Analysis of learning styles questionnaire and how it might affect how you learn or teach generally and in the ICT learning environment in particular.

When I consider my profile, it makes sense to me. I am fairly well balanced across the four areas: Visual 6; Aural 10; Read/Write 9; Kinesthetic 8 (VARK a guide to learning styles 2001). I like to understand things fully; starting with conceptual knowledge or ‘big pictures’, then mind-mapping and drawing these concepts; then breaking the concepts down into further areas and making lists; doing further reading and taking notes. Sometimes I feel as if I want to integrate this information into and through my body. I know that this sounds strange, but it’s as if I need a 3D dimension to my understanding (hence the kinesthetic). When attending parent/teacher nights at my daughter’s primary school, I loved the way that the teacher would begin the evening. He would always start with a physical activity that was linked to what the children were learning at the time.

During Class 6 parent/teacher night, we started with getting in a circle and every parent was given a small beanbag for throwing. This activity was modelled on the study of geometry. During main lesson, the children were drawing big circles on the page and then mathematically dividing the circles up into intricate, symmetrical patterns. Each child would colour in their drawing in a different way, resulting in the most beautiful, technical, yet individually coloured geometrical pieces. They were individual works of art.

The teacher gave us instructions to throw our bean bags simultaneously to the person two spaces to the left of us for example. (We were catching and throwing simultaneously). Then the instructions would vary to throw to another parent at a different spacing. We would then reverse the process; laughing and dropping beanbags and trying again to work in a consistent pattern. We were creating geometrical patterns in our throwing circle. I thought that this exercise was fabulous, as I was feeling the geometry and understanding it through my body. The children were beginning each day with these exercises while also being taught geometrical/mathematical concepts on the board, having to work through equations, and then drawing these concepts onto paper. This process seemed to me, to consider different learning styles of the children.

Having a balance of the four learning styles, means that I have the ability to understand the students’ needs for a variety of teaching methods. This also means that if I direct students to do the VARK questionnaire, then together we can work towards catering to their individual learning style needs (Fleming & Mills, 1992). In the ICT environment, I need to select the appropriate tools for a particular learning outcome and work within this framework. The process should not differ – only the tools would change.