Study Skills for Higher Education

This report discusses study skills for higher education and focuses on the implementation of VARK styles of learning. It defines VARK and its different styles, and explores how teachers can use these styles to cater to students' preferences. The report also discusses the impact of age and gender on learning preferences and provides recommendations for teachers to effectively implement VARK in their lessons.

Study Skills for Higher
Education

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Definition of VARK and different styles associated to it............................................................3
Implementation of VARK styles by teachers..............................................................................5
CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Study skills are the process by which skills are implemented for gathering new
information, dealing with assessments and retaining informations (Chan and Fong, 2018).
Higher eduction require study skills which manages time along with making plans for
assignments. Higher eduction skills are also the use of electronic resources, skills for reading and
writing and also thinking critically. Main aim of this report is to define VARK with its different
types, and how it can help teachers teach students.
MAIN BODY
Definition of VARK and different styles associated to it
VARK as an acronym rests as Visual, Aural, Read and Kinesthetic sensory modalities
which are used as informations for learning. It was described by Neil D. Fleming and Coleen E.
Mills (1992). VARK helps with the suggestions which should be used for learning (Sethi, Lomte,
and Shinde, 2017). It can also be said as the evolved form of teaching with the help of new
technologies for better providing a new dimension to teaching also learning (Espinoza-Poves,
Miranda-Vílchez and Chafloque-Céspedes, 2019).
Four words which together form the term VARK are also identified as different style of
learning present in this system. These styles help students with identification of learning
preferences and the way of understanding them. The different style of VARK are,
Visual :
This style is meant for those students which prefer a graphic representation of
information which are properly synthesized. These students are seen responding to photos and
videos involved in the study material. Such learners have been seen processing the whole
information at once rather than doing it partially, step by step. This results in a very positive
outcome in their eduction. Presentation of visual chart and diagrams help students with complex
informations and also in their future. One downside to this style is that it requires proper
availability of digital equipments. Visual style of learning uses graphical displays of diagram,
chart and illustration along with that handouts provided for learning are also a form of Visual
style of learning. Another helpful tool for visual learning is showing student educational videos
of the specific topic (Antalffy, 2020).
Auditory :

Also known as aural style of learning is successful when the students are given
information vocally. This is the way in which teachers explain the learnings to students in the
form of lectures. In this style of learning the all the informations gathered by student does not
necessarily stay in the brains of the learners. There fore this requires the learners to note down
the information passed on to them vocally. However, it has been seen that the students do not
enjoy taking notes and consider it as a distraction to them while learning. Concentration loss due
to taking notes in lecture is basically loss of informations for the students. Auditory leaning is
also preferred by some leaner and some do not find this beneficial. It depends upon the mindset
of the learners. Some innovative ways of auditory learning is making songs for certain kind of
information required for learning (Antalffy, 2020).
Reading :
Such style is preferred by those students who show strong interests in reading materials.
Written informations can be provided in form of both handouts or power point presentation.
Those who prefer this style are seen to have good memorizing quality in them. Learners find this
style more beneficial when they read and also write the same information. Such an act provides
them with complete and literate knowledge on the provided information. Downside of this
method is that not every person is good at reading and most student find this process boring and
fail in understanding the concept. Learners with this quality are good with memorising
definitions, projects and creating presentations.
Kinesthetic :
Kinesthetic learners are those who are good at participation in physical activities related
to process of learning for achieving the best outcomes in their eduction. Only specific students
can be part of this learning as this requires engagement of all the senses with equal distribution
of the learning process. Learners to this style are active in nature thus they are not comfortable in
the usual styles of learning at a classroom. Many teachers have found success in this style of
teaching usually for subjects like English or Maths. Experiments for science classes in labs are
thrived in this style of learning and those students which prefer this develops their qualities
quickly and efficiently (Amaniyan, and et.al., 2020).
These styles are not specific to the use of anyone in particular. The main motive of these
styles are to teach students. Therefore, if a student finds success with one style does not mean

