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Assessment of VARK Learning Styles in Medical School and the Influence of Gender Status, Academic Achievement

의과대학생의 VARK 학습양식과 성별, 학년, 학업성취도간의 차이분석

  • Received : 2019.08.19
  • Accepted : 2019.11.04
  • Published : 2019.11.28

Abstract

Learning styles are the methods of gathering, processing, interpreting, organizing the information. VARK learnig inventory is instructional preference classified according to their visual(V), aural(A), read-write(R), and/or kinesthetic(K) sensory modality preferences(SMP). Learner-centered learning is emphasized, but there are few studies on VARK learning styles in Korean medical school. The purposes of this study were to assess the student' SMPs and compare those with gender, status, and academic achievement. The subjects of study were 394 students at C Medical School and Graduate School of Medicine. For the study style test, 16 questions were used in Korean version of VARK test paper© 7.0 developed by Fleming provided on the VARK website. Academic achievement was converted into a standardized score(t score). Frequency analysis, cross analysis, and variance analysis(t-test, ANOVA) were conducted to identify learning style disposition and differences between groups. The uni-modal type was 87(22.1%) and the multimodal was 307(77.9%). Regardless of gender, quasi-modal VARK was the most preferred. There was no significant difference in learning styles by gender. The first grade in medicine was the lowest in uni-modal type(8.8%) and the highest in quasi-modal VARK type(47.8%), while the fourth grade was the highest in uni-modal type(30.7%) and the lowest in quasi-modal VARK type(19.8%) and tri-modal type(19.8%). There was no difference in academic achievement by all learning types(F=1.09, p=0.37). The knowledge about students' learning styles is helpful for instructors to apply more learner-centered teaching strategies in medical education.

학습양식은 정보를 습득하고 처리하며 해석하고 조직화하는 도구를 의미한다. VARK(Visual Auditory Read Kinesthetic, VARK) 학습양식은 사용하는 감각양식에 따라 시각, 청각, 읽기/쓰기, 운동감각으로 구분된다. 국내 의과대학에서는 학습자 중심의 학습이 강조되지만 학습자의 VARK 학습양식에 대한 연구는 거의 없다. 본 연구에서는 국내 의과대학 학생을 대상으로 VARK 학습양식을 조사하여 각 학습유형과 성별, 학업성취 수준이 어떤 관계를 가지고 있는지 파악하고자 하였다. 본 연구의 대상은 전북지역 C의과대학·의학전문대학원에 재학 중인 394명의 학생이다. 학습양식검사는 VARK 웹 사이트에서 제공하는 Fleming이 개발한 VARK 검사지© 7.0 한국어버전, 총 16문항이다. 학업성취도는 표준화점수(t점수)로 변환하여 사용하였으며 학습유형에 대한 빈도분석과 집단별 비교를 위한 교차분석 및 분산분석(t-test, ANOVA)을 실시하였다. 연구 결과 학습선호 양식은 단일형이 87명(22.1%), 다중형이 307명(77.9%)이다. 남학생과 여학생 모두 4개 연합형인 VARK를 가장 선호하였다. 성별에 따른 전체 학습양식의 유의미한 차이는 없었다. 의학과 1학년은 단일형이 가장 낮고(8.8%), VARK 유형이 가장 높은 반면(47.8%), 의학과 4학년은 단일형이 가장 높고(30.7%), VARK 4개 연합유형(19.8%)과 3개 연합유형(19.8%)이 가장 낮았다. 모든 학습유형에서 학업성취도 차이는 확인되지 않았다(F=1.09, p=0.37). 의과대학 학생의 학습양식의 선호 결과는 추후 학습자 중심의 다양한 교수전략을 적용하는 기초 자료로서 의미가 있다.

Keywords

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