Examining the nexus between learning modalities and scholarly performance in 1st-year medical students
Authors: Rathod Niraj , Panchal Amar , Rawat Seema , Makwana Komal 
Published: August 2024

Background: The visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire is a pre-eminent, accessible, and rigorously validated instrument that facilitates students in discerning their learning predilections. Nonetheless, the interrelation between VARK learning styles and scholastic achievement remains largely uncharted. Visual learners excel with diagrams, graphs, and flowcharts; auditory learners prefer aural information; read/write learners engage with textual material; and kinesthetic learners thrive through experiential learning and practical applications. This investigation endeavors to elucidate the correlation between predominant learning styles and the academic performance of 1st-year medical students in both theoretical and practical contexts.

Aims and Objectives: The aims and objectives of the study are to scrutinize the correlation between distinct learning modalities (VARK) and academic performance among 1st-year medical students at GMERS Medical College.

Materials and Methods: Subsequent to ethical sanction, 1st-year MBBS students from the 2021 cohort were solicited to partake in this cross-sectional, educational institution-based, temporally constrained study. Students who withheld consent were excluded. The investigation was executed in three phases. In the initial phase, the VARK 8.1 questionnaire was disseminated to 189 students to ascertain their learning styles, concomitant with the collection of demographic data. The VARK questionnaire encompasses 16 multiple-choice questions, each corresponding to a specific sensory learning modality. The modality with the highest score was designated as the student’s preferred learning style. In the second phase, preliminary examination scores (theoretical and practical) for physiology, anatomy, and biochemistry were recorded. In the third phase, direct, in-depth interviews were conducted to rectify any data discrepancies or ambiguities regarding learning style preferences.

Results: Among the participants, 61 out of 104 males and 51 out of 85 females exhibited a predilection for the kinesthetic learning style as their unimodal preference. The second most prevalent preference among males was visual, whereas females favored aural learning. Merely two males and no females identified as read/write learners. Correlation coefficient analysis revealed a robust association between visual learning scores and academic performance across both genders. High achievers predominantly favored the visual modality. Conversely, the aural and read/write modalities exhibited weak or negligible correlation with academic performance. Despite the prevalence of the kinesthetic modality among both male and female students, it only demonstrated a tenuous association with biochemistry scores. For male students, a moderate correlation was observed in anatomy and biochemistry.

Conclusion: This study intimates that the preponderance of students prefers the kinesthetic learning style. Nevertheless, there exists a significant correlation between visual learning styles and academic performance in both male and female students.