Learning Styles

Tips for Visual Learners

2005-07-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

Tips for Visual Learners
Clues to Style
.. Needs to be able to see the information
.. Difficulty following spoken directions
(prefers written directions)
.. Strong sense of color
.. May be easily distracted by sounds
.. Trouble following lectures
.. Misunderstands or misinterprets spoken
material
.. Tends to think in images or pictures
(even visualizes notes or outlines)
.. Artistic talent in the visual arts
.. Often have vivid imaginations
.. Needs something to watch so may tend
to stare
.. Often quiet or not lengthy talkers
.. Becomes impatient or drifts away when
extensive listening required
.. Learns by seeing and watching
demonstrations
.. Tends to conform to classroom standards
(such as sitting quietly, writing neatly,
organizing materials)
.. Effective in written communication,
symbol manipulation, etc.
Study Tip Suggestions
.. Take lecture notes
.. Underline, highlight, or circle printed
material
.. Borrow others’ notes, compare to own
.. Draw pictures in notes to illustrate ideas
.. Use a variety of colors—in pens,
highlighters, note cards, etc. for
different categories or concepts
.. After reading, review notes or
underlined material to reinforce learning
.. Write it out!
.. Use outlines, pictures, graphs, charts
and diagrams
.. Use a plastic cover with erasable
markers to label diagrams over and over,
or to test yourself writing answers to
questions
.. Visualize spelling of words or facts to be
memorized
.. Test yourself by visualizing main ideas or
questions and write the details or
answers
.. Read black and white text and convert
information into pictures, maps,
diagrams, sketches, lists, etc.
.. Make mind maps to look at spatial
relationships
.. Rewrite or redraw things from memory
.. Look at professors and others when they
talk to help you focus and to pick up on
body language
.. Make and use flashcards for studying
(vocabulary, formulas, condensed notes,
etc.)
.. Use computers to organize material and
to create graphs, tables, charts
.. Study in a quiet place away from verbal
disturbances
.. Make your study area visually appealing

Learning Styles...

2005-07-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Learning Styles

What are Learning Styles?

Each individual person has their own set of ways with which they learn best. Some students find they learn best from a lecture when the professor presents key points in a visual manner—either on the board, on an overhead, or with a handout. Others find they have a much easier time hearing someone talk about a subject rather than reading the same ideas on paper. These two examples present the two key learning styles: Visual and Auditory. But learning styles are not limited to the senses of hearing and sight; there are as many different ways of learning as there are learners.

While learning styles are as varied as the students who come to Western Oregon University, there are some specific categories which people fall into, and there are some specific hints for each category on how to learn more effectively.

The Barsch Learning Style Inventory

To gain a better understanding of yourself as a learner, it is useful to identify the way you prefer to learn. Learning is easier when study skills match your preferred learning style. The Barsch Learning Style Inventory is a short diagnostic test to assess your learning style. You will discover if you learn best through seeing things (visual), hearing them (auditory), or through the sense of touch or body movement (tactile/kinesthetic).

What do the scores mean?

When you have identified your style, what do you do with that information? You need to build on your strengths and address your weaknesses. Most students have one dominant learning style. If you have scores that are close or tied, you can use either learning style equally well. Those who learn to adapt study skills to incorporate all 3 learning styles learn faster and remember longer.

The Visual or Auditory style, whichever scores the highest, is considered the primary preferred learning style. The Tactile/Kinesthetic is considered secondary, even if the score is higher than the other two. This is because we do most of our learning through our eyes and ears, and use the senses of touch, feeling and motion to enhance our primary learning.

What should I do now?

To be flexible to meet any academic situation, you need to use your strengths but also try to build up your weaknesses. Capitalize on your learning strengths because it’s like money in the bank you can draw from. Try to convert study materials to the sensory format of your preference. But why should you focus on things you’re not good at?

§ Not every learning situation gives you a choice.

§ Teachers with a learning style different from yours give assignments they find naturally appealing.

§ Flexibility = Freedom. The more ways you can learn, the more options and power you will have over your life.

§ It’s not clear whether learning styles are inborn or the result of experience. Constant deliberate effort can often change your style. But it will take repeated practice and may even be a little painful at first (like working out at a gym.)

