8 October 2001 VARK sparks books, website and international acclaim

A learning styles questionnaire developed at Lincoln by education consultant Neil Fleming while director of the University’s Education Centre (now Teaching & Learning Services) has led to the production of two books and a website.

Every week over 700 students and teachers, mainly from the USA, fill out a questionnaire online at the website http://www.vark-learn to enhance their understanding of learning styles.

The site and the two books relate to the learning styles questionnaire VARK, an acronym for Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinesthetic, the four basic means of communicating.

The website was built by Heather Lander, a web developer with Teaching and Learning Services. It serves an international community interested in improving learning and teaching.

The questionnaire can be completed interactively on the website and already there are versions for university, high schools, athletes as well as versions in Spanish, Polish and Thai. A Maori language version is under development.

Students (and teachers) all have individual preferences in their use of the four VARK communication modes when they are taking in or giving out information.

"Although we have known for a long time about different communication modes, the VARK package, was the first to systematically present a series of questions with help-sheets for students, teachers, employers, employees and others to use in their own way," says Neil.

The VARK materials are widely used in educational institutions around the western world and have received high acclaim from students and teaching staff for their simplicity and the fact that VARK makes intuitive good sense.

The first book, How Do I Learn Best, is written for students and those who assist their learning. The second book, Teaching and Learning Styles:VARK Strategies, is for teachers and includes VARK's research basis, a full bibliography and case studies. Both are available at the Lincoln University Bookshop.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand.