Articles
In-depth information about VARK, as well as ideas and tips for learners

Latest Newsletter: What Recent Research Reveals

VARK^® and Metacognition:
What New Research Reveals

One of the most valuable outcomes of completing the VARK Questionnaire is not the result itself, but the reflection that follows. Thinking about how you learn, which strategies have worked for you in the past, and what you might try

Why Variety Matters:
VARK^® and Multimodal Learning

One of the most common misunderstandings about VARK is that it is primarily a tool for matching teaching methods to learning preferences. While teaching certainly matters, VARK has always been equally concerned with what learners do themselves. Understanding your preferences

VARK^® in the Classroom:
What the Research Tells Us — and How to Use It

How does VARK actually play out when students become aware of their learning preferences? A recent study builds a picture of what it means to bring VARK into educational settings effectively.

Reading VARK^® Research with a Critical Eye

Why This Article Exists If you’ve read the other pieces in our series on recent research, you’ll have noticed something: alongside genuinely useful findings, we’ve sometimes had to add a caveat about how a study measured VARK preferences in the

Metacognition

VARK^® and Metacognition:
What New Research Reveals

One of the most valuable outcomes of completing the VARK Questionnaire is not the result itself, but the reflection that follows. Thinking about how you learn, which strategies have worked for you in the past, and what you might try

VARK^® and Metacognition:
a catalyst for reflection

In this article, we cover the topic of metacognition and explore how VARK can be used to develop metacognitive processes to enhance learning.

How to use METACOGNITION to enhance your learning experiences:
5 Tips for Students

Be open to exploring different strategies and adapting them to suit your unique learning needs. The key is to develop self-awareness and continually refine your approach based on what helps you learn most effectively.

How to encourage METACOGNITION in students:
5 Tips for Teachers

By explicitly teaching metacognitive strategies, modeling metacognition, providing diverse learning opportunities, encouraging peer collaboration, and offering regular feedback, teachers can empower students to become proactive learners equipped with the skills to monitor and regulate their learning effectively.

Adapting Teaching Styles to VARK^®:
A Metacognitive Approach

It is essential to recognize the limitations of rigidly matching teaching styles to VARK preferences. Instead, use a metacognitive approach, where VARK serves as a tool for self-awareness and adaptability, and empowers students to take control of their learning experiences.

Active Learning

Why Variety Matters:
VARK^® and Multimodal Learning

One of the most common misunderstandings about VARK is that it is primarily a tool for matching teaching methods to learning preferences. While teaching certainly matters, VARK has always been equally concerned with what learners do themselves. Understanding your preferences

Unlock Better Learning:
VARK^® Strategies for Effective Note-Making

Most of us know that taking notes is key when learning. But simply writing things down isn’t enough. Research shows that students who actively engage with their notes—by organizing, refining, and personalizing them—retain more information and understand it better. This

How To Enhance Learning By Using VARK^® With An Active Learning Focus

Find out what active learning is and how to use it with VARK study strategies to move from recognizing information to being able to recall and apply it.

How to encourage active learning:
5 TIPS FOR TEACHERS

Our top five tips for teachers who want to introduce active learning to their students and make it work!

The Art of Questioning:
How Asking the Right Questions Boosts Your Learning

Asking the right questions can enhance your learning, transforming passive learning into an active, engaging process. Use VARK to focus your questioning.

General VARK Information

VARK^® In Action:
Practical Applications Beyond The Classroom

VARK was initially developed to help students improve their study practices in educational settings. However, its applications extend far beyond the classroom. This article introduces the many and varied ways that people have found VARK helpful. We’ll first explore how

VARK in the Workplace

VARK^® In Action:
Practical Applications Beyond The Classroom

VARK was initially developed to help students improve their study practices in educational settings. However, its applications extend far beyond the classroom. This article introduces the many and varied ways that people have found VARK helpful. We’ll first explore how

Creating a Learning Culture in Your Business

Why you need a learning culture in your workplace, and how to create one with VARK: the focus is on continuous learning and valuing individuals' unique contributions.

Training with VARK^®:
A Strong Foundation For Ongoing Learning And Development

VARK helps you understand how your team learns so that you can create meaningful, engaging training - a strong foundation for ongoing learning and development.

Enhancing Your Professional Development with VARK^® 

VARK helps you harness your learning preferences to enhance your personal and professional growth: maximize your training, improve communication, develop your problem-solving abilities, and boost self-confidence.

