Evaluation of the learning of public health undergraduate students of the Faculty of Health in the course of the principles of health measures and first aid teaching methods based on the VARK learning style preference

Delshad, Mohammad Hossien; Ahmadi, Soliman; Pourhaji, Fatemeh

doi:10.22038/mjms.2024.70990.4259

Evaluation of the learning of public health undergraduate students of the Faculty of Health in the course of the principles of health measures and first aid teaching methods based on the VARK learning style preference

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

mohammad hossien delshad ¹

Soliman Ahmadi ²

Fatemeh Pourhaji ¹

¹ 1 Msc student, Department of Medical education, School of Medical Education and Learning Technologies, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti, Iran. 2 Public Health Department, School of Health, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran. 3 Health Sciences Research Center, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran.

² Professor of Medical education, School of Medical Education and Learning Technologies, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti, Iran.

10.22038/mjms.2024.70990.4259

Abstract

Objective: Individual differences in learning, including students' learning styles, play a crucial role in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. Learning styles refer to the preferred way an individual perceives, processes, and stores information. Students with different learning styles learn in distinct ways and respond differently to educational stimuli.The problem is important between the student learning style and the teaching method they prefer. This study evaluates by student learning style.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study employed the VARK questionnaire to assess the learning styles of public health students from grades one to eight using a random sampling method. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS21 statistical software and descriptive-analytical statistics.
Results: 34.83% of the students exhibited a single learning style preference. Among these, the most prevalent style was Visual (50%), with Kinesthetic (3.03%) being the least common.When considering all students, the distribution of learning styles was as follows, 50% of the view of the 50% visuality in the field; 34.85%; 12.12% of the kinetic and 3.03% kinetic. Among students with multiple learning style preferences, the most common combination was Auditory-Reading/Writing and Visual-Auditory.
Conclusion: Understanding student learning styles helps faculty choose the most effective teaching methods. Aligning learning activities with student preferences can significantly improve the learning process and enhance the effectiveness of tutorials. However, the generalizability of these findings might be limited due to the sample size and the focus on a specific student population.

Keywords

Learning Styles

Teaching Methods

Vark Modality Questionnaire

Public Health Education

Subjects