GENDER DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING STYLES AMONG THE FIRST YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS

In general male and females learn differently. Learning style is the learners' preferred mode of learning in terms of the sensory modality by which they prefer to take in new information. While learning each of we have our own preferences for the way in which we receive the new information. Each learner has distinct and consistent preferred ways of perception, organization and retention. The visual, auditory & kinesthetic (VAK) questionnaire identifies student's preferences for particular modes of information presentation. We administered the VAK questionnaire to our first-year medical students studying at Vinayaka Mission's Kirupananda Variyar medical College, Salem and 153 out of 200 students (76.5%) returned the completed questionnaire. The responses were compiled and assessed for gender difference in learning style preference; (45.1%) of males and (47%) of females preferred a single mode of information presentation. Among the male students, 14.1% of the students preferred Visual (learning from graphs, charts, and flow diagrams), 18% of the students preferred Auditory (learning from speech), 13% of the students preferred Kinesthetic (learning from touch, hearing, smell, taste, and sight). Among the female students 14.2% of the students preferred Visual, 17.8% of the students preferred Auditory, 15% of the students preferred Kinesthetic. Furthermore, 54.9% of male and 53% of female respondents preferred multiple modes [male: two modes (51.6%), three modes (3.3%), and; females: two modes (48.4%), three modes (4.6%)] of presentation. In summary, a majority of male students preferred multimodal instruction, specifically, two modes, whereas a majority of female students preferred two and single-mode instruction. Thus, male and female students have significantly different learning styles. Knowing the students preferred modes can help to avoid mismatches in the styles between instructors and learners. Assist students to build confidence and more effectively manage their own learning.