Latest Advances in Acoustics and Music
Sensory perception and learning style. The implementation of the
VARK model in musical higher education
ROSINA CATERINA FILIMON
Department of Composition and Musicology
University of Arts “George Enescu” Iasi
7-9 Horia Street, 700126, Iasi
ROMANIA
rosinafilimon@yahoo.com
Abstract: - The identification of the learning style according to the individual’s sensory perception type is done
based on the predominance of one of the receptor organs in the learning process and indicates the manner in
which the individual acquires and transmits knowledge and skills. In the present research, the learning style was
identified through the VARK model, i.e. the identification of the sensory perception type of the subjects
assessed. This was accomplished through the completion by the subjects of the VARK questionnaire; the
observation of their reactions during the teaching, learning and evaluation activities was added. An increased
awareness of the learning style by the assessed subjects and by their teachers allows accelerated learning,
improved education for the youths and leads to more efficient learning and higher quality education.
Key-Words: - sensory perception, VARK learning styles model, musical education, students evaluation
model resulted [3]. Fleming and Mills contributed
new elements to the VAK theory, these additions
supplemented the identification of the auditory and
kinesthetic learning styles.
1 Introduction
The multisensory approach to teaching and
learning was initially used as an alternative to
traditional methods when they were not efficient
enough for children suffering from dislexia. The
VAK learning model – the acronym for visual,
auditory, kinesthetic – has been used starting with
1920 by the psychologists and teaching experts
Fernald, Keller, Orton, Gillingham, Stillman şi
Montessori [1]. The VAK model allows a
classification of the individuals into three groups,
according to their learning style: individuals who
learn more efficiently through watching – the
visual type, those who learn more efficiently
through listening/hearing – the auditory type, and
those who learn more efficiently by doing practical
activities – the kinesthetic type.
Starting from Striling’s VAK model (1987) [2]
and following a close analysis of the students’
abilities and the differences between them,
Professors Neil Fleming and Colleen Mills from
Lincoln University (Canterbury, New Zealand)
created a new model based on the experiments and
results obtained from working with the subjects
(1992). The two scientists started by testing three
sensory types – visual, auditory, kinesthetic; then
they divided visual learning into two classes: the
symbolic visual learning, active in the case of
images, graphs, colors (abbreviated V) and the text
reading visual type, active in the visual learning of
the text, abbreviated as read/write (R); the VARK
ISBN: 978-1-61804-096-1
2 A description of the VARK model
The VARK learning style theory is created so it
permits the identification of four distinct learning
types according to the manner in which the
individual processes the information acquired
through the senses. According to the VARK
learning style theory, each individual is inclined
towards a certain learning style: some use
prevailingly the visual style (V), others rely on the
auditory style (A), on the writing/reading style (R)
or on the kinesthetic style (K).
In the case of the individuals with a visual
learning style (V), the information is collected most
efficiently through the teaching aids containing
graphic representations: maps, diagrams, symbols.
Those with an auditory learning style (A) are
pervious to the teachers’ verbal input and to audio
teaching aids. They learn best by means of lectures
of the teachers, debates, recordings and tutorials,
the web chat, and they prefer to repeat aloud when
they learn. The individuals with a strong preference
for the auditory learning strategies will acquire
information
efficiently through
the
oral
explanations of the lecturers and by listening to
presentations supporting the learning process, but
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tested along four years (four graduating
generations); of this, 50 had attended a form of
musical education in art vocational schools –
Group A, while 50 had attended schools of a
different type – Group B. The aim of the research
was manifold: to identify the ratio of learning styles
among students; to associate the learning style to
the educational background; to increase the
students’ awareness regarding their own learning
style; to maximize the learning process.
The research was started by finding the
students’ opinion about their own learning style as
they identified it during the learning process in the
educational environment through individual study,
the acquiring of information, knowledge and skills.
