Medical student's preferred learning style (original) (raw)

Uploaded (2023) | Journal: Pak J Surg 2018; 34(1):36-40

Abstract

Objective: To identify the preferred learning style of fi rst year medical students at Karachi Medical and Dental College, Karachi. Material and Methods:A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted amongst fi rst year medical students of Karachi Medical & Dental College, Karachi. VARK questionnaire was used to determine the learning style.Ethical approval was granted by the ethical committ ee of KMDC. Results:A total of 210 students participated in study. Completed questionnaire were returned by 199 students with response rate of 94.7%. Majority of study group comprised of women 86.94%(173) while men accounted for 13.06%(26). Male to female ratio was 1:6.65. Most preferred individual VARK learning style was kinesthetic(95.47%) followed by auditory(80.40%), visual(70.85%) and reading/writing(57.28%). Multi-modal learning style was preferred by 98.5% with Tri-modal as the most preferred combination comprising of 51.26% followed by Quad-modal 27.14% and Bi-modal 20.10%. Most prevalent Tri-modal combination among study group was KA V (Kinesthetic-Auditory-Visual) with frequency of 50.98%. Uni-modal was the least preferred style of learning comprising of 1.5%. No statistically significant diff erence of learning style was found between men and women (p=0.195). Kinesthetic was found to be the most preferred individual VARK style with mean score of 6.51±2.47. Conclusion: Majority of medical students irrespective of gender prefer to learn through using all sensory modalities. Bett er understanding of learning characteristics of students necessitates modifi cations in teaching strategies. Using multisensory approach of teaching through use of active learning strategies helps in bett er understanding and eff ective learning to take place.

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