Learners taking written tests are expected to retrieve the information in the VISUAL learning style. All students must learn how to strengthen their visual skills if they are to succeed in college because nearly all college testing is conducted in the visual or written mode. If you do not naturally learn in the visual style, you can get the most help by developing some of the visual learners’ techniques.

Kinesthetic

2005-07-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Tips for Tactile-Kinesthetic Learners
Clues to Style
.. Preference for hands on learning
.. Can assemble parts without reading
directions
.. Needs to be able to touch or manipulate
what is being learned
.. Prefers to study with a pen or pencil in
hand to write things down
.. Benefits from pictures or diagrams in notes
.. Usually don’t have visuals in mind
.. Tends to be less organized
.. Sense of time difficult because they work
better in the present moment rather than
seeing the future
.. Difficulty sitting still
.. Focusing and listening to a lecture without
doing something is difficult
.. Usually takes notes and likes to write on
board
.. Likes to do artwork
.. Likes to piece things together
.. Responds to music by physical movement
.. Often found doodling
.. Learning is more effective when physical
activity is involved
.. Learns skills by imitation and practice
.. Likes to trace words and pictures
.. Often seen “fiddling” with something
.. Tasks that require manipulating something
usually more successful
.. Strong athletic talent
Study Tip Suggestions
.. Get hands on—in labs for example—don’t
just watch someone else do it
.. Use models to study—of the human brain,
DNA, etc.
.. Draw charts or diagrams of relationships
.. Skim through reading material to get a
rough idea of what it’s about before looking
for details
.. Use finger or bookmark as a guide while
reading
.. Write, copy, underline and highlight with
bright colors
.. Trace letters and words to learn spelling
and to remember facts
.. Use the computer to edit and rewrite
lecture notes
.. Take frequent study breaks
.. Write out everything
.. Transfer reduced information to flashcards
.. Move around to learn new things (i.e. read
while walking or on an exercise bike, mold
a piece of clay to learn a new concept)
.. Work in a standing position
.. Study or brainstorm while walking or
working out
.. Study with a friend or group
.. Use a non-distracting movement while you
learn (i.e. tapping pencil, shaking foot,
chewing gum, holding something)
.. Chew a different flavor of gum with each
subject you study
.. Try listening to non-distracting music
.. Use musical rhythms for memorization
patterns
.. Make rearranging items a physical activity
(don’t draw connecting arrows—put them
on separate cards to physically rearrange)
.. Rewrite information to be remembered
.. Act things out (use gestures when speaking,
point to material being read or discussed)

Auditory

2005-07-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

Tips for Auditory Learners
Clues to Style
.. Excellent listeners
.. Prefers to get information by listening—
needs to hear it or speak it to know it
.. Written directions more difficult to
follow than spoken ones
.. Prefers listening to reading or writing
.. Has difficulty reading body language and
facial expressions
.. Can reproduce symbols, letters or words
by hearing them
.. Enjoys dialogues, plays, dictation
.. Favors music
.. Can learn concepts by listening to tapes
.. Often hum or talk to selves or others
.. Can repeat or fulfill verbal instructions
.. Learning phonics helpful to reading
.. Tends to listen first to lecture and then
take notes or relies on printed notes
.. Written information may have little
meaning unless read aloud
.. Solves problems by talking about them
.. Good at telling jokes and stories
.. Likes class discussions but can be easily
distracted by noise
.. Filters incoming information through
listening and repeating aloud
Study Tip Suggestions
.. Study in groups and talk things out
.. Get a small tape recorder
.. Record lectures, tutoring and study
groups (makes a verbal record for
review)
.. Reduce lecture notes to main ideas
(3:1) and put them on tape
.. Read texts out loud or into recorder
.. Listen to lecture/text tapes while
driving
.. Dictate papers, to be typed later
.. Read questions aloud
.. Work out problems aloud
.. Sit in the front of the class
.. Learn by participating in class
discussions and debates
.. Make speeches and presentations
.. Create musical jingles or mnemonics
to aid memorization
.. Use verbal analogies and story telling
to demonstrate your point
.. Read explanations out loud
.. To learn a sequence of steps, write
them out in sentences, then read
them aloud
.. Explain ideas to other people
.. Recite, recite, recite
.. Discuss your ideas verbally whenever
possible, even if you’re having a
conversation with yourself!