This is useful in that increasing one’s awareness of
their own learning style allows faster learning and
improves education. The next step of the research
was to obtain the answers to the VARK
questionnaire (Version 7.0). The results were
drawn from an analysis of the answers and an
evaluation of the respondents’ behaviour during
classes (piano practice), based on the manner in
which students collected the information provided
by the teacher and applied it. With respect to the
students’ self evaluation of their learning style, it
became apparent that the students’ opinion about
their own learning style corresponds only in part
with the reality, so that the learning strategies they
consequently use are not in agreement with the
results of the VARK questionnaire. Thus, only 32%
of the students of Group A (students with previous
musical education in specialised high schools) and
51% of the students of Group B (students without
previous musical education in specialised high
schools) (Table 1) evaluated their learning style
correctly. Students who do not have a correct
evaluation of their own perception style do not
apply appropriate learning strategies, which thus
are less efficient, while the learning process is not
entirely successful.
often they will not be able to take down exhaustive
notes, as they are absorbed in listening to the
information presented. It is therefore important that
they should be provided with guidance to consult
teaching material to complete their notes. In the
read/write (R) learning style, the individual’s
preferences are directed towards information
presented through reading and writing in every
form, respectively: textbooks, books, dictionaries,
PowerPoint presentations, the Internet. The
read/write (R) learning style represents one of the
main modes of acquiring information by
researchers and scientists. The kinesthetic learning
type (K) implies using the experience acquired
during and resulting from practical activities and it
is a complex learning style: while it uses mainly the
kinesthetic sensory organ, it also complements it
through other sensory modes: visual, auditory,
tactile, gustatory and olfactory [4]. The individuals
who belong to this type are connected to reality
through personal concrete experiences, case
studies, practical activities and applications,
demonstrations,
simulations,
multimedia
presentations. There are cases when the learning
styles are mixed; the result is a multimodal
perception (MM). In other cases, the individual
may move from one style to the other, depending
on the environment in which the individual is
educated and on age.
The VARK questionnaire represents the main
measuring instrument to identify the sensory type
of the individual corresponding to their learning
style. The questionnaire consists of 16 multiple
choice questions, as it has been shown that this is
the optimum number of questions a person should
answer without losing interest and focus, so that the
accuracy of the answers is the highest. Each
question has four possible answers.
3 The implementation of the VARK
model
32%
Group A
51%
Group B
Table 1. A correct evaluation of one’s own
learning style
The unimodal style, prevailingly auditory in
Group A is distributed as follows (Table 2):
The purpose of the present research was to
identify the students’ learning style by applying the
VARK method on the students attending a musical
higher education program, namely The University
of Arts “George Enescu” Iasi, The Faculty of
Composition, Musicology, Musical Pedagogy. One
of the goals of this research was to analyse possible
differences between the learning style of students
coming from musical pre-higher education and the
learning styles of students coming from education
institutions of other types than musical one. A
number of 100 students in their first year, were
ISBN: 978-1-61804-096-1
Unimodal style
percentage
Visual (V)
7%
Auditory (A)
22%
Read/Write (R)
4%
Kinesthetic (K)
10%
Table 2. Group A – unimodal style
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which 4% students belong to the read/write, visual
and kinesthetic style, while 2% belong to the
trimodal style, with a mixture of read/write, visual
and audio. None of the subjects in Group B has the
tetramodal VARK learning style (Table 7, Table 8).
