Using VARK to Optimize Your Learning

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Getting a college education is one of the most expensive, challenging, and time-consuming endeavors a person can embark on. Earning a degree can also be one of the most rewarding and worthwhile accomplishments a person can achieve. These high stakes explain why so many students turn to learning aides and research paper writing services.

They also mean it is essential for a current or aspiring student to squeeze the most value possible from the experience and maximize their chances of success. This might mean that you choose to buy a research paper for an unimportant class and focus on subjects you are passionate about, or it might mean that you spend extra time focusing on a subject unrelated to your degree so you can broaden your general knowledge.

There are several tools available to help you achieve this goal ranging from commonly known options like study groups and tutors to more creative solutions like professional writing services that help a student prepare presentations, edit their drafts, or buy research papers written from scratch. Another creative solution that many people might not think about is called a VARK profile. Everyone is inclined to certain learning types and knowing your own inclinations can help you take advantage of your own strengths, compensate for your own weaknesses, and enjoy an overall successful educational experience.

Determining your VARK profile

The VARK questionnaire is the primary method for figuring out a person’s preferred learning style. The potential categories a person is evaluated for make up the VARK acronym plus a fifth, hybrid option:

• 1. Visual
• 2. Aural
• 3. Read/write
• 4. Kinesthetic
• 5. Multimodal

While most people favor a single category as their preferred learning style and generally find the other methods to be challenging, some people score highly in more than one category. This group of people is classified as being the fifth type of learner, a catch-all term for anyone with a hybrid learning style, multimodal. As an example of this learning preference, an individual might have scored highly in both the read/write and aural categories.

This person would likely benefit from both class discussion and reading the course material for a topic, but would not find a practical lab or video demonstration as helpful. On the flip side, someone with high kinesthetic and low read/write would likely excel at the lab portion of a science course, but may opt to buy a research paper for their lecture portion to ensure their lower inclination toward that activity doesn’t compromise their final grade.

As you might expect, an individual that falls under the multimodal category can learn from any of their strongest scoring categories. This can be a matter of choosing any one method that fits your high scoring categories, but it also suggests that an approach combining your strong categories, rather than focusing on one exclusively, will the be most effective of all.

Knowing your VARK profile can help you design a study scheme that makes the most of all your strengths to help you learn as fast and thoroughly as possible, hopefully freeing up your schedule to the point where you don’t find yourself in an unexpected time crunch where you might need to buy a research paper or hire a professional editor just meet a deadline.

Applying VARK to your life

Your VARK classification may have some interesting implications in both the short- and long-term. For example, a study performed in 2008 by Breckler, Joun, and Ngo showed that groups of students that have the same type of learning strategies tend to be clustered into certain types of learning programs. This suggests that when you encounter people pursuing the same degree as yourself, you likely have similar VARK profiles.

In your education

Specifically in the case of group projects in school, it is likely that your group members may have similar learning strengths and weaknesses if the different group members are pursuing your degree. Knowing this, in this situation, allows you and your peers to either diversify learning styles represented in your group by choosing specific team members or be sure that you focus your methods on the learning styles that your group is already inclined toward. You may also be able to predict that your group might need to consult a tutor or hire a research paper writing service to help reach your final goal.

Whether in a group setting or individually, you will also be able to predict with reasonable accuracies which courses and which specific tasks are going to require more time and energy from you and which ones you will excel at naturally. With this preparation, you may be able to arrange for some help with specific challenges before they become overwhelming like engaging a research paper writing service to help gather, organize, and cite sources for a big project.

This might mean you arrange to meet with a professor to discuss a challenging lab assignment, if you favor aural learning and struggle with kinesthetic, or it might inspire you to hire a research paper writing service to help with a big writing assignment if you struggle with read/write learning.

In your career

This study also found that the majority of students that were interested in entering the health profession were classified as multimodal learners (Breckler et al., 2008). Healthcare professions have many different aspects ranging from the theoretical components of human physiology to the visual aspects of human anatomy to the practical application of medical techniques to the ability to have effective discussions with patients and colleagues. Individuals that enter this profession must be able to deal with learning from many different styles of instruction on a daily basis.

The obvious implication here is that choosing a profession that favors your individual VARK preferences is going to be the easiest option. But, that may not correspond with your aspirations. If, to use the above example, you wish you enter a healthcare profession, but are not a multimodal learner, you know that you are in for a more challenging experience than some of your peers. You will be aware that certain elements may take you longer to learn and can dedicate time and energy to those that you saved by being very good at other areas.

You may need to seek unconventional help like buying research papers or hiring tutors. Having this understanding will also prepare you psychologically for others in your program to excel at certain parts while you struggle. Expecting and understanding these discrepancies will help you stay confident and optimistic during your studies rather than getting depressed by the impression that you aren’t cut out for your preferred field of work.

Making the most of multimodal learning

Someone who scored as a multimodal learner would do well to follow some simple steps to determine a custom learning strategy. First, your strongest learning preferences should be identified, perhaps by using the VARK questionnaire. Next, you should try to create a list of specific learning methods that apply to your strengths. Think of this list as a toolbox for the final step, synthesizing a learning strategy.

You may be able to get away with a general strategy that covers most situations, but you should always approach a new learning task with fresh eyes. Evaluate the goals and resources available for each task and then open your metaphorical toolbox to see which of your preferred methods fit the objectives and materials that are available to you. Knowing you have the option to buy a research paper, for instance, might free up your time and energy to focus on other, possibly more important task.

Applying the strategy

For example, consider a person that scored high on read/write and aural. One way that this type of person can go about learning new material in general would be to combine note taking and reviewing. By first taking detailed notes from a lecture or speech, you can engage both your aural and writing preferences. Next, you can re-read your notes to infuse a reading aspect in your learning process. Finally, you can engage another student or tutor in a discussion about your notes to further engage the aural element.

By using this kind of strategy, a multimodal learner with strong read/write and aural skills can appeal to all of their strongest learning preferences. Such a learner would seldom be forced to consult a writing center or buy a research paper. Furthermore, each element of this strategy represents a tool in that learner’s toolbox, to be mixed and matched to future learning tasks, as needed.

This principle can work for a learner who favors only one of the specific VARK areas, too, though it is much simpler for that type of learner to prioritize their single learning method rather than trying to create a strategy to accommodate many. What you choose to do with this knowledge is entirely up to you. A strong read/write learner, for instance, may choose to take advantage of their natural inclination or they may choose to buy research papers from a reputable service, knowing they already have that skill, and focus on improving in other areas.

Multimodal challenges

Though being multimodal seems to have a great deal of upside to it, there are scenarios where the exact opposite appears to be true. As noted in a paper written by Fleming (2006), there is a concern that multimodal learners often do not get the most out of their educational experience. This suggestion comes from the idea that multimodal learners are unable to “get enough variety in their intake of information to confirm or settle it as new learning,” (Fleming, 2006). This is an important observation for teachers and students as well as those who provide educational assistance like tutors or research paper writing services.

Teachers can use the principles behind VARK to better their own teaching styles so that they can help those that need to have more than one learning preference appealed to in order to truly learn a particular lesson. Diversified teaching practices also help students with specific VARK preferences to always have some element of a lesson that appeals to their needs. It is, after all, far more likely to have a classroom full of different learning types rather than all one type.

Students that are multimodal learners should take the responsibility of finding a strategy that fits their specific needs whether that involves gamification of their tasks or working with a research paper writing service. There have been studies performed to test this very idea.

A 2002 study carried out by Denice Byrne tested the hypothesis that, “students will prefer learning with some types of online multimedia better than others, depending on their individual learning style.” The statistical analysis of student behavior in this study played out just as hypothesized. Students that did indeed tend to choose and learn best from their particular style when presented with an option (Byrne 2002). Unfortunately, there are not always options immediately available to a student, so you may have to find creative solutions in these situations such as hiring an editor or buying research papers.

Conclusion

Systems like VARK provide a common language with which researchers, teachers, and students can engage a common concern, education. This common ground bridges the widely disparate levels of expertise and objectives of individuals and organizations across the educational spectrum. Students are able to identify their own specific needs and seek out specialized learning tools such as services to edit or buy research papers and environments that suit their own preferences like study groups or multimedia learning experiences. Teachers are better equipped to plan their own lessons either to generally suit a wide range of VARK preferences or, if they have the time and resources, customize lessons for their specific students. Researchers benefit from this kind of framework because it helps them develop studies and new educational models to continue improving the educational experience of both students and teachers from all backgrounds and in all fields.

Specifically when it comes to students, VARK can be a great advantage in that it empowers you to seize control of your own experience. When you understand why certain learning styles are more challenging, you are less likely to become frustrated with yourself or education in general. You can plan ahead for extra time-consuming tasks and make an informed choice about whether to invest in a tutor or buy research papers to keep your education progressing. When you know what you are inherently best at, you can prioritize that learning style wherever possible to get the maximum results. And finally, when you know that you are stuck in a situation that is inherently difficult for your learning preferences, you can know to seek out help.

Study groups, tutors, and interactive learning tools can provide a terrific advantage in these situations, but there are also less conventional solutions for those in difficult situations. Professional writing services, for example, can be a great help to a student with limited time or one who scores very low on the read/write VARK category. Whether you intend to buy research papers, get editing help, or simply have an expert format your own writing, these research paper writing services can be a life saver for a single parent or ESL student struggling with certain tasks.

References

Breckler, J., Joun, D., & Ngo, H. (2008). Learning styles of physiology students interested in the health professions. American Physiological Society, 33(1), 30-36. Retrieved from http://advan.physiology.org/content/33/1/30.full

Byrne, D. (2002). A study of individual learning styles and educational multimedia preferences. Unpublished manuscript, School of computer applications, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved from http://www.compapp.dcu.ie/~mfarren/denice.PDF

Fleming, N., & Baume, D. (2006). Learning styles again: Varking up the right tree! Educational Developments, 4(7), 4-7. Retrieved from http://www.johnsilverio.com/EDUI6702/Fleming_VARK_learningstyles.pdf