INTRODUCTION:

Learning is the act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing existing, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences which may lead to a potential change in synthesizing information, depth of the knowledge, attitude or behavior relative to the type and range of experience. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, plants and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow a learning curve. Learning does not happen all at once, but it builds upon and is shaped by previous knowledge.

Human learning may occur as part of education, personal development, schooling, or training. It may be goal-oriented and may be aided by motivation. Visual, aural, and kinesthetic (VAK) is one of the instruments which can be used to determine the learning styles.The VAK questionnaire was primarily developed by Lincoln University of New Zealand in 1998. It is based on three principles, which are as follows:

1. Everyone hasacademic learning issues

2. Everyone has their own styles

3. The learner’s motivation is increased when different learning styles of learners are taken into account.

Educational concepts are learned through utilization of senses and different Perceptions.From this perspective, peopleacquire environmental knowledge through four sensory modalities: visual, auditory, and Kinesthetic. In other words, students learn the education force process by experience, projection, contemplation and accomplishment

What is the VAK Learning Styles Model?

The VAK Learning Styles Model was developed by psychologists in the 1920s to classify the most common ways that people learn. According to the model, most of us prefer to learn in one of three ways: visual, auditory or kinesthetic (although, in practice, we generally "mix and match" these three styles).

· Visual: a visually-dominant learner absorbs and retains information better when it is presented in, for example, pictures, diagrams and charts.

· Auditory: an auditory-dominant learner prefers listening to what is being presented. He or she responds best to voices, for example, in a lecture or group discussion. Hearvoice repeating something back to a tutor or trainer is also helpful.

· Kinesthetic: a kinesthetic-dominant learner prefers a physical experience. He or she likes a "hands-on" approach and responds well to being able to touch or feel an object or learning properly.

Learners use all three modalities to receive and learn new information and experiences. However, according to the VAK or modality theory, one or two of these receiving styles is normally dominant. This dominant style defines the best way for a person to learn new information by filtering what is to be learned. This style may not always to be the same for some tasks. The learner may prefer one style of learning for one task, and a combination of others for a different task. All students are created equally and differently the term learning style speaks to the understanding that every student learns differently, technically, on individual learning style refers to the preferential way in which the student absorbs, process, comprehends and retain information.

Assessment for learning is all about informing learners of their progress to empower them to take the necessary action to improve their performance. Student approaches to learning can be influence by the perception that they gain from heir learning environment.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Statement of study:

“A study to assess VAK learning style among first year basic b.sc nursing students of selected nursing colleges at Aurangabad’’.

Objectives:

1. To assess the VAK learning style among the first year Basic B.sc nursing students of selected nursing colleges at Aurangabad.

2. To determine association between VAK learning style and selected socio demographic variables.

Assumptions:

· First year basic B.Sc nursing students may not know about different learning styles.

· Assessment of VAK learning style among students may help to plan for study strategy.

· There may be significant association between knowledge regarding assessment of VAK learning style and selected demographic variables

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Research approach:

A descriptive research approach.

Research design:

Descriptive study design.

Setting of the study:

Selected nursing colleges at Aurangabad.

Sample:

190 first year Basic B.Sc nursing students.

Sampling technique:

Non-probability purposive sampling technique.

The criteria for sample selection:

Inclusion criteria:

Students who are studying in Basic B.Sc nursing 1^st year.

Exclusion criteria:

Students who are not available during data collection

Method of developing tool:

The tool used for the study was modified VAK questionnaire.

Description of tool:

Tool consists of two parts:

Section A: Demographic characteristics:

The first part of the tool consists of 8 items for obtaining information the selected demographic characteristics such as Age, Gender, Type of family, Religion, Area of residency, Father’s educational status, Mother’s educational status, Medium of school.

Section B: Standardized VAK questionnaire:

Questionnaire is to assess the VAK learning style among the Basic B.Sc nursing students. It consist of 30 items, total score is 30.

For option ‘A’- Visiual.

For option ‘B’- Auditory.

For option ‘C’- Kinesthetic.

Data gathering process:

Formal written permission is taken byauthorities to conduct study. An informed consent was taken from the subjects willing to participate in the study. Samples were selected from five nursing colleges of Aurangabad.

Plan for data collection:

The data obtained is analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The plan of data analysis is as follows

1. Frequency and percentage of the analysis of demographic data.

2. Chi-square test is used to find the significant association between the knowledge score and socio demographic variables.

