, space, discussing, listening, questioning, talking, notes, handouts, text, practical exercises, print, experiences, examples, case studies, trial and error, things that are real, and so on. This results showed that I prefer multimodal strategies to effectively learn and understand any kind of material. I was also surprised that I chose knowledge as the thing that I liked most about learning and my other choices were not as much, even though it came in first. A lot of things about this questionnaire were interesting to me because it made me think a lot about the different ways I learn. I found out that I prefer an instructors approach, which means that he/she is helping and inspiring me to learn. Not only do they help us put what we have learned into practice, but they also teach us how we are supposed to be using our skills and knowledge.
The questionnaires information helps us improve our understanding of what we have learned in school and how we are learning it. Through this different learning styles, I was able to learn and understand the key concepts of the Federal Government course. I learnt through some of the examples and diagrams found in the course material. The class discussion helped me to learn more about the different key ideas and how they were connected. Overall, I think that I will continue to apply the learning styles I have learned through this questionnaire to my future courses and life. However, there are a few things that I was not so fond of in this course. One thing was the way we would have to read paragraphs from a textbook before we would understand what we were actually learning.
Through, my multiple learning preferences, I understood various concepts and procedures that are key to ensuring effective governance. My effective learning experience involved discussions, charts, diagrams, talking, listening, questioning, recalling, and summarizing in my learning group. My ineffective learning experience involved trying to read the textbook without understanding it (Shumba & Iipinge, 2019).
For me, studying is best when I can talk about and work through information with other students in a small group setting. However, I found that reading the textbook alone to be ineffective because I did not understand what was being said and had trouble recalling key concepts from it later on without someone else there to ask questions or help me as needed. Overall, these were my most effective and ineffective learning experiences for this course so far. My effective learning experience involved talking about a presentation in our learning group. My ineffective learning experience involved reading and trying to understand the textbook by myself in the library.
My learning experience in this course has been effective because I have been working within groups to discuss the material and board problems. I have learned a lot and had many effective learning experiences by doing so. I believe others can learn more efficiently with group discussions because they can hear other people’s views and opinions on topics, which helps them understand the material better (Hassanzadeh et al., 2019). This is something that I will continue to do as long as possible throughout my college career. I believe my learning experience in this course has been ineffective because I haven’t been able to fully realize when I’ve had a misunderstanding of the material yet, or when there is something that needs to be fixed.
References
Hassanzadeh, S., Moonaghi, H. K., Derakhshan, A., Hosseini, S. M., & Taghipour, A. (2019). Preferred learning styles among ophthalmology residents: An iranian sample. Journal of Ophthalmic & Vision Research, 14(4), 483.
Shumba, T. W., & Iipinge, S. N. (2019). Learning style preferences of undergraduate nursing students: A systematic review. Africa Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 21(1), 1-25.
VARK Learning Style Questionnaire. (2022). Retrieved 24 April 2022, from https://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/?p=results