December 2019 • VOL. 67                                                                           Supplement to JAPI • December 2019

Original Article

A Cross-sectional Study on Learning Preferences for Research Methodology among Medical Students

Jian Meng Hoh^1*, Harsha Kumar², Lee Qao Shaun¹, Murugan Sellapan¹, Christiannie Celestinus Tay¹

1Final Year MBBS Student, 2Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal University, Mangalore, Karnataka; *Corresponding Author

Abstract

Background: The modalities of learning could be Visual, Auditory, Reading/ writing, and Kinesthetic (VARK). VARK concept has been used to know the learning preferences among First Year Medical Students. But learning preferences for “Research Methodology” have rarely been reported.

Objective: This study was conducted to know the learning preferences for “Research Methodology” using VARK concept.

Methods: A questionnaire-based study was conducted among medical undergraduate students who had completed their student research project during their 4th semester. The questionnaire was constructed using VARK concept to know: 1. Learning preference of research methodology, 2. Characteristics of learning preference of participants are classified under “Visual(V), Auditory(A), Read/write(R), and Kinaesthetic(K). The students were approached in the classrooms, and the data was collected and was analysed using SPSS version 11.5. Results were expressed as proportions in appropriate tables and graphs.

Results: Totally 157 students were participated in the study. Most (1164/1570 [74.1%]) of them expressed Unimodal learning preference as compared to Multimodal learning (84/1570 [5.4%]). Majority preferred Auditory (641/1560 [40.8%]) followed by Visual (542/1570 [34.5%]) for learning “Research Methodology”. This study showed that gender of the students did not influence learning preference. However, the total number of preference for “Kinaesthetic” in those who had additional research experience through ICMR-STS and workshop on research methodology are more compared to those who didn’t.

Conclusions: Unimodal with Auditory followed by Visual mode was preferred for learning “Research Methodology”.

Introduction

Students have different preferences in the way they learn and process information. The modalities of learning could be Visual, Auditory, Reading/ writing, Kinesthetic (VARK).1 The concept of VARK which was developed by Fleming and Mills helps to study the learning preferences among students.2 Since then VARK questionnaire has been extensively tried across the world.3 This questionnaire has also been used in assessing learning preferences among medical students across the world including India.1,4-12
The emphasis on research in medical curriculum has increased recently due to changes in guidelines brought by Medical Council of India (MCI).13
This has resulted in more publications from students. MCI has also recently brought about a system of giving credit points for attending workshops and publishing research papers.14 More recently MCI has brought in the concept of electives in “Research Methodology”, which gives options for the undergraduate medical students to pursue the same.15 So more workshops are being conducted in “Research Methodology”. Only one study from Saudi Arabia has been published using VARK concept to know the learning preferences of medical students for “Research Methodology”.16 There are no published studies using VARK concept from India.
So this study was conducted to know the learning preferences about research methodology among medical student under the following categories: Visual, Auditory, Reading and Kinesthetic. This study would help in devising teaching methods closer to the learning preferences of the students.

Materials and Methods

The study was conduct ed in Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore affiliated to Manipal University . The students have to do a “Students Research Project” during the 4 the semester of MBBS course as a part of their curriculum. This is done in the department of Community Medicine. The students are posted in the department of community medicine for a period of 30 days during which they are supposed to do this research project under the guidance of the faculty. The students are taught about the basics of “Research Methodology”. Following this they develop research protocols and conduct the study.
Study designThis is a questionnaire based crosssectional study.
Study settingMedical College in Mangalore, South India.
Study durationThis study was conducted over a period of one month . Study population: Undergraduate medical students of KMC who had already completed their 4th semester student research project explained above. This included students from 4th to 9th semesters. Inclusion criteria: All undergraduates who were present in the classrooms and willing to participate were included in the study. Those who were not willing were excluded.

