Learning Styles
- Visual – Learn through seeing. Learners build up pictures. They like to see images associated with words/feelings and understand new information when they see it happen / recorded visually. It is important to use colour, highlighting, tables, images and mind maps.
- Auditory – Learn through listening. Learners have an internal dialogue. They hear words and sounds and use mental rehearsal. They learn from being told and follow oral instructions best. It is important to use discussion, testing, tapes/music/rhymes and mnemonics, self questioning and role plays.
- Kinesthetic – Learn through moving, doing and touch. Learners enjoy physical activity and talk with hands. Learners need to move around and experiments, acting, music and use of colour are beneficial. It is important to use highlighting, post it notes/index cards and cuttings. Typing notes while paying attention is recommended and using index cards that you can use while walking around is also suggested.
You might relate to some of these statements.
- Discipline: I need to learn things step by step and in an ordered way
- Theory: I need to understand it clearly in my head before I can go out and do it
- Experiment: I like the excitement of discovering it for myself even if I get it wrong along the way and don’t get it right the first time
- Achievement: If I am successful and do well I feel great and I remember how to do it the next time
- Feedback: I am often not sure how well I have done until someone tells me, so I need to check my work with friends
- Mistakes/Failure: It is through mistakes and sometimes even failure that I have learned a lot in life
- Recognition: I get a great boost from praise and remember what I learned when people congratulate me
- Inspiration: I often get inspiration and ideas from seeing others do things. What I see them do is like a spark that gets me going.
- Necessity: When the person who normally does the job is missing I have got in there and done it!
