Learning Styles

It is a credit to education that in the past few years educators have recognized that there are many different learner styles and types. These profoundly effect how a student absorbs and retains information. Knowing your learning style can be a big help in deciding what and how to study to set yourself up for success. Identifying your personal learning style is easy. There are a few sites online that offer little quizzes which are fun to take, and which purport to identify your personal style but it really isn’t that hard to figure out with a little self evaluation.

The three main learning styles are visual, tactile and auditory. An individual may have one or more dominant styles. The visual learner absorbs what they see. They need visual clues to help classify and store information. The tactile learner is touchy. The sensory input they need is primarily through the hands. They need their bodies to experience the lesson in order to retain the information. Auditory learners hear the information they need. These learners probably have the greatest advantage in traditional learning settings because they are able to retain what they hear during lectures and tutorials. They are able to pick up on the subtle nuances of language.

Knowing your personal learning style will help when deciding what types of courses to study and how best to prepare for exam and revision work. There are also many ways to make your learning style work for you. Visual learners should make sure they can see the lecturer, collect and read any handouts and look for graphs and charts to support the information given. Tactile learners probably have the toughest time in a traditional classroom setting but there are things they too can do. Use worry beads or a squeeze ball or some other physical thing to create a tactile experience while taking in lessons. Auditory learners can help their learning by recording classes and listening to lectures and instructions again sometime after the lesson. There are many tips and tricks for enhancing learning experiences for all learner types.

Related Links and Resources

• LEARNING STYLES:Find out in 2 minutes – ldpride.net
• What’s YOUR Learning Style? – people.usd.edu
• What’s Your Learning Style? – Edutopia