Academic Skills Workshop: Find Your Perfect Study Method with “VARK”! (October 24, 2025)

Academic Skills Workshop

【Date】October 24, 2025 (Friday) Lunchtime 13:00~13:50 (50 minutes)

【Conduct】Face to Face Othmer Library 1F Uhub, Japanese

【Content】

 Perhaps October is the season the students are wondering how to study for their final exams after receiving their midterm results, or maybe they're unsure how to begin working on their final papers or assignments. How can students enhance their learning outcomes by identifying their preferred learning methods and optimizing their approach to tasks?
 To maximize learning effectiveness, it is crucial not only to increase study time and volume but also to find and implement efficient learning strategies that align with one's cognitive and physical characteristics. This workshop introduced VARK as a self-diagnostic tool to help students identify their learning preferences. VARK is an acronym for the four main learning styles: Visual, Auditory, Reading & Writing, and Kinesthetic. It is a questionnaire-based self-assessment that reveals an individual's preferred sensory modality for learning.
 The session began with a presentation by Tanaka-san, a certified clinical psychologist and LAS staff member, who shared her own history of trial and error in finding effective personal study methods. Following this talk, participants took the VARK questionnaire and then engaged in a time of sharing and brainstorming on study techniques suited to their results. Many methods were shared for the Visual, Auditory, and Reading & Writing styles, as they are often easier to connect with specific study practices.
 The Kinesthetic style, however, proved more challenging to link with concrete learning methods, prompting all participants to collaborate and generate ideas. Suggestions from students included using hand movements, such as squeezing a stress ball, or reviewing learned material by moving around as if giving a solo lecture.

【Participants' comments(*Translation from the original Japanese comments)】

・"It was interesting to discover my dominant sensory preference through the VARK test. Since I scored highly in Auditory, I plan to try using text-to-speech functions more often."
・"I struggle with Auditory learning, so from now on, I want to try visualizing the information I hear in my head."
・"It was very valuable to take the time to think about study methods tailored to myself. It also gave me a chance to consider how I should communicate when working in groups with other students."
・"My own learning method was already established, but I participated in this workshop, hoping to gain insights that would be useful as a future teacher. The content was as engaging as I'd hoped. Since many different types of learners were gathered, it was good to learn that a method that works for me might not necessarily work for others."

【Attendance】

5 people