Introduction to VARK

Do You Know How You Learn?

VARK tells you something about yourself that you may or may not know. It can be used to understand your boss, your colleagues, your parents, your teacher, your relatives and yourself. It is a short, simple inventory that has been well-received because its dimensions are intuitively understood and its applications are practical. It has helped people understand each other and especially students to learn more effectively and faculty to become more sensitive to the diversity of teaching strategies necessary to reach more students.

Although copyrighted, VARK is free for use in student or faculty development as long as attribution is given. If you have permission to use VARK, see the copyright page for information about copyright and for the acknowledgement you should use.

Although we have known for centuries about the different modes, this inventory, initially developed in 1987 by Neil Fleming, when he was at Lincoln University, New Zealand, was the first to systematically present a series of questions with help-sheets for students, teachers, employees, and others to use in their own way.

Many inventories label people who then want to ask "So what?" VARK goes on to provide strategies that help people understand and move on from any label. Once you know about VARK, its power to explain things will be a revelation.

© copyright 2001 - 2010 Neil Fleming