Understanding the Results

The results indicate a 'rule of thumb' and should not be rigidly applied. Remember that the questionnaire is not intended to 'box' respondents into a mindset that they have been 'diagnosed'. Rather, it is designed to initiate discussion about, and reflection upon, learning preferences.

It is not expected that any one preference will be dominant or that all participants will be multimodal. Approximately 50% of faculty seem to be multi-modal, although they usually show preferences for Read/write as one mode. Correspondingly, there will be some students or faculty that have a strong or very strong preference that stands out from others. The most consistent finding from questionnaire results is that our classrooms are very diverse. Faculty members cannot assume that students learn as they do.

Pay particular attention to zero scores on any mode and even more attention to them if the total number of responses is high. Zero scores in a profile are unusual and the person will often have an interesting story to tell.

The power of VARK is that students and faculty understand it intuitively and it fits practice. In VARK workshops participants say, "Yes! That's me."

Emphasize that the results indicate preferences not strengths in whatever way you can. This reduces the participant's anxiety, sometimes expressed as "But I am good visually!" or "But I like reading!" Some people with a zero score in their VARK profile for Visual, enjoy relaxing by drawing or painting or visiting art galleries!

PREFERENCES ARE NOT THE SAME AS STRENGTHS.

And

VARK IS ABOUT LEARNING NOT LEISURE.

And

IF YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE QUESTIONNAIRE WITH EMPATHY YOU WILL HAVE INDICATED THE PREFERENCES OF OTHERS- NOT YOUR OWN LEARNING PREFERENCES. Redo it for yourself.

And

TEACHERS. YOUR VARK SCORES INDICATE HOW YOU LEARN. THEY MAY NOT INDICATE HOW YOU TEACH!

Work and life experiences may blur the boundaries as people learn to use aural, visual, read/write and kinesthetic modes equally well. Preferences may be masked by life and work experiences.

People should take advantage of their preferences and use the learning strategies listed in the helpsheets on this website. These can be used to investigate your preferences and to explore your own views about whether the preference is accurate and helpful. For example, a person with a strong aural (A) preference could be asked: How important is discussion in your life? Do you consider yourself an aural person? Are there aspects of your life where your aural preference is obvious?

Those with a multimodal set of VARK preferences need to process information in more than one mode in order to get enough understanding. People should be encouraged to try new study strategies listed under their preferences. Experience tells us that many people become much more successful if they develop a range of learning strategies based upon their preferences. It is clearly not helpful to use strategies that lie outside your preferences (e.g. using mind-maps may not help if you do not have some Visual preference. Mnemonics may not help if you have a low VARK score for Read/write.) A westernized education system places heavy emphasis upon the Read/write mode. In both instruction and assessment of learning this mode is the dominant one. Most teachers, coaches and trainers express a Read/write preference, which may disadvantge learners with other preferences, Teachers, and others who assist with learning, should use a variety of modes if they expect to reach every learner.

"Teach me my most difficult concepts in my preferred style.
Let me explore my easiest concepts in a different style.
Just don't teach me all the time in your preferred style
and think I'm not capable of learning."

A story and a comment from Virleen M. Carlson , Center for Learning and Teaching, Cornell University, USA.

© copyright 2001 - 2010 Neil Fleming