Implementation of VARK Learning Styles in the MOOC User Interface

Design

Nungky Amalia Imran

, Paulus Insap Santosa

and Sri Suning Kusumadewi

Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Keywords:

MOOC, VARK, Learning Style, User Interface.

Abstract:

The development of technology has a lot of inﬂuence on the current educational process. One of the effects of

technology is the development of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) learning media which is still part of e-

learning. Massive and open MOOC has its own challenges in terms of scalability. Therefore, many researchers

are now starting to develop interface designs that are in accordance with the characteristics of the students.

This study aims to identify the learning styles of students in the MOOC course. The identiﬁcation of student

learning styles is done by ﬁlling out questionnaires that focus on the VARK method (Visual, Aural, Read,

Kinetic). The results of the questionnaire analysis will be used as the basis by the researchers in designing the

MOOC user interface that applies the VARK learning style.

1 INTRODUCTION

E-learning has inﬂuenced the development of other

online-based learning platforms, such as the MOOC

(massive open online course). Several universities

and international non-proﬁt institutions have devel-

oped MOOC which is quite popular, such as edX,

Coursera, Udacity, and others. Indonesia has a

MOOCs site that was developed seriously and can

be used free of charge, one of which is MOOC In-

donesiaX which was launched to coincide on the 70th

Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia. In-

donesiaX cooperating with the Universitas Indonesia,

Institut Teknologi Bandung, PT Net Mediatama Tele-

visi and several other well-known Institutions (Rach-

matunisa, 2015).

There are several parameters needed to measure

the quality of MOOC (KampusUNJ, 2016) includ-

ing how the MOOC site presents content, how much

learning material is offered. In addition, supporting

institutions and institutions are no less important in

the sustainability of a MOOC. Because institutions

with good credibility will contribute and trust users.

Then the total visitors and popularity of social media

became several benchmarks for a MOOC. In another

study that measured the Successful (Yousef et al.,

2014) and Effectiveness (Gamage et al., 2015) of the

MOOC, from the two studies, there were similarities

in how a learning site would run successfully and ef-

fectively if the media could present exercises that rep-

resented all existing material and provide testing that

measurable for users. The appearance of a MOOC

site also has a large effect on effectiveness, because

the user interface that is easy to remember and attracts

visuals in the eyes will make users easier to under-

stand and can follow learning well. Recognizing the

importance of good MOOC content, many developers

seriously pay attention to the look and content of the

sites built. This can be seen from many sites that em-

phasize content, such as practice questions on each

material presented, the use of videos is also used in

the delivery of lecture material and the use of slides

containing text material lectures..

Previous research has carried out innovations in

developing content at the MOOC, including the incor-

poration of AIED (artiﬁcial intelligence in education)

(Kay et al., 2013) ITS (intelligence tutoring system)

(Baneres and Sa

ız, 2016), integration at SG (Serious

Games) (Freire et al., 2014), and a scheme for dis-

plays high-resolution video called DASH (Dynamic

adaptive streaming over HTTP) (Wang et al., 2015).

However, despite the many innovations made in the

development of MOOC, the combination of learning

styles and user interface design has not been widely

developed by researchers.

In this study, the author tries to look at the

characteristics of learning styles in students at the

Akademi Komunitas Industri Tekstil dan Produk Tek-

stil Surakarta (AK-Tekstil Solo). AK-Tekstil Solo is

under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and is

220

Imran, N., Santosa, P. and Kusumawardani, S.

Implementation of VARK Learning Styles in the MOOC User Interface Design.

DOI: 10.5220/0009867502200223

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Creative Economics, Tourism and Information Management (ICCETIM 2019) - Creativity and Innovation Developments for Global

Competitiveness and Sustainability, pages 220-223

ISBN: 978-989-758-451-0

the ﬁrst Community Academy in Indonesia that has

implemented dual systems in the learning process.

Dual system is an education system that applies the-

ory and practice directly to industry, in this context

the textile industry. As the pioneer of the Commu-

nity Academy, the AK-Tekstil Solo can be a model for

other vocational schools. The study was conducted by

identifying learning styles from student samples, then

the results of the data analysis will be used as a refer-

ence to create a user interface design. By combining

learning styles and MOOC the authors hope that par-

ticipants can experience a different user experience in

online-based learning.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Massive Open Online Course

(MOOC)

MOOC based on its acronym (Kay et al., 2013) has

three meanings for each element. Open, means that

it can be accessed by everyone or all circles. Besides

that, being open can also mean that users can access

the MOOC site for free anytime and anywhere. On-

line elements mean that people can access this site

with an internet network. Then in the course ele-

ments, this learning method has become a benchmark

for innovation in the education process. Because a

class offered usually presents the whole course ma-

terial or one course material with integrated learn-

ing material and formative assessment. These classes

are managed by instructors from the world’s top in-

stitutions. At present, there are several MOOCs that

are quite popular and are widely used throughout the

world, some of which are Coursera, edX, and Udacity.

2.2 Learning Style

The learning process is the most crucial stage for ev-

ery individual who is conducting lectures. Each indi-

vidual has an obligation to study the material in the

class that they follow, but now the learning process

that provides the most effective outcomes still does

not have a standard. Therefore, many researchers ap-

ply theory to learning styles in the educational pro-

cess.