RESULTS:

Organization of the findings:

The data collected from student has been organize and presented under the following headings

Section I: Frequency and percentage distribution of the demographic variables.

Table. 1. Frequency and percentage distribution of the demographic variables N=190

Particulars

Frequency

Percentage

1. AGE (in years)

a. 18-20

b. 20-22

168

88.42%

11.57%

2. GENDER

a. Female

b. Male

108

56.84%

43.15%

3. FAMILY

a. Nuclear

b. Joint

120

63.15%

36.84%

4. RELIGION

a. Hindu

b. Buddhist

c. Christinity

d. Muslim

e. Other

115

60.12%

17.89%

9.47%

2.63%

5. AREA

a. Urban

b. Rural

110

57.89%

42.10%

6. FATHER EDUCATION

a. Primary education

b. Secondary education

c. Graduate

d. Post Graduate

e. Illiterate

28.94%

25.26%

24.73%

13.68%

7.36%

7. Mother Education

a. Primary education

b. Secondary education

c. Graduate

d. Illiterate

e. Post Graduate

37.89%

26.84%

20%

12.10%

3.15%

8. Medium Of School

a. Marathi

b. English

c. Other

114

60%

20.52%

19.47%

Section III: Association between VAK style and socio demographic variables.

Table 2:-Association between VAK learning Style with selected demographic variables N=190

Demographic variables

Visual

Auditory

Kinesthetic

Degree of freedom

Chi square

value

Result

a. Age group

1) 18-20

2) 20-22

6.05

0.049

b. Gender

1) Male

2) Female

0.554

0.758

c. Type of family

1) Nuclear Family

2) Joint Family

0.341

0.843

d. Religion

1) Hindu

2) Muslim

3) Buddhist

4) Christian

5) Other

8.87

0.353

e. Area of residence

1. Rural

2. Urban

0.589

0.745

f. Father’s education

1) Illiterate

2) Primary education

3) Secondary education

4) Graduate

5) Post Graduate

8.14

0.420

g. Mother’s education

1) Illiterate

2) Primary education

3) Secondary education

4) Graduate

5) Post Graduate

5.51

0.702

h. Medium of School

1) Marathi

2) English

3) Other

3.21

0.524

Table 2. Depicts that, there was significant association found between learning styles and age. Other variables were not significantly associated with learning styles.

DISCUSSION:

Present study results depicts that majority 48% students preferred auditory learning style followed by 27%Visual style and 25% kinaesthetic style.

Similar study was carried out in two Nursing Colleges at Universities of Mosul and Kirkuk. The target population was an undergraduate nursing students (210) students (60 male and 150 female). The results reveal that Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic learning style of the study sample was (40.0%), (29.5%), and 30.5% respectively. Females preferred auditory learning style (30.3%) more than males (27.3%), while males preferred kinesthetic learning style (32.3%) more than females (29.8%). The researcher recommended that nurse educators should aware of learning styles of the students and provide teaching style to be matched with their learning style.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to 125 female nursing students who volunteered to participate in this research. Results of the study depicts that, the majority of participants (80.5%) had some preference for kinaesthetic learning. Of those with a dominant preference, 38.2% had a strong preference for kinaesthetic learning, while 10.6%, 4.9%, and 2.4% preferred aural, reading/writing, and visual learning, respectively. The learning styles of Saudi nursing students were not significantly different in their kinaesthetic preference from one group of Australian nursing students (p = 0.85) but were significantly different in their kinaesthetic preference (p < 0.0001) from Saudi medical students. The kinaesthetic learning style was the highest ranked preference for all groups of nursing students.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

It can be recommended that the learning preferences of medical students should be verified prior to the start of their academic tasks by using VAK questionnaire, to find appropriate teaching methods and to achieve educational goals. According to results of present study, regarding different types of learning styles, students need to try different methods to educate themselves and it is better for both lecturers and students to try different methods of educating.

CONCLUSION:

From the present study, the result revealed that the majority first year Basic B.Sc nursing students had auditory learning style (48%) followed by visual learning style (27%) and kinaesthetic learning style (25%). There was significant association found between learning style and age of respondents.

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Received on 29.04.2020 Modified on 13.06.2020

Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2020; 10(4):422-426.

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2996.2020.00090.7