LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES AMONG NURSING STUDENTS IN A PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN WEST INDONESIA
Nada Suraya Br Barus (a*), Voppy Selvia Christina Simorangkir (a*), Yuni Cantika Yulistiyani Sombu (a*), Riama Marlyn Sihombing S.Kp., M.Kep (a*), Ns. Shinta Marina J.P, S.Kep (a*)

a) Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Pelita Harapan
Jl. Jendral Soedirman, Kecamatan Kelapa Dua, Tangerang, Banten, 15810

Abstract

Objectives: Nursing knowledge and practice are evolving and nurse education are encouraged to empower the student to learn continuously and skilled in their profession. This is a challenge for first year students and educators with a shift from teacher-centered learning to learning strategies with case studies group, self-study, laboratory and clinical practice, and tutorials. The aim of this study to identify the learning style preferences using VARK (visual, aural, read/write and kinesthetic) of first year nursing students in a private university in west Indonesia.
Methods: This research used a descriptive quantitative method and was conducted in a private university in west Indonesia. A total of 337 of the first year of nursing students participated in this study through a total sampling technique. The VARK questionnaires by Neil Fleming was used to elicit the data, and univariate analysis was used to analyze the data.
Results: 251 students (74.5%) preferred multimodal learning style whilst the remaining 86 students (25.5%) preferred unimodal learning styles. With regard to the dominant preference, 27% student had a strong preference for quad modal, 24.3% for bimodal and 23.2 % for trimodal learning style. The rest of the participants were found to be unimodal learners with 13.9%, 8%, 2.7% and 0.9% of the students were Aural, Kinesthetic, Read/Write and Visual, respectively. Conclusions: Students with multimodal learning can learn productively as educators provide learning strategies that include visual, aural, read/write and kinaesthetic and the educators are encouraged to apply the multimodal teaching method and be more creative and engage the four categories of the modules in their teaching method.

Keywords: Learning Style, Nursing Student, VARK Questionnaire

Topic: Nursing Management and Education