2.3 VARK Learning Style

One model of learning styles that have been used in

learning media today is VARK (Visual Aural Read

Kinetic). VARK represents several aspects of the con-

cept of learning, where each of these aspects can be

selected by the training participants according to their

needs. VARK (D

ıaz et al., 2018) which is an acronym

of several words, the ﬁrst is visual, which is how a

material can be delivered with visual images such as

tables, diagrams, symbols, and images. Second, is au-

ral, which is how learning material is delivered with

the help of audio, sound, pronunciation, conversation,

discussion and so on. Simply put, from the applica-

tion of the aural principle, there are features provided

for fellow users to communicate on a media, such as

chat and discussion forum features. Third, read/write

is a model that we can ﬁnd in teaching and learning

activities in general, namely where the instructor and

class participants can read the material provided and

write both reports, essay questions, and other exer-

cises. Then the last one is kinetic, which is how the

material delivered can make participants feel as if it is

real so that it has the effect of a different experience

in learning. A simple example of kinetic is the use of

demonstrations, simulations, videos and ﬁlms.

Figure 1: VARK Learning Style (Mitchell et al., 2015)

3 OBJECTIVE OF THIS STUDY

a. Propose the concept of designing the interface of

the MOOC and testing the participants

b. Develop an appearance by combining user learning

styles.

4 METHODOLOGY

This research is conduct to look at the number of

learning styles that are widely used in AK-Tekstil

Solo. The research method used was by ﬁlling out

questionnaires based on VARK’s learning style. The

research method used was by ﬁlling out question-

naires based on VARK’s learning style. The ques-

tionnaires are adapt from the vark-learn.com website

by translating into Indonesian. Assessment on the

Implementation of VARK Learning Styles in the MOOC User Interface Design

221

questionnaire used a 1-5 Likert scale with point 1 to

strongly disagree until point 5 to strongly agree.

The subjects of the study were all active AK-

Tekstil Solo students, both who were undergoing level

1 and level 2 and were willing to take part in the

study. The questionnaire was ﬁlled out by 50 students

with study programs on weaving engineering and gar-

ment engineering. Then to determine the ﬁnal value

and trend of student learning styles, the summation of

each of the questions given is done. Questions are di-

vided into four parts which are distinguished based on

Visual, Aural, Read / Write, and Kinesthetic learning

styles.

5 RESULT

Respondent data is an important element in a study

that uses questionnaires. The following table is com-

plete data from respondents in this study.

Table 1: Respondents

Characteristic Amount Percentage

SEX

MALE 15 30%

FEMALE 35 70%

DEPARTMENT

TEKNIK PEMBU-

ATAN GARMEN

35 70%

TEKNIK PEM-

BUATAN KAIN

TENUN

15 20%

AGE 18-28

YEARS

OLD

Based on the data in the table, the respondents

who ﬁlled out this questionnaire were 50 people con-

sisting of 35 women and 15 men. Students who par-

ticipate in this research come from study programs

Teknik Pembuatan Kain Tenun and Teknik Pembu-

atan Garmen. The age range of respondents is 18 to

28 years.

Figure 2: Total Score

Based on the total score of the chart it can be seen

that kinetic is the learning style that is most chosen

by students, aural is second learning style that is most

chosen with total score 629, the third learning style

that is most chosen are read and the less that is chosen

by students is visual.

Figure 3: R Square Chart

Based on the testing of the structural model which

can be seen in Figure 3, it is not much different from

the total score described in the form of a pie chart.

The learning style that is most often done or sought

after by students is the Kinesthetic learning style, fol-

lowed by aural, read and ﬁnal learning styles are vi-

sual. Further explanation of the analysis carried out

can be seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4: R Square Details

In testing the inner model can be seen the differ-

ence in the values that have been analyzed. Kinestetic

and aural are still the best grades that are most sought

after by students. While learning styles such as read-

ing and displaying images are less in accordance with

student learning style preferences.

Figure 5: Hyphothesis

In the hypothesis test the existing value can be ac-

cepted if it has the following conditions:

1. Jika nilai dari T Statistic > 1, 96

2. Jika nilai dari P Values < 0, 05

Based on the data in the picture, the analysis can

be concluded as follows:

1. Visual

3,911 > 1,96 is accepted

2. Read

3,648 > 1,96 is accepted

3. Kinesthetic

3,099 > 1,96 is accepted

ICCETIM 2019 - International Conference on Creative Economics, Tourism Information Management

222

4. Aural

3,703 > 1,96 is accepted

Then for the value values all the learning style cri-

teria have a value that is smaller than the 0.05 thresh-

old so that this hypothesis can be accepted.

6 CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results of the analysis that has been

done, it can be concluded that the learning styles that

are most in demand by AK-Tekstil Solo students are

Kinesthetic followed by Aural learning styles. How-

ever, for the Visual learning style and Read not so

much liked by students. Therefore, the user interface

design that will be designed will focus on a learning

style that the majority is chosen by students. In fur-

ther research, MOOC will be conducted by combin-

ing Aural learning styles. Because this learning style

is a teaching method that most closely resembles the

process with conventional classes.

Consideration of researchers not to focus on the

design with kinesthetic learning styles because the

learning criteria with this method require several other

tools so that the student learning experience can be

felt. Whereas aural focuses on sound and student

communication with classmates and lecturers who

teach. The learning style chosen by AK-Tekstil Solo

students is closely related to the learning system that

has been carried out. Because, vocational schools are

schools that focus more on practical subjects. There-

fore, the majority of students choose a learning style

that involves a lot of physical activity and discussions

with colleagues. In further research, researchers hope

to design the MOOC user interface in the textile ﬁeld

by involving all existing learning styles. So that later

each student can choose material directly in accor-

dance with their learning style preferences. Then, the

ﬁnal results of the classes that have been followed can

be carried out further research regarding the relevance

of student achievement to the learning material car-

ried out.

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