Disclaimer: VARK is not supported by evidence, nor do I subscribe to it as anything other than a reflection and creativity tool.
VARK & My Learning
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| My learning "preferences" |
With VARK being about preferences and on some level, comfort, think that it is important to consider comfort and confidence in my personal learning. I will also speak on cognitive load challenges and time/energy necessary to properly and thoroughly think about learning topics.
The basic flowchart that I imagine for how I can effectively learn is as follows. The learning should ideally progress to a setting where I can:
feel safe to learn -> participate in learning in a manner that I can retain the necessary informational and foundational concepts -> be challenged academically and critically so that I can try, fail, and then build confidence through said methods.
In many ways, what the *heck my VARK "learning style" is doesn't matter for my learning. I need to be able to have a foundation of topic knowledge, then apply and test said knowledge repeatedly and intentionally in order to learn anything.
-Especially in a professional setting I believe that beginning learning where it is okay to fail is hugely important. Intentionality in performing professionally is important for the company. But sole focus on performing can lead to stagnation in growth and development.
I also must take accountability for my learning in the following regard: I should allow myself the time for thorough consideration of the information and topic, and then set aside energy towards the cognitive load that the learning demands. I know that I myself overload my schedule or what my brain get done. I can be so busy that I turn into the mode of "get things done." I feel that I do not have the option to really learn but must constantly perform. When constantly performing, learning can become impermanent. The phrase, "in one ear and out the other," holds a lot of truth for me in this setting.
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| "High g-force application" |
VARK & HRD
The importance of VARK within Human Resource Development (HRD) for our learners is that, well, we want our students to learn. Checking boxes is not learning. When students reach a place of near or total complacency, they very often begin to check out of reality, and check off boxes for the day before moving on. Challenge is essential to build in depth understanding and a healthy sense of confidence within a learner.
Similar to how I think that over-reliance on learning styles leads to complacency and stagnation in a learner, an over-reliance on VARK by an instructor can lead to stagnant and overly-repetitious instruction. I imagine a teacher who arrives to class every day and takes attendance, lectures, then hands out a worksheet. Every. Single. Class. This kind of approach has been proven to me to not hold student attention. I have, and currently am, both a college student as well as instructor. I have also been told these truths by others as well. Often times, effective instruction involves every level of VARK. While not the focus of effective instruction, a broad-ranging lesson can flex a student's perception and critical thinking in wonderful ways. Comfort does not equal excellence. Over-reliance on learning preference leads to a lack of problem solving, adaptability, and critical thinking within HRD.
For example: I can lecture all day about analyzing computerized, 4-wheel alignment angles for the purposes of high g-force vehicle performance all day long. At the end of that lecture, my students will have learned relatively very little. VARK is not why they learned little, but can be used as a tool to increase interest and engagement within a topic. Effective instruction in this example looks like the following:
Establish lesson context and topic vocabulary. e.g. camber, S.A.I, contact patch.
Discuss with audience confidence level, familiarity, and preconceived notions. (many automotive students arrive to class with misplaced confidence, misinformation supplied by trusted figures, and some lack of willingness to change.)
Navigate a 3-D space while allowing students to interact with vehicle components, watch how angle readouts change, discuss cause and effect, and then allow students to test their own understandings through operation of the vehicle. Student intractability and self-sufficiency/drive is key here. I continually foster these traits very intentionally.
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