Understanding Your Learning Style

 

Auditory Learners

Auditory people learn by listening. Auditory learners are logical, analytical, sequential thinkers. They are comfortable with typical school tasks including analyzing sounds and numbers, following directions in order, and just "doing the right thing." They often remember names but forget faces. They often do well working out solutions or problems by talking them out.They are easily distracted by noise and often need to work where it is relatively quiet.

Usually,the majority of the students in a class are auditory learners. In general, these kids:

  • sit where they can hear but needn't pay attention to what is happening in front
  • may not coordinate colors or clothes, but can explain why they are wearing what they are wearing and why
  • hum or talk to themselves or others when bored
  • acquire knowledge by reading aloud
  • remember by verbalizing lessons to themselves (if they don't they have difficulty reading maps or diagrams or handling conceptual assignments like mathematics)
  • prefer the teacher to provide verbal instructions
  • enjoy dialogues, discussions, and plays
  • like being talkative in class
  • learn through lectures, audio books, oral presentations, music, or verbal instructions
  • prefer giving oral reports to written ones
  • remember who said what in the past
  • enjoy discussions and debates
  • follow oral directions better than written ones
  • tend to memorize well
  • notice sound effects in movies
  • don't automatically understand graphs, diagrams or maps
  • like to tell jokes and stories
  • may use finger as pointer when reading
  • are good at grammar and foreign languages
  • repeat phone numbers in order to remember them
  • benefit from study groups
  • read slowly
  • follows spoken directions well
  • can’t keep quiet for long

 

Visual Learners

Visual people learn by seeing. They must get a picture in their brain in order to understand what they need to learn. Visual learners are global thinkers. They are not good with logical, analytical, sequential tasks until they can get the "big picture." They can learn to think logically and sequentially, but they must do it by working backwards from the whole to the parts. They must learn new material in context. Their thought patterns lead them onto divergent thinking pathways, and they make creative and unusual associations with the subject at hand.

Visual learners often recognize words by sight. They often remember faces but forget names. They often have well developed imaginations. They are easily distracted by movement or action in the classroom. They tend to be unaware of noise.

Usually, between 30 and 35 percent of the students in a class are visual learners. In general, these kids prefer:

  • to take numerous detailed notes
  • to sit in the front
  • to be neat and clean
  • to close their eyes to visualize or remember something
  • to find something to watch if they are bored
  • to see what they are learning
  • illustrations and presentations that use color
  • written or spoken language rich in imagery
  • the teacher to provide demonstrations
  • using lists to keep up and to organize thoughts
  • pictures rather than words
  • viewing rather than reading (videos, demonstrations, and examples)
  • being shown an example of what the finished product should look like rather than hearing an explanation of the task
  • reading the end of a book or story first to see if it's worth the effort to read the whole thing
  • stories with excitement, humor, and adventure
  • visualizing scenes, characters, and actions as they read about them
  • learning phonics, skills, and vocabulary in context after hearing or reading the selection
  • finding visual cues in texts (graphs, charts, photographs)
  • graphic organizers (mapping, illustrating in chart form what they learn)
  • writing down what they need to learn (but they may never need to look at their notes again)
  • writing in many different colors and textures--shaving cream, finger paints, sandpaper, etc.
  • using artistic means to express what they learn
  • drawing or doodling while listening
  • being shown the correct version of what they have gotten wrong

Tactile-Kinesthetic Learners

Tactile-kinesthetic people learn by touching and moving. Like visual learners, T-K learners are global thinkers and need to see the "big picture" before they understand the parts. All babies are born with a tactile-kinesthetic learning style predominant.

Tactile-kinesthetic students do best when they take notes either during a lecture or when reading something new or difficult. They often like to draw or doodle to remember. These students often have high energy levels. They think and learn best while moving. They often lose much of what is said during lecture and have problems concentrating when asked to sit and read. These students prefer to do rather than watch or listen.

Between 15 to 30 percent of the students in a class or probably tactile-kinesthetic learners. They:

  • need to be active and take frequent breaks
  • speak with their hands and with gestures
  • remember what was done, but have difficulty recalling what was said or seen
  • find reasons to tinker or move when bored
  • rely on what they can directly experience or perform
  • benefit from activities such as cooking, construction, engineering and art help them perceive and learn
  • enjoy field trips and tasks that involve manipulating materials
  • sit near the door or someplace else where they can easily get up and move around
  • are uncomfortable in classrooms where they lack opportunities for hands-on experience
  • communicate by touching and appreciate physically expressed encouragement, such as a pat on the back
  • prefer receiving concrete examples at the beginning of a learning experience
  • need to move while learning and touching everything within reach
  • do better learning academic tasks after doing some physical activity
  • may increase reading fluency by rotating arms in circular motion while reading
  • enjoy stories with lots of action, adventure, and excitement
  • often read the end of a book or story first to see if it's worth the effort to read the whole thing
  • enjoy creative dramatics and Reader's Theater and acting out stories and events
  • learn by doing; "trying out' rather than learning about
  • use manipulatives
  • may fidget or chew while thinking
  • benefit from word processing instead of handwriting
  • learn the "shapes" of spelling words, not just the letters
  • display what they know in chart form with actual pictures or objects rather than telling about it
  • prefer to speak as little as possible
  • express their feelings physically