Статья по английскому языку Different learning styles. Vark classification

Different learning styles. VARK classification.
Contents
I Introduction
II The main part:
1 Learning styles
2 A brief biography of N.Fleming 3 VARK classification (Visual, Aural, Read\Write, Kinesthetic)
III Conclusion
IV References
V Supplement
I Teachers have always been trying to help their students to study better. They use different methods and ways to make the learning process easier and more beneficial for the students. I have been teaching English for 20 years but I have heard about VARK classification only in 2012, when I took part in EF Training Courses for teachers I find the idea of defining what kind of learner each student is very important and useful. I am sure it will help to improve the process of teaching and learning English.
II 1 Learning styles is a term generally used to describe an individual's natural or habitual pattern of acquiring and processing information in learning situations. There is no commonly accepted definition of learning styles; however, a core concept is that individuals differ in how they learn. The idea of individualized "learning styles" originated in the 1970s, and acquired "enormous popularity".
Neil Fleming's VAK/VARK model
One of the most common and widely-used categorizations of the various types of learning styles is Fleming's VARK model (sometimes VAK) which expanded upon earlier Neuro-linguistic programming (VARK) models:
visual learners;
auditory learners;
kinaesthetic learners or tactile learnersFleming claimed that visual learners have a preference for seeing (think in pictures; visual aids such as overhead slides, diagrams, handouts, etc.). Auditory learners best learn through listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.). Tactile/kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience—moving, touching, and doing (active exploration of the world; science projects; experiments, etc.). Its use in pedagogy allows teachers to prepare classes that address each of these areas. Students can also use the model to identify their preferred learning style and maximize their educational experience by focusing on what benefits them the most.
2 A Brief Biography of Neil D. Fleming

Designer of the VARK questionnaire and associated resources.Neil Fleming has been learning about teaching and learning for forty years. His full time teaching was divided between secondary, teacher education and university (Lincoln University, New Zealand) with ample recognition of his teaching and research prowess in those three sectors. For the past ten years he has been facilitating active workshops on a variety of topics in North America, Asia and Europe travelling there in spring and fall. He has been the main author of the VARK books available online. Recently he has been in demand for work with customer service applications of the VARK principles in business environments. He has also been working with elite sports coaches on a learning-preferences approach to coaching. Apart from managing the interesting contacts with the VARK website he has frequent grandchildren duties, volunteers a day each week at a low decile primary school, tends his collection of 80 heritage roses and makes solid wood furniture as a hobby.
3 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 workmates, your partner, your customers, your teacher, your relatives, your clients 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 assists them to learn more effectively in many situations .Although copyrighted and trademarked for business use, VARK is free for use in colleges, high schools, and universities for student or faculty development as long as attribution is given.
Although we have known for centuries about the different modes, this inventory, initially developed in 1987 by Neil Fleming, Christchurch, New Zealand, was the first to systematically present a series of questions with helpsheets for students, teachers, employees, customers, suppliers 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.

The VARK Modalities
The acronym VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/write, and Kinesthetic sensory modalities that are used for learning information. Fleming and Mills (1992) suggested four modalities that seemed to reflect the experiences of the students and teachers. Although there is some overlap between them they are defined as follows. [For a detailed description of the initial construction and limitations of VARK, and for other works on learning styles, see the bibliography and the seminal article.]
Remember life (and work) are multimodal so there are no hard and fast boundaries.

Visual (V):

This preference includes the depiction of information in maps, spider diagrams, charts, graphs, flow charts, labelled diagrams, and all the symbolic arrows, circles, hierarchies and other devices, that people use to represent what could have been presented in words. This mode could have been called Graphic (G) as that better explains what it covers. It does NOT include still pictures or photographs of reality, movies, videos or PowerPoint. It does include designs, whitespace, patterns, shapes and the different formats that are used to highlight and convey information. When a whiteboard is used to draw a diagram with meaningful symbols for the relationship between different things that will be helpful for those with a Visual preference. It must be more than mere words in boxes that would be helpful to those who have a Read/write preference.
Aural / Auditory (A):

This perceptual mode describes a preference for information that is "heard or spoken." Learners who have this as their main preference report that they learn best from lectures, group discussion, radio, email, using mobile phones, speaking, web-chat and talking things through. Email is included here because; although it is text and could be included in the Read/write category (below), it is often written in chat-style with abbreviations, colloquial terms, slang and non-formal language. The Aural preference includes talking out loud as well as talking to oneself. Often people with this preference want to sort things out by speaking first, rather than sorting out their ideas and then speaking. They may say again what has already been said, or ask an obvious and previously answered question. They have need to say it themselves and they learn through saying it - their way.
Read/write (R):

This preference is for information displayed as words. Not surprisingly, many teachers and students have a strong preference for this mode. Being able to write well and read widely are attributes sought by employers of graduates. This preference emphasizes text-based input and output - reading and writing in all its forms but especially manuals, reports, essays and assignments. People who prefer this modality are often addicted to PowerPoint, the Internet, lists, diaries, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations and words, words, words... Note that most PowerPoint presentations and the Internet, GOOGLE and Wikipedia are essentially suited to those with this preference as there is seldom an auditory channel or a presentation that uses Visual symbols.
Kinesthetic (K):

By definition, this modality refers to the "perceptual preference related to the use of experience and practice (simulated or real)." Although such an experience may invoke other modalities, the key is that people who prefer this mode are connected to reality, "either through concrete personal experiences, examples, practice or simulation". It includes demonstrations, simulations, videos and movies of "real" things, as well as case studies, practice and applications. The key is the reality or concrete nature of the example. If it can be grasped, held, tasted, or felt it will probably be included. People with this as a strong preference learn from the experience of doing something and they value their own background of experiences and less so, the experiences of others. It is possible to write or speak Kinesthetically if the topic is strongly based in reality. An assignment that requires the details of who will do what and when, is suited to those with this preference, as is a case study or a working example of what is intended or proposed.

