Making Learning Styles Personal

Completing the learning styles questionnaires/ tests has helped me discover my learning style and indeed offered suggestions with enhancing my learning. I do, however, understand that the learning styles merely act as a guideline and do not depict a fixed learning style.

The modalities and skills - VARK (Fleming and Mills, 1992; Fleming & Baume, 2006), Honey and Mumford model (Honey and Mumford, 1982) and Kolb model (Kolb, 1984) - can be used to an advantage, for example; when studying for exams and writing assignment. One common advantage with these modalities is, they encourage (a) Reflection, (b) Conceptualisation, and (c) ways of testing ideas...

1. VARK (An acronym for Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kenisthetic) model

Reflective Practices

According to Dewey (1933), reflection can be explained as a:

• A meaning making process
• Systematic way of thinking; and
• Method which requires attitude that values personal and intellectual growth of oneself.

In this lesson I learnt that reflective practice is fundamental when I needs to stop and analyse my decision making process and draw on theory in order to relate it in real life situations.

Doing so refocuses thinking on existing "knowledge and helps generate new knowledge and ideas", according to the Charted Institute of Physiotherapy. In short, reflection clarifies thoughts; and improves [future] situations or problems.

Different method of reflection can be used, such as;

• Keeping a diary
• Working with colleagues 
• Writing a blog