Learning Styles and the VARK Model: Importance and Criticisms

This essay explains the various types of learning styles from the VARK model, their importance, and criticisms. It discusses the drawbacks of the model and how it helps in creating the learning easier for the students. The essay also elaborates on the advantages and disadvantages of the different learning methods. The VARK model provides various different methods of learning that can help the learner in choosing the most suitable method of learning. The mind and learning preferences of every person is different and this model fills the gap with the categories of learning methods that can help in solving problems that can be caused by the different mentalities of the learning.

ESSAY

Table of Contents
Learning styles.................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

Learning styles
It is one of the essential parts of a person who wishes to learn or understand something. It
helps a person in developing his own personal approach and methods of learning. The styles are
not for a specific subject and it can be used for understanding any kind of information. The essay
will explain about the various types of learning styles that can be used from the VARK model.
Furthermore, there will be a discussion on the importance of the various styles of this model. The
essay will more elaborate the criticisms of the styles of this model (Mirza and Khurshid, 2020).
The drawbacks of this model and the learning styles will also be explained in this essay. This
essay will aim at understanding the importance and the drawbacks of the VARK model.
Learning styles of the VARK model, explains about the main four categories in which
people can be divided based on their learning style and preferences. The VARK model was
introduced by Neil Fleming in 1987 (VARK model, 2022). The model is consisted of four main
learning styles which are Visual, Auditory, Reading and Kinesthetic.
Visual, this learning style helps the learners in learning or understanding any information
by looking at it. Learner uses this style by using visual resources that can be provided to them for
better understanding of the information. The visual learning method can be used in learning from
charts, diagrams and graphs. This style of learning shows the importance of the visual
presentation of anything. The people who do not like to learn something from written or
auditorial resources chooses this method of learning. This style helps the people in learning
something effectively who completely relies on the visual information.
Auditory, this learning style from VARK model plays an important role in the life of a
person who wishes to learn or understand some information visually. The style is very useful for
the person who does not find the other learning styles useful for them. Resources like lectures,
audio books and audio notes is the best way to understand something buy auditorial methods.
This method also helps in saving time as the person can listen to audio any time he is
comfortable. The person who does not finds the writing or visual or any other methods useful for
him chooses this method. Many people do not have time to read books or give a visual look to
the graphs or charts chooses the method of auditorial learning (da Silva and et.al., 2020).
Reading and Writing, it is one of the most used and the traditional method of learning
used by the people. The style helps in learning the information by making notes and
presentations, reading textbooks and making lists. This method can benefit the learners as they

take a large amount of information for creating notes or presentation for themselves. The style
helps in creating discipline in life of a person.
Kinesthetic, this is the style in which people use their senses to learn or understand the
information. People who obtain information by physical approaches are called the kinesthetic
learners. This is one of the most successful method of learning and understanding the
information. The method provides actual information of the scene by physically being present
there.
This model is one of the most important model that helps in creating the learning easier
for the students and the ones wishes to understand something. The VARK model provides
various different methods of learning that can help the learner in choosing the most suitable
method of learning. This method helps the teachers can take benefit of better understanding of
the students (Importance of VARK, 2022). They can help the students with the strategies that can
be suitable for the students. The mind and learning preferences of every person is different and
this model fills the gap with the categories of learning methods that can help in solving problems
that can be caused by the different mentalities of the learning.
The main advantage of the model is that the model provides flexibility in adjusting the
behaviour of learning. This concept helps the students in developing basic and advance study
skills that can be beneficial for them. Strategies that will be developed can help the students in
their school and the rest of their lives. Another advantage of this model is that it provides
different options of learning which can be applied by the learners and will help the learners in
understanding the information more efficiently (Tabatabei, 2018). The model helps in providing
different modularities of learning. There are many advantages of this model in the different
learning methods. The various advantages of the learning methods are as follows:
The visual method of the VARK model helps the learners in understanding the
information by the help of visually presented resources. This is one of the easiest method of
learning something as the only requirement in this style is just to look at the information
provided in the visual resources (Dutsinma and et,al., 2018).
The same factor applies to the auditory method as the lectures and audio books can make
the understanding even better for the people who prefer to learn something by listening to it. The
method is also very time saving as the person can listen to the audio notes and audio books
anytime he wants and whenever he feels convenient.

