Student learning style modality preferences, in preclini- cal classes, were assessed using the visual-aural- read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) inventory. Preferences were assessed for 137 preclinical students, including those in nursing, physician’s assistant, physical therapy, athletic training, and natural science programs using the online VARK inventory. All classes contained a majority of multimodal and a significantly high propor- tion of kinesthetic learners. No correlations were noted between modality preference strength and assessment performance in general biology classes; significant cor- relations were discovered for kinesthetic preference among the same cohort in subsequent human anatomy (negative correlation) and general physiology (positive correlation) classes. Assessment performance of nurs- ing students in an anatomy and physiology class resulted in correlations with aural (negative correlation) and visual (positive correlation) preference strengths. Study findings are used to evaluate the efficacy of non- omnimodal delivery of content-focused science classes, before the students have developed the background knowledge or skills required to contextualize the learn- ing. J Allied Health 2013; 42(4):e81–e90. LEARNING in post-secondary education requires stu- dents to not only critically examine novel details within each subject, but also relate these details to the learner’s existing understanding for subsequent application to different scenarios. 1–4 Post-secondary education should balance the acquisition of sufficient specialist knowl- edge with the understanding and application of key concepts; 1–4 despite most post-secondary instructors understanding this balance, post-secondary students often focus on academic success and not necessarily on becoming educated within a chosen field. Students whose educational goal is success in assessment tasks, with minimal investment of time, enhance the risk of surface learning by focusing solely on the lowest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy 5 and acquiring adequate knowledge to avoid failure. 6,7 Surface learning can also be preva- lent when students first encounter novel content. For example, across 148 students studying English as a second language, surface learning strategies were signif- icantly more prevalent than deep strategies, regardless of gender or socio-economic background. 6 Study habits centered on such short-term memorization tend to foster linear processing of knowledge, rather than the more metacognitive processes at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy that are required for genuine com- prehension of the material. 5,6,8,9 Students of a young age, and/or at the introductory post-secondary level are particularly at risk of such behavior, 10 due to the perceived efficacy of surface learning strategies in high school. Surface learning may continue throughout post-secondary education, even though developing the metacognitive skills and understanding needed to apply such knowledge may ultimately lead to higher scores on future assessment tasks, 11–13 by as much as a 1.0 on a 4- point GPA scale. 10 Memorization through habitual practice is also less common once students reach clini- cal phases in graduate physical and occupational ther- apy programs; these students increasingly rely on appli- cation of details to course content and clinical experience, although they may still have underdevel- oped critical reflection skills. 14 Clinical phase students do still use surface learning behaviors in order to assim- ilate novel details, but also increase their use of deep learning behaviors in order to apply these details. 14 Col- lectively these studies demonstrate the modification of formative study habits that are required for students to become successful health care practitioners. Traditionally, within health professions programs there exists an obvious division between pre-clinical and clinical phases, where the former focuses on knowledge acquisition, and the latter focus is on application of understanding within a specific profession. 15 The some- e81 RESEARCH NOTE  Learning Style Preferences and Academic Success of Preclinical Allied Health Students Jonathan P. Good, PhD Diane Ramos, PhD Domenic C. D’Amore, PhD Drs. Good, Ramos, and D’Amore are Assistant Professors in the Depart- ment of Natural Sciences, Daemen College, Amherst, NY. Funded by the Department of Natural Sciences, Daemen College, Amherst, NY. RN1252—Received Sep 27, 2012; accepted Oct 12, 2013. Address correspondence to: Dr. Jonathan Good, Department of Natural Sciences, Daemen College, Amherst, New York 14226, USA. Tel 716-566- 7845, fax 716-839-8242. jgood@daemen.edu. © 2013 Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, Wash., DC.