Learning Styles

Learning Styles

Learning Styles

There are many different types of learners and learning styles. This means that the learning styles of one person may not match but they are the same type of learner.   Many studies have been carried out over the years on how people learn and why they learn in a particular way.  These studies identify different traits and characteristics within individuals that form the foundation of a particular learning style.

There are Eight different types of learning styles:

• Active
• Global
• Intuitive
• Reflective
• Sensory
• Sequential
• Visual
• Verbal

Learning Styles
Active	Learning by doