Identification of learning styles in 1st year undergraduate MBBS students of a private medical school in western India

Background: The challenge of imparting large amount of knowledge within a limited time period in a way it is perceived, retained, and effectively interpreted by students is considerable. This has resulted in crucial changes in the field of medical education with a shift from didactic, “teacher centered” to use of interactive, “student centered” learning. In context to this, knowledge of learning styles can be useful as it fosters student-centered learning. Knowledge on learners’ learning styles is a vastly underutilized approach in a medical classroom. Aims and Objectives: The current study was undertaken to identify the preferred learning styles of medical students. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. Permission from VARK developers, to use VARK Inventory Tool version 7.1 in the study was taken. Learning preferences were determined using VARK scores in the 1st year medical undergraduates. Results: Of the 89 who participated out of 100, 39.32% were male. Mean age of participants was 17.6 years. More than 80% students studied in state board, 10.11% were from CBSE, while 9.89% students were from ICSE and International Board, respectively. There was no association of gender with learning styles (P > 0.05). The results showed that majority of students, i.e., 61.00% preferred multiple learning styles and the predominant learning style identified was kinesthetic (33%), followed by auditory (16%), then visual (14.6%), and lastly read-write (7.86%). Conclusions: There can be different types of learners in a batch. Educators’ awareness of various learning styles of students and their efforts toward designing “teaching-learning” methods according to learning styles of students may help in creating significant learning environment in classrooms.