The reading and writing method is one of the most used and traditional method of
learning. This method has the highest chances for the learners to understand something. The
method is used by the teachers in the schools by giving the students paragraphs to read from the
books and giving them homework.
` The kinesthetic model also plays an important role in the various learning styles. This
method motivates the people to understand the information by discovering it themselves. The
style makes the learners to the knowledge and understand the information with their own efforts.
This the most suitable style for the people who wish to understand the information physically.
Criticisms of the VARK model:
An implication of VARK model for the determination of the learning style proves to be
wrong because it makes easier classification of four categories. In the same way it is criticised
on the basis of its restrictiveness. This means it restrict an individual into its four distinct
categories of learning which is not right and thus restrict an individual learning style (Aktinson,
2021). As learning of anything depend upon person to person and with the restriction towards
only four categories will lead to have a direct impact towards the learning. This means as per the
situation and surrounding it is also possible that the learning will take place with the combination
of factors like writing as well as auditory and various other form too. Thus VARK style is
criticised because of its assumption of its only 4 categories of learning.
In the same way the VARK questionnaire can also be criticised because assuming and
pertaining a presence of only one learning style is counted as wrong and thus considered as
hindrance of the individual learning. As it is a fact that the learning of an individual is affected
by various factors that may include the external environment and considering the learning of an
individual into specific 4 categories is wrong and thus criticised (Alkooheji and Al-Hattami,
2018). Since as per the VARK learning style the learning of an individual can be made only with
one of its four element i.e. visual, auditory, read/write and kinaesthetic which itself limit and
restrict its effectiveness in terms of its usage. This is because the learning of individual can be
made apart from these four ways and thus criticised.
In the same way the VARK is criticised because it does not provide the specific direction
in reference to educators which they need to adopt for the implementation of the model. This
means identification of learning style will be important only when after identification it can be
implemented (Aktinson, 2021).

Another critic in reference to the VARK learning is its labelling. This means labelling the
students on the basis of 4 categories will hinder their development and learning. This shows that
it is important for a model that it can direct the students for learning from various ways instead of
bounding them towards specific categories of learning. This means learning of the students need
to be supported by the learning style instead of categorising and restricting towards the four
categories as in the case of VARK.
From the above essay it can be concluded that VARK style of learning is one of the
important concept and form of learning that assist in students to have four categories from which
learning take place. These may include visual, aural, read/write as well as kinaesthetic (Stowe
and K Clinebell, 2019). With the help of concerned learning style an identification of learning
category can be made which will help in improvisation of learning of students. However, in the
essay also criticised the VARK learning on various aspect like restriction, implementation and
various other.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
da Silva, I.N. and et.al., 2020. Use of the VARK Model for Students of an Undergraduate Course
in Systems Analysis and Development. In Theoretical and Practical Approaches to
Innovation in Higher Education (pp. 42-56). IGI Global.
Mirza, M.A. and Khurshid, K., 2020. Impact of VARK learning model at tertiary level
education. International Journal of Educational and Pedagogical Sciences. 14(5).
pp.354-361.
Tabatabei, E., 2018. Innovative, creative VARK learning styles improvement strategies. Global
Journal Of Foreign Language Teaching. 8(3). pp.87-93.
Alkooheji, L. and Al-Hattami, A., 2018. Learning Style Preferences among College
Students. International Education Studies. 11(10). pp.50-63.
Stowe, K. and K Clinebell, S., 2019. An Empirical Investigation of Learning Modalities. Journal
of the Academy of Business Education. 20.
Dutsinma, F.L. and et,al., 2018, November. Identifying child learning style by using human
physiological response and Vark model. In 2018 Global Wireless Summit (GWS) (pp.
304-308). IEEE.
Online
Aktinson, T.H., 2021. VARK Strengths and Weaknesses. [Online] Available through:
<https://tracyharringtonatkinson.com/vark-strengths-and-weaknesses/#:~:text=these
%20other%20modalities.-,Disadvantages,criticized%20for%20being%20too
%20restrictive.>
Importance of VARK. 2022. [Online] Available through:
<https://blog.definedlearning.com/blog/varkandpersonalizedlearning#:~:text=The
%20VARK%20model%20can%20be,that%20benefits%20them%20the%20most.>
VARK model. 2022. [Online] Available through: <https://www.verywellmind.com/vark-learning-
styles-2795156#:~:text=There%20are%20many%20different%20ways,about%20their
%20individual%20learning%20preferences.>
1

2