What about Mixtures? Multimodality (MM):
Life is multimodal. There are seldom instances where one mode is used, or is sufficient, so that is why there is a four-part VARK profile. That is why the VARK questionnaire provides four scores and also why there are mixtures of those four modes. Those who do not have a standout mode with one preference score well above other scores, are defined as multimodal.
They are of two types. There are those who are flexible in their communication preferences and who switch from mode to mode depending on what they are working with. They are context specific. They choose a single mode to suit the occasion or situation. If they have to deal with legalities they will apply their Read/write preference. If they are to watch the demonstration of a technique they will be expressing their Kinesthetic preference. They are described as VARK Type One in our database and they may have two, three or four almost-equal preferences in their VARK scores. There are others who are not satisfied until they have had input (or output) in all of their preferred modes. They take longer to gather information from each mode and, as a result, they often have a deeper and broader understanding. They may be seen as procrastinators or slow-deliverers but some may be merely gathering all the information before acting - and their decision making and learning may be better because of that breadth of understanding. They are described as VARK Type Two.
III We have decided to find out what kind of learning preferences students of our classic school have. 55 students aged 14-16 were asked to answer VARK questionnaire. After we have worked up the results of VARK questionnaire we can affirm that the dominant learning styles among the students of our school are kinesthetic (28,3%) and aural (26,3%).
So, we can suggest using the results of our research to teachers and students in order to make the learning process more effective and productive.




IV References
Fleming, N.D. & Mills, C. (1992). Helping Students Understand How They Learn. The Teaching Professor, Vol. 7 No. 4, Magma Publications, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Fleming, N.D. & Mills, C. (1992). Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection. To Improve the Academy, 11, 137-155.
http://www.vark-learn.com/English/
V The VARK Questionnaire
How Do I Learn Best?
Questionnaire version
Choose the answer which best explains your preference and tick the box next to it. Please tick more than one if a single answer does not match your perception. Leave blank any question that does not apply.
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You are going to cook something as a special treat. You would:
use a good recipe.
cook something you know without the need for instructions.
look on the Internet or in some cookbooks for ideas from the pictures.
ask friends for suggestions.
Remember a time when you learned how to do something new. Avoid choosing a physical skill, eg. riding a bike. You learned best by:
watching a demonstration.
listening to somebody explaining it and asking questions.
written instructions – e.g. a manual or book.
diagrams, maps, and charts - visual clues.
You are going to choose food at a restaurant or cafe. You would:
choose from the descriptions in the menu.
choose something that you have had there before.
look at what others are eating or look at pictures of each dish.
listen to the waiter or ask friends to recommend choices.
You are using a book, CD or website to learn how to take photos with your new digital camera. You would like to have:
many examples of good and poor photos and how to improve them.
clear written instructions with lists and bullet points about what to do.
a chance to ask questions and talk about the camera and its features.
diagrams showing the camera and what each part does.
You are helping someone who wants to go to your airport, the center of town or railway station. You would:
go with her.
draw, or show her a map, or give her a map.
tell her the directions.
write down the directions.
You have finished a competition or test and would like some feedback. You would like to have feedback:
from somebody who talks it through with you.
using a written description of your results.
using examples from what you have done.
using graphs showing what you had achieved.
You have a problem with your heart. You would prefer that the doctor:
described what was wrong.
used a plastic model to show what was wrong.
showed you a diagram of what was wrong.
gave you something to read to explain what was wrong.
You are not sure whether a word should be spelled `dependent' or `dependant'. You would:
think about how each word sounds and choose one.
find it online or in a dictionary.
write both words down and choose one.
see the words in your mind and choose by the way they look.
I like websites that have:
interesting design and visual features.
interesting written descriptions, lists and explanations.
audio channels where I can hear music, radio programs or interviews.
things I can click on, shift or try.
You want to learn a new program, skill or game on a computer. You would:
use the controls or keyboard.
talk with people who know about the program.
read the written instructions that came with the program.
follow the diagrams in the book that came with it.
Do you prefer a teacher or a presenter who uses:demonstrations, models or practical sessions.
diagrams, charts or graphs.
handouts, books, or readings.
question and answer, talk, group discussion, or guest speakers.
You are about to purchase a digital camera or mobile phone. Other than price, what would most influence your decision?
It is a modern design and looks good.
Reading the details or checking its features online.
The salesperson telling me about its features.Trying or testing it
You are planning a vacation for a group. You want some feedback from them about the plan. You would:
phone, text or email them.
use a map to show them the places.
describe some of the highlights they will experience.
give them a copy of the printed itinerary.
A group of tourists wants to learn about the parks or wildlife reserves in your area. You would:
take them to a park or wildlife reserve and walk with them.
show them maps and internet pictures.
talk about, or arrange a talk for them about parks or wildlife reserves.
give them a book or pamphlets about the parks or wildlife reserves.
Other than price, what would most influence your decision to buy a new non-fiction book?
The way it looks is appealing.
A friend talks about it and recommends it.
Quickly reading parts of it.It has real-life stories, experiences and examples.
You have to make an important speech at a conference or special occasion. You would:
write a few key words and practice saying your speech over and over.
gather many examples and stories to make the talk real and practical.
write out your speech and learn from reading it over several times.
make diagrams or get graphs to help explain things.

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