Assessment of Air Quality Education Using VARK Learning Styles
Publication: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2008: Ahupua'A
Abstract
It is important to acknowledge that students learn better when alternative modes of information processing are made available at college campuses. Fleming and Mills suggested four categories that seemed to identify students' learning behavior. VARK is an acronym that stands for Visual, Auditory, Read (includes writing), and Kinesthetic sensory modalities that humans employ for learning and processing information. The degree of processing speed, accuracy and retention that an individual is able to accomplish when encountering information depends upon to what extent the medium in which information presented matches his or her learning style. The author proposes that learning activities generated based on the principles of Fleming and Mills provide a strong background for the understanding of fundamental knowledge. The instructor should design and develop four activities that can be delivered in four perceptual modes. One activity must be `Visual' wherein the students can `see' what is taking place. Some learners can immediately grasp the material when they can observe visually. The second activity should be delivered in the `Auditory' mode. This may be a straightforward, routine lecture class. Listening comprehension is important. The third needs to be a reading assignment wherein the students are required to submit a written report. Are learners capable of learning on their own? The fourth will have to be a hands-on experiment or a simulation exercise in a laboratory-like setting. This is the Kinesthetic mode of learning. The students are then asked to submit detailed documentation on each one of these activities. This can be effectively assessed by the instructor using a suitable instrument similar to the W.S.U. rubric. In this poster presentation the author describes how students can be educated in the important area of Air Quality Education using Fleming and Mills' VARK Learning Styles.
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© 2008 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Published online: Apr 26, 2012
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