Does tailoring instructional style to a medical student's self-perceived learning style improve performance when teaching intravenous catheter placement? A randomized controlled study.

Authors

Dimitrios Papanagnou, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Antonio Serrano, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Kaitlyn Barkley, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Shruti Chandra, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Nicholas Governatori, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Nicole Piela, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Gregory K. Wanner, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Richard Shin, State University of New York

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-12-2016

Comments

This article has been peer reviewed. It is the author’s final published version in BMC Medical Education

Volume 16, Issue 1, August 2016, Article number 205

The published version is available at DOI: 10.1186/s12909-016-0720-3. Copyright © Papanagnou et al.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Students may have different learning styles. It is unclear, however, whether tailoring instructional methods for a student's preferred learning style improves educational outcomes when teaching procedures. The authors sought to examine whether teaching to a student's self-perceived learning style improved the acquisition of intravenous (IV) catheter placement skills. The authors hypothesized that matching a medical student's preferred learning style with the instructor's teaching style would increase the success of placing an IV catheter.

METHODS: Using the VARK model (i.e., visual [V], auditory [A], read/write [R] and kinesthetic [K]), third-year medical students reported their self-perceived learning style and were subsequently randomized to instructors who were trained to teach according to a specific learning format (i.e., visual, auditory). Success was gauged by: 1) the placement of an IV on the first attempt and 2) the number of attempts made until an IV line was successfully placed.

RESULTS: The average number of attempts in the matched learning style group was 1.53, compared to 1.64 in the unmatched learning style group; however, results were not statistically significant. Both matched and unmatched groups achieved a similar success rate (57 and 58 %, respectively). Additionally, a comparison of success between the unmatched and matched students within each learning style modality yielded no statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that providing procedural instruction that is congruent with a student's self-perceived learning style does not appear to improve outcomes when instructing students on IV catheter placement.

Recommended Citation

Papanagnou, Dimitrios; Serrano, Antonio; Barkley, Kaitlyn; Chandra, Shruti; Governatori, Nicholas; Piela, Nicole; Wanner, Gregory K.; and Shin, Richard, "Does tailoring instructional style to a medical student's self-perceived learning style improve performance when teaching intravenous catheter placement? A randomized controlled study." (2016). Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers. Paper 52.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/emfp/52

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

27520578