Sample sizeNo sample size was calculated. All the students meeting the above criteria were included.
Study instrumentsI. A semi structured questionnaire was devised based on “VARK” concept to collect the following components of information from the study population:
1. Learning preference of research methodology, 2. Characteristics of learning preference of participants are classified under “Visual (V), Auditory (A), Read/write (R), Kinaesthetic (K).
There were totally 10 questions. Each question was framed in such a way as to depict one particular aspect of “Research Methodology” (Like for example for review of literature the question was “Which method do you prefer the lecturer to use while teaching review of literature?). Each question was followed had five responses. Four of the five responses would match the four different learning preferences like “Visual, Auditory, Read / Write, Kinaesthetic (Like for example the four responses for the above question on review of literature were: 1.Gives a lecture about it, 2. Depicts it in Power Point and you read from it, 3. Gives diagrams/examples of reviews of literature, 4. Lets you find an article on your laptop with access to Internet). Fifth option for each question was open ended (Example: “others, please specify : …….). Each of these questions was a multiple response type. So a student could choose more than one preference for the same question. So it was possible to get a maximum of 10V, 10A, 10R, and 10K from each questionnaire. There were 157 students included in the study and so maximum of 1570 preferences can be obtained.
At the end of the questionnaire there were certain open ended questions to collect information about any specific difficulties that they faced while learning about “Research Methodology” and make any other suggestions to make their learning easier.
Operational definitions : The operational definitions used in the questionnaire were based on VARK concept.17 The definitions of the four learning preferences are as follows:
1. “Visual” (V) includes / means: This preference includes the depiction of information in maps, spider diagrams, charts, graphs, flow charts, labelled diagrams, and all the symbolic arrows, circles, hierarchies and other devices, that people use to represent what could have been presented in words.
2. “Auditory” (A) includes / means: This perceptual mode describes a preference for information that is “heard or spoken.” Learners who have this as their main preference report that they learn best from lectures, group discussion, radio, email, using mobile phones, speaking, web-chat and talking things through. They have need to say it themselves and they learn through saying it - their way.
3. “ Read / Write ( R ) includes / means: This preference is for information displayed as words. This preference emphasizes textbased input and output - reading and writing in all its forms but especially manuals, reports, essays and assignments.
4. “Kinaesthetic” (K) includes / means: Perceptual preference related to the use of experience and practice (simulated or real). It includes demonstrations, simulations, videos and movies of “real” things, as well as case studies, practice and applications.17
PretestingThe questionnaire was pretested. Based on this some questions and responses were reframed.
Data collectionInstitutional Ethics Committee approval was sought and obtained. Permission was obtained from the Dean for approaching the students in the classrooms. The purpose of the study was explained. Questionnaires along with attached written informed consent forms were distributed to them. A period of 20 minutes was given to fill the forms. Filled forms were collected. Inappropriately filled forms were excluded from data analysis.
Data analysisThe data was analyzed using SPSS ver.11.5. Results are presented as proportions in tables. The learning preferences are presented as a total of each modality V, A, R, and K. Comparison has been made to know if additional research influences the modality of learning.

Results

Totally 157 students participated in the study, some (27.6%) of whom had research experience in addition to the research projects conducted as a part of the curriculum (Table 1).
Majority of the students had Unimodal learning preferences as compared to Multimodal learning (Table 2). Even though Unimodal learning was common, the preference of learning modality varied depending on the different aspects of “Research Methodology” (Table 3). It could be seen that “Visual” modality was preferred for learning review of literature but “Read / Write” modality was preferred on presentation of review of literature (Table 3).
The pattern of learning preference is similar among boys and girls (Table 4). There were no change in the pattern of learning preference between those who has additional research experiences and those who didn’t with the sequence of A , V, R and K in descending order. However, the total number of preference for “Kinaesthetic” in those who had additional research experience through ICMR-STS and workshop on research methodology are more when compared to those students who did not have (Table 5).

Discussion

As there was only one comparable study we discuss the findings of our study by comparing it with the most of the other published studies based on VARK concept but conducted in different setting / with different objectives.
Unimodal and Multimodal Learning Preferences: Unimodal Learning preference was found in our study (Tabl e 2 ) . I t was predominantly Auditory followed by visual (Table 4). Most of the studies have reported a Multimodal preference to learn.1,4-12 The reasons for this difference being: 1. This research was only to find out about research methodology whereas previous researches were conducted on other topics such as Anatomy, Physiology etc. where dissection, practical experiments are common. Therefore, we could expect some differences in results, 2. This research was a post-perspective study done on 4th, 6th, and 8th semester students (i.e., those who have already completed the student research project), while other researches were pre-perspective and targeted to mostly first year students before starting of the course, 3. Development of a new questionnaire based on VARK concept.
The only study on research methodology using VARK concept from Saudi Arabia has reported Multimodal Learning preference.16 But this was done on students who had just passed the first year of MBBS and had no idea / experience of “Research Methodology”. These students were influenced by the learning methodologies for Anatomy, Physiology where they got exposed to in the first year. So the finding i.e., Multimodal preference is similar to those reported by others.1,4-12
Type of Learning preference: Auditory preference followed by visual indicates that the students have subconsciously accepted / expressed the preference similar to the teaching modalities that they are exposed i.e., Lecture Classes (Predominantly Auditory followed by Visual) and Clinics (where demonstrations are common, i.e., Visual followed by Kinaesthetic). The students are exposed to these Lecture Classes and Clinics through their entire MBBS course. So, they seem to prefer the same modalities (Auditory and Visual) of instruction to learn “Research Methodology”. Studies which were done on first years as explained above also reported the preference for “Auditory” component in the Multimodality.4-12
Factors influencing learning preferences: There was increase in preference for “Kinaesthetic” in those who had additional research experience compared to those students who did not have. This could be explained by the gain in experiences and skills after participation in ICMR-STS and workshop on research methodology make those students to prefer in practice and applications of their knowledge. On the other hand, gender did not influence the learning preferences in which similar findings have been reported from Turkey.8
A questionnaire based study is limited by response bias which is inevitable.

Conclusion

Unimodal with Auditory followed by Visual mode was preferred for learning “Research Methodology”.

References

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