Learning Style Preferences of Medical Students and Their Determinants at a Government Medical College in Eastern Uttar Pradesh

To survey the learning style preferences of undergraduate medical students and to know the possible factors affecting them.

150 undergraduate medical students at a government medical college in India were enrolled in the study using simple random sampling. Study design was cross-sectional. The study tool comprised of a questionnaire on biosocial characteristics and visual, aural, read/write, kinaesthetic (VARK) questionnaire (version 7.3). Informed consent was obtained from all study subjects. Data was analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test, Chi-square test and ANOVA.

Eighty percent (n=106) of students had a trimodal learning style preference. None of the students exhibited unimodal or bimodal preference. No significant difference (p>0.05) was observed for gender, semester of MBBS, medium of education and place of residence with regard to learning style preferences. Female students had higher median scores for visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinaesthetic sensory modalities. However, a significant difference in median scores was observed only for visual and auditory senses. Students from urban background were found to use more of visual and kinaesthetic sensory modalities and a significant difference was also observed when compared to students of rural background. Significantly higher median scores were observed for auditory and reading modes of learning among senior students in comparison to the first semester MBBS students.

Allowing students to discover their own learning styles and to raise the awareness for this among medical teachers will not only motivate students, but will also aid to improve the quality of medical education.