other style cannot be used. For instance the perfect combination of all these styles makes the
education more instructive and skill building for the learners.
Implementation of VARK styles by teachers
For implementing the VARK styles of learning in the teaching lessons of a teacher firstly
the teachers should understand different categories of students and their preferences in learning
styles. Preferences of learning style differ in all types of learners. Differences in their age and
gender also shows changes in style of learning.
Source : Antalffy, 2020
With the help of the above illustration it can be better understood how age differences effect the
preferences in learning styles. For Visual learning style as the age progresses the preferences of
the learners decrease. Thus, it can be said that this style is preferred more by young learners.
Aural/Auditory learning style is slightly more preferred by the younger learners as with age
hearing quality of people get diminished. Read and write learning style has been seen to
influence older more mature generations and not given much preference by younger generations.
Kinesthetic learning is seen to be preferred more by younger generation of learners as they are
more active.
Gender differences do cause little change in preference as girl are seen to be more fond of
reading style of learning than the boys. Boys on the other hand show more interests in
Kinesthetic and Visual styles of learning (Mahmud, Muin, and Hamia, 2019).
Implementing VARK in the teaching lessons of a teacher can be adopted when they know
and understand about the preferences of their students. After understanding the preferences the
teachers can implement these style to their specific learners.
Visual Learner :
Illustration 1: Learning styles preferred by different age groups

For such learners teachers should introduce images, pictures, colour designs and maps in
their teaching lessons. This method will help teachers educate students who show interests in
visual representation of information. For example, Teaching with a power point presentation
which contains illustration, picture and diagrams about the topic which the teacher in explaining.
Auditory learners :
Also known as Aural learners better understand topics which are spoken to them, or
heard by them. In this style the teachers can include instruments, creation of music or sound
engineering. Lecture provided by the teachers while their teachings are the best possible example
to Auditory learning style and those who prefer this style can recall information better with the
help of lectures (Das, Chakraborty and Sukul, 2020).
Read/Write learners :
These learners prefer the information to be displayed in front of them in words. Such
learners may have interests in reading books. They show good results in text writing assignments
like essay and reports. Teachers can use these abilities in them to make them read and write the
topic of leaning. This method proves to be very efficient in learning (Antalffy, 2020).
Kinesthetic learners :
Kinesthetic learners are the most energetic of all the learners they enjoy different
activities which may be sports, exercises and also some handy works. They enjoy energetic
forms of learning as they this method exciting and fun. Not all kinds of teaching can be done in
this method but the possible few which can be explained with an activity is easy to explain to the
learners (Amaniyan, and et.al., 2020). For example, experiments which are done in labs are
exiting for the students and also stays as a memory to them which not only teaches them about
the topic but also gives them practical knowledge.
There is no best or preferred style of learning which should be used by a teacher in its
lessons. Correct and balanced implementation of all these styles in the lessons of the teacher
provides proper teachings to the student. Although some students do not prefer certain styles, all
of them should have the experiences of different styles. Combination of all these styles proves as
the correct study skills for both teachers and students.

CONCLUSION
With the help of this report it can be concluded that VARK skills of learning to perform
better when implemented according to the preferences of the students. VARK skills have
different styles of learning which are Visual, Auditory, Read and Kinesthetic. This project shows
how teachers can implement these styles in their teaching lessons by identifying the style
preferences of students.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Amaniyan, S. and et.al.,, 2020. Comparison of the Conceptual Map and Traditional Lecture
Methods on Students’ Learning Based on the VARK Learning Style Model: A
Randomized Controlled Trial. SAGE Open Nursing. 6. p.2377960820940550.
Chan, C.K. and Fong, E.T., 2018. Disciplinary differences and implications for the development
of generic skills: a study of engineering and business students’ perceptions of
generic skills. European Journal of Engineering Education. 43(6). pp.927-949.
Das, A., Chakraborty, A. and Sukul, B., 2020. Learning styles of undergraduate medical
students–A cross sectional study using VARK questionnaire. The Official
Publication of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine. 42(1). pp.49-53.
Espinoza-Poves, J.L., Miranda-Vílchez, W.A. and Chafloque-Céspedes, R., 2019. The Vark
Learning Styles among University Students of Business Schools. Journal of
Educational Psychology-Propositos y Representaciones. 7(2). pp.401-415.
Mahmud, A.F., Muin, S. and Hamia, N., 2019, March. Female Perspective on Learning Styles:
English Department Students Universitas Muhammadiyah Maluku Utara.
In International Symposium on Social Sciences, Education, and Humanities (ISSEH
2018) (pp. 181-184). Atlantis Press.
Sethi, M.A., Lomte, S.S. and Shinde, U.B., 2017. Multimodal Approach to Identify Learning
Strategies of Visual and Verbal Learners. International Journal Of Emerging
Technologies In Learning. 12(10).
Online
Antalffy,P., 2020, Adopting teaching style for becoming a tutor, [online] Available through:
<https://tutorcruncher.com/crm/how-adapting-your-teaching-style-can-help-you-
become-a-better-tutor./>
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