In the case of Group B, the read/write style is
predominant (Table 3):
Unimodal style
percentage
Visual (V)
12%
Auditory (A)
9%
Read/Write (R)
47%
Kinesthetic (K)
7%
Table 3. Group B – the unimodal style
Multimodal style
percentage
Bimodal
19%
Trimodal
6%
Tetramodal
0%
Table 7. Group B – the multimodal style
(MM)
The multimodal style prevails in the case of
Group A (as compared to Group B) (Table 4):
Bimodal
Trimodal
R+V 11%
R+V+K 4%
R+K 8%
R+V+A 2%
Table 8. Group B – the bimodal style and
trimodal style
57%
Group A
25%
Group B
Table 4. The multimodal style
In Group A there are 57% students with a multimodal learning style (MM). The 37% of the
students with multi-modal learning style have been
identified as having a bimodal learning style. In the
sequel, 19% of these students have an auditory
style mixed with the visual style, and the remaining
18% students have an auditory style and kinesthetic
style, respectively. Finally, 17% of the students
with multi-modal learning style have been
identified as having a trimodal style, which was
divided as: 14% students with an auditory style
mixed with visual and kinesthetic styles and 3%
combine auditory, visual and read/write
combination styles, respectively. Of the total 50
subjects interviewed in Group A, three students
were identified to have a tetramodal VARK
learning style; they are among the best students in
the faculty (Table 5, Table 6).
In conclusion, in Group A 46% of the subjects
have a unimodal style and 54% have a multimodal
style (Table 9):
43%
Unimodal style
57%
Multimodal style
Table 9. Group A – the unimodal style and
multimodal style
In Group B, 75% of the subjects have a
unimodal style and 25% have a multimodal style
(Table 10), respectively:
75%
Unimodal style
25%
Multimodal style
Table 10. Group B – unimodal style and
multimodal style
Multimodal style
Percentage
Bimodal
37%
Trimodal
17%
Tetramodal
3%
Table 5. Group A – the multimodal style
It can be seen that in Group A the auditory style
(A) is predominant; while in Group B the
percentage of students with a kinesthetic style (K)
and a multimodal style (MM) is higher (Table 11):
Bimodal
Trimodal
A+V 19%
A+V+K 14%
A+K 18%
A+V+ R 3%
Table 6. Group A – the bimodal style and trimodal
style
V
7%
Group B is mainly focused on the read/write
style (R) and the percentage of students with the
multimodal style (MM) is lower in comparison to
Group B (Table 12):
The percentage of students with multimodal
learning style in Group B is 25%, distributed as
follows: the bimodal style rises to 19%, and
consists of 11% read/write and visual styles, and
the rest of 8% are read/write and kinesthetic styles.
The percentage of the trimodal style is 6%, of
ISBN: 978-1-61804-096-1
A
R
K
MM
22%
4%
10%
47%
Table 11. Group A and learning styles
V
A
R
K
MM
12%
9%
47%
7%
25%
Table 12. Group B and learning styles
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speed of the learning process, maintenance and
development of multiple intelligences, improving
education quality.
4 Conclusion
The results prove that the individuals who come
from a background of non-musical education are
used to traditional teaching methods, so the
predominant learning style is the read/write style.
In the case of subjects with an artistic education,
the learning process stimulates both their auditory
and visual organs and their manual dexterousness
through the practical activities required,
respectively study and interpretation, marking the
cadence alongside with solmization, the reception
of the auditory material and musical and harmonic
dictation. In this way, artistic education develops
the multisensory perception, which in turn develops
several learning styles: the predominant in this case
is the auditory style, followed by the visual and
kinesthetic styles; to this, a high proportion of
incidences of the multimodal style is added. The
multisensory perception in the learning process of
musicians involves the need for teaching strategies
diversification of the teaching staff in the musical
institutions (both, in pre-higher and higher
education), which determines the efficiency and
ISBN: 978-1-61804-096-1
References:
[1] Adrian Mackay, Motivation, Ability and
Confidence Building in People, Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann
Publisher,
Burlington, MA, 2007, p. 204.
[2] Neil Fleming, David Baume, Not Another
Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection, To
Improve the Academy, Lincoln University,
Canterbury, New Zealand, Vol. 11, 1992, p.
138.
[3] Constance C. Staley, Focus on College
Success, Wadsworth Publishing, Boston, SUA,
2010, p. 54.
[4] Neil Fleming, David Baume, Not Another
Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection, To
Improve the Academy, Lincoln University,
Canterbury, New Zealand, Vol. 11, 1992, p.
140.
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