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Learning styles is described by Khanal, Shah and Koirala (2014: 1) as the way in which an individual processes, interprets and organizes information. Obtaining insight into the learning styles of students can benefit the learning and teaching experiences for students and lecturers respectively. The VARK learning style model is based on sensory modes of perception and assesses the “outer instructional preference ring of Curry’s onion ring model” (Mitchell, James and D’Amore 2015: 2). VARK is the acronym that represents the Visual, Aural, Read/Write and Kinaesthetic sensory modalities. AIM The aim of this study was to determine and compare the preferred learning styles of first and third year student nurses at Kwazulu-Natal College of Nursing (KZNCN), utilising the VARK sensory based model questionnaire in order to broaden the body of knowledge about learning styles in nursing education. METHODOLOGY A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used to conduct the study. A census sampling survey method was used to collect data from first and third year students in the four year training programme at KZNCN. The sample size consisted of 290 respondents, which comprised of 145 respondents per year of study. Selfadministered questionnaires were used to collect the data. The data was analysed using SPSS version 23. Data was described graphically using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied to detect significant trends in the data. RESULTS The majority of the respondents were found to be multimodal (77, 6%), preferring two or more sensory modalities, while the remaining 22, 4% were found to have unimodal learning style preferences. The most dominant learning style preference was Kinaesthetic, with a mean score of 6.54/SD=2.607 and the Visual modality was the least preferred (M=4.36/SD=2.315). The study showed no statistically significant relationship between preferred learning styles and year of study, age or gender respectively. Students that use English as their first language were reported to have a statistically significant Visual score than those that use isiZulu as their first language, with mean scores of 5.33 and 4.00 (p=.005) respectively. Coloured (M=5.43) and Indian (M=5.44) students were found to have a significantly higher Visual score than Blacks (M=4.14), F (2,286) = 6.759, p=.0001. Indians (M=7.08) had a significantly higher Read/Write score than Blacks (M=5.72), F (2, 286) =3.802, p=0.23. Students with previous higher education (M=4.93) have a significantly higher Visual score than those without previous higher education (M=4.17), p=.026. CONCLUSION According to the results of the study the majority of first year and third year students preferred multimodal learning styles. Lecturers should take into account various teaching methods when developing lesson plans in order to accommodate different learning styles. A huge gap in the body of knowledge regarding learning styles of individuals in South Africa warrants more research in this area.

Preferred learning styles of first and third year nursing students in a diploma programme at a college in KwaZulu-Natal: a comparative study