On dropping of the children this morning, the Head grabbed me to tell me about some meta study that has concluded that there is no evidence that using a mixture of VAK activities aids learning. I’d be really interested to read this, though I can find nothing about it on the net, though personally I think that I have enough anecdotal evidence to show that it does work. If nothing else, being aware of using a mixture of VAK activities adds variety to the lesson and makes it more interesting for the children. Interest and enjoyment alone makes them more likely to learn.
When I personally want to remember something, I try to involve as many of the senses as possible as I have found that aids my memory. And that in itself is using a mixture of VAK.
Interestingly, I then came home to my computer and found that scientists have found that children who have better speech when they start school used more gestures when they were babies and toddlers. Again, something I thought was proven that signing and using gestures aids speech development (and if it doesn’t it certainly reduces frustration for the child to be understood and makes them see the importance of communication). I think that the research, however, also concludes that the children with better speech come from higher income families as well as use more gestures, so there is a social issue of speech possibly being more valued in these families.
Overall, to me it seems simple common sense – the more of your body and its senses you use when trying to learn or remember something, the more success you are likely to have.