Better Team Collaboration with VARK^®:
Breaking Down Barriers

Using VARK to understand your team members can improve communication, reduce misunderstandings, and create a stronger, more collaborative atmosphere.

Building Strong Customer Connections with VARK^®

Use VARK in client communication and marketing strategies to engage effectively with your audience, ultimately improving your outreach and customer connections.

An Onboarding Breakthrough:
VARK^® Brings A New Perspective

In this personal story, Carol moves beyond assumptions about new employees based on her own VARK preferences, to appreciating different preferences in her onboarding practices.

For Students

Online Learning Tips for Students

Online learning can feel very different from learning in a classroom. You may need to: VARK can help by giving you practical ways to adapt and improve how you learn. Start by Understanding How You Learn You can begin by

Maximize Memory with VARK^®:
How to Study Smarter, Not Harder

Understanding your VARK learning preferences makes it easier to choose and adapt memorization techniques so that they really work for you. Find out how to use VARK with various best-practice memory techniques such as elaborative encoding and active recall.

Make Your Study Time Count:
5 Memory Tips that Work

Learning effectively isn’t just about putting in the hours—it’s about how you study. Here are five key strategies, with common pitfalls to avoid: 1. Don’t Just Cram – Use Spaced Repetition Cramming at the last minute may feel productive, but

How to Use Flashcards:
VARK^® Strategies for Better Memory

Flashcards are one of the simplest and most flexible memory tools. Here’s how someone with each VARK preference might approach using flashcards to practice recalling information: Visual Visual learners remember best when they can see structure and imagery. Aural Aural

Check You’ve Got It:
A Quick VARK^®-Based Review Technique

Before moving on from a study session, check you’ve really “got it”. Depending on your VARK preferences: VISUALDraw a simple diagram to show the core concepts and the relationships between them. AURALExplain the concept to someone else in your own

Unlock Better Learning:
VARK^® Strategies for Effective Note-Making

Most of us know that taking notes is key when learning. But simply writing things down isn’t enough. Research shows that students who actively engage with their notes—by organizing, refining, and personalizing them—retain more information and understand it better. This

VARK^® In Action:
Practical Applications Beyond The Classroom

VARK was initially developed to help students improve their study practices in educational settings. However, its applications extend far beyond the classroom. This article introduces the many and varied ways that people have found VARK helpful. We’ll first explore how

Top Tips for Students
How To Get Off To A Good Start This Academic Year

The start of a new academic year is here! Whether you’re stepping into a new phase of your education or continuing your journey, setting yourself up for success from day one is key.To help you hit the ground running, we’ve

VARK^® and Metacognition:
a catalyst for reflection

In this article, we cover the topic of metacognition and explore how VARK can be used to develop metacognitive processes to enhance learning.

How to use METACOGNITION to enhance your learning experiences:
5 Tips for Students

Be open to exploring different strategies and adapting them to suit your unique learning needs. The key is to develop self-awareness and continually refine your approach based on what helps you learn most effectively.

I’m a Multimodal Learner. Now What?

Find out what your VARK preference is, what it means, and learn how to apply your multimodal preference in learning situations.

How To Enhance Learning By Using VARK^® With An Active Learning Focus

Find out what active learning is and how to use it with VARK study strategies to move from recognizing information to being able to recall and apply it.

How to learn actively:
5 TIPS FOR STUDENTS

Our top five tips for students to focus on when using the principles of active learning to improve their learning.

Memory

Maximize Memory with VARK^®:
How to Study Smarter, Not Harder

Understanding your VARK learning preferences makes it easier to choose and adapt memorization techniques so that they really work for you. Find out how to use VARK with various best-practice memory techniques such as elaborative encoding and active recall.

Teaching for Better Memory:
5 Practical VARK^® Strategies

Memory is at the heart of learning, and understanding how it works can help teachers make lessons more effective. Using the VARK framework, you can design learning experiences that support encoding, consolidation, and retrieval, while keeping students engaged in ways

Make Your Study Time Count:
5 Memory Tips that Work

Learning effectively isn’t just about putting in the hours—it’s about how you study. Here are five key strategies, with common pitfalls to avoid: 1. Don’t Just Cram – Use Spaced Repetition Cramming at the last minute may feel productive, but

How to Use Flashcards:
VARK^® Strategies for Better Memory

Flashcards are one of the simplest and most flexible memory tools. Here’s how someone with each VARK preference might approach using flashcards to practice recalling information: Visual Visual learners remember best when they can see structure and imagery. Aural Aural

Check You’ve Got It:
A Quick VARK^®-Based Review Technique

Before moving on from a study session, check you’ve really “got it”. Depending on your VARK preferences: VISUALDraw a simple diagram to show the core concepts and the relationships between them. AURALExplain the concept to someone else in your own

Effective Teaching

VARK^® in the Classroom:
What the Research Tells Us — and How to Use It

How does VARK actually play out when students become aware of their learning preferences? A recent study builds a picture of what it means to bring VARK into educational settings effectively.

Teaching for Better Memory:
5 Practical VARK^® Strategies

Memory is at the heart of learning, and understanding how it works can help teachers make lessons more effective. Using the VARK framework, you can design learning experiences that support encoding, consolidation, and retrieval, while keeping students engaged in ways

What does effective teaching look like?

How VARK® is used in effective teaching to support student learning - covering: using multiple modalities when presenting learning content, incorporating active learning activities, and fostering metacognition.

Teaching in Different Contexts

VARK helps actively involve and engage learners in the process of learning - at all stages - from early development to adult education.

Multimodality

Why Variety Matters:
VARK^® and Multimodal Learning

One of the most common misunderstandings about VARK is that it is primarily a tool for matching teaching methods to learning preferences. While teaching certainly matters, VARK has always been equally concerned with what learners do themselves. Understanding your preferences

What does Multimodal mean?

Find out what being multimodal means, how multimodal learners use their preferred modalities, and the benefits of multimodal learning.

I’m a Multimodal Learner. Now What?

Find out what your VARK preference is, what it means, and learn how to apply your multimodal preference in learning situations.

Multimodal Strategies for Education

The Multimodal Strategies for Education table suggests some strategies you could select from each of your preferred modalities, when you are attending classes, taking notes, summarizing your notes, preparing for exams, and doing presentations.

Multimodal Strategies in the Arts

Find out how to use Multimodal strategies in the Arts to enhance the overall learning experience and give you a more comprehensive understanding of artistic concepts.

Earlier articles by Neil Fleming (founder)

The Nature of Preference

There are some who believe that preferences can be easily changed and that those who dislikesomething can be made to like it by using behavior modification techniques. In higher education,this is expressed as attempts to improve or gap-fill what is

Earlier Articles about VARK

Citation

VARK began in 1987. The publication that launched VARK was:
Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection
Published in: To Improve the Academy, Vol. 11, 1992, Page 137.
Authors: Neil D. Fleming and Colleen Mills both at Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand

Leite, W. L., Svinicki, M. & Shi, Y. (2010). Attempted Validation of the Scores of the VARK: Learning Styles Inventory With Multitrait-Multimethod Confirmatory Factor Analysis Models. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 70, 323-339.

Fleming, N.D. & Mills, C. (1992). Helping Students Understand How They Learn. The Teaching Professor, Vol. 7 No. 4, Magma Publications, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

The following articles are available as PDF downloads:

I’m different; not dumb: Modes of presentation (V.A.R.K) in the tertiary classroom.
Neil Fleming.

Coping with a Revolution: Will the Internet Change Learning?
Neil Fleming.

Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection
Neil Fleming and Colleen Mills, Lincoln University

Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the right tree!
Neil Fleming, Educational Developer, and David Baume, FSEDA, Higher Education Consultant

Learning Preferences and Sport
Juli Dunn, Associate Professor of Sport Studies, Whitman College, Walla Walla, WA, USA

Learning Styles of Law Enforcement Officers: Does Police Work Affect How Officers Learn?
John M Landry

Adult Learning Styles: How the VARK learning style inventory can be used to improve student learning
Vanessa Marcy, MMSc, PA-C

The Case Against Learning Styles
Neil Fleming.

Learning styles and fieldwork education: Students’ perspectives
Linda Robertson, Tania Smellie, Phillipa Wilson, and Lisa Cox
with permission from the New Zealand Association of Occupational Therapists/Whakaora Ngangahau Aotearoa

Facts, Fallacies, and Myths: VARK and Learning Preferences
Neil Fleming.

Do Teachers Have Preferences
Neil Fleming, June 2015