Different scoring methods of the VARK questionnaire to evaluate dentistry Students' learning styles

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022

Authors

Tonkaboni, A (Author) Other; Pareshkooh, MK (Author) Other; Manafi, S (Author) Other; Mendes, A (Author) FMUP; Kharazifard, MJ (Author) Other

Journal

Title: European Journal of Dental Education

ISSN: 1396-5883

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00W-WWJ

DOI: 10.1111/eje.12835

Abstract (EN): Introduction The way students process and organise information to facilitate learning is known as learning style. Knowing one's learning style can improve learning and help teachers choose their teaching methods more effectively. This study was conducted to investigate different scoring methods of the VARK questionnaire and compare different learning styles in different stages of dental school. Materials and Methods Students in three stages of the dental school participated in this study: basic sciences, preclinical and clinical. The validated reliable Persian VARK questionnaire was utilised. Collected data were computed and analysed in three ways: raw, normalised and weighted scoring by ANOVA and chi-squared tests (alpha = .05). Result The most favoured learning style was auditory; however, the prevalence of other learning styles varied through stages. On analyses of visual and auditory learning styles by all methods of scoring, no significant difference was seen in different stages (study time). The kinetic learning style, using normalised scoring method, was used more significantly when the grade increased (p-value = .028). However, in the weighted method, this effect was not significant. The read-write learning style using all three scoring methods showed an inverse relationship with the level of education (p-value <.05), which means the tendency to use this style of learning decreased when the level of education increased. Conclusion As the educational level increases, students are more inclined to use kinetic and less likely to employ read-write learning style. There was not a significant difference in the use of visual and aural learning styles in any stages of dental school.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 5