Adequacy of science instructional resources to students’ sensory preferences: An exploratory study in secondary education

Abstract

Introduction: Learning has been proven to improve when teaching materials and methods take into account students’ individual differential traits. The VARK model has been proposed to account for these differences in terms of the preferences or facilities that each student has to learn through one sensory channel or another. The main goal of the present study was to assess the degree of adequacy of science instructional resources to secondary students’ sensory preferences.

Method: The VARK questionnaire was administered to 561 students across several grade levels to identify their sensory preferences. The most commonly used materials and resources in the science classroom were ascertained and the sensory channels involved in those materials and resources were examined. The students’ sensory preferences using VARK questionnaire were compared with the sensory channels offered in scientific education.

Results: The outcomes suggest that there is an oversupply of the visual (V) channel, but a supply deficit of the kinesthetic (K) channel, always in relation to presence in the respective preferences of students.

Discussion: The imbalance found in the kinesthetic (K) channel, which is heavily involved in activities closely related to science (experimental, hands-on activities), may be one of the causes of low-performance in scientific subjects.