Analyzing Learning Techniques: VARK, Behavior, and Health Promotion

This essay delves into the author's preferred learning style as determined by the VARK questionnaire, which identifies Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic learning preferences. The author's VARK results indicate a multimodal learning style, where they benefit from a combination of these categories. The essay discusses the importance of understanding learning techniques in education and healthcare, emphasizing how tailored teaching approaches can improve patient outcomes and enhance the effectiveness of health promotion efforts. Furthermore, it explores how learning methods can shape individual behavior and the significance of adapting communication strategies to match diverse learning preferences in various contexts.

Running head: LEARNING TECHNIQUES
LEARNING TECHNIQUES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

1LEARNING TECHNIQUES
Learning style of an individual is dependent on that particular individual’s approach
to learning for a particular situation. Learning is generally includes interpreting, organising
and processing of information required to learn a particular skill or techniques and each
individuals have different way of processing those information. Hence, each individual has
different preferred learning method. Learning style is commonly divided into four prominent
categories which are known as Visual, Auditory or Aural, Read or Write and Kinaesthetic.
Apart from this there is also a mix or multimodal technique. Multimodal technique is where
an individual does not dominantly prefer one particular categories amongst Visual, Auditory
or Aural, Read or Write and Kinaesthetic and prefer to use more than one category to learn a
particular technique or skill (Shah et al., 2017). In this essay, preferred learning style of the
author according to VARK questionnaire, preferred learning style, importance of learning
techniques in educational sector for both the learner and teacher, and how learning techniques
affect the behavioural changes of an individual and health promotion will be discussed.
VARK acronym attributes to the parameters Visual, Auditory or Aural, Read or Write
and Kinaesthetic and it is model to determine an individual’s preferred learning technique.
This model was first suggested by Fleming and Mills in 1992 (Zhang, 2016). In VARK, five
learning techniques have generally been allocated to the persons who took the VARK
questionnaire. After taking the VARK questionnaire, the score obtained by me was as
following: Visual- 8, Aural or Auditory – 8, Read or Write – 8 and Kinaesthetic – 7. The
above result suggest that my learning techniques does not predominantly dependent on a
particular categories as I like to take help from all the categories to learn a particular skill or
techniques. As a direct consequences, my preferred learning technique suggested by the
VARK was multimodal strategies. The result does not come as a surprise to me as from the
childhood I have always been dependent on the all the categories to learn a skill or technique.
Thus, my learning technique deduced by VARK is same as my preferred learning techniques.

2LEARNING TECHNIQUES
VARK has just confirmed the learning technique which I have been doing to learn a new skill
or technique subconsciously. There are two types of multimodal strategy learners. Type one
signifies to those who prefer one particular categories depends on a particular scenarios. Type
two signifies to those who requires instruction in different categories to gather information
about a particular skill or techniques. I belong to the Type one category as I prefer one
particular learning methods depending on the situation. Therefore, in a nutshell, it can be said
that my current learning technique is type on multimodal strategies which has also been my
preferred learning technique.
In healthcare, the patient have to be informed in detailed and minute manner, so that
they can choose the best possible option available to them. Hence, conveying medical inputs
and insights successfully to the patient is vital to the nurses and medical professionals. To this
regard, it is very much essential to the nurses and medical practitioner to determine the
preferred learning techniques of their target audience. Patients have different education
background and different literacy level. As a direct consequence, they have different
preferred learning methods. For example, people with limited medical knowledge and lower
literacy level, most likely to visual demonstration a medical situation as it will help them
understand the situation better whereas people with advanced knowledge will most likely
prefer detailed information which is generally not given in visual demonstration. With this
regard, studies have also shown that personalised teaching approach tailored to the individual
patient has provided better outcome (Cafiero, 2013). Therefore, from the above discussion, it
can be said that determination of preferred learning and teaching technique is vital, necessary
and practical tactic to provide medical information to the target audience.
The purpose of healthcare promotion is raise awareness among the people about a
particular medical topic. If the people are not willing to go through the promotion, then it
becomes futile. Hence, as mentioned above, preferred learning also plays a significant role in

3LEARNING TECHNIQUES
case of healthcare promotion as well. For example, area with low literacy area might need
audio and visual demonstration targeted to practical, daily life effect of a particular medical
topic, so that they become interested in the promotional activities (Koonce et al., 2015).
Learning method also shapes an individual behaviour due to the different learning techniques
and and individual behaviour can also change if their preferred learning method changes
(Nahum-Shani et al., 2015).
Therefore, to conclude, it can be said that determination learning technique is very
important for both the learner and instructor whether it is providing medical information or
healthcare promotion.

4LEARNING TECHNIQUES
References
Cafiero, M. (2013). Nurse practitioners' knowledge, experience, and intention to use health
literacy strategies in clinical practice. Journal of health communication, 18(sup1), 70-
81.
Koonce, T. Y., Giuse, N. B., Kusnoor, S. V., Hurley, S., & Ye, F. (2015). A personalized
approach to deliver health care information to diabetic patients in community care
clinics. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 103(3), 123.
Nahum-Shani, I., Hekler, E. B., & Spruijt-Metz, D. (2015). Building health behavior models
to guide the development of just-in-time adaptive interventions: A pragmatic
framework. Health Psychology, 34(S), 1209.
Shah, K., Ahmed, J., Shenoy, N., & Srikant, N. (2017). How different are students and their
learning styles?. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 1(3), 212-
215.
Zhang, H. (2016). Accommodating Different Learning Styles in the Teaching of Economics:
with Emphasis on Fleming and Mills’s Sensory-based Learning Style
Typology. Applied Economics and Finance, 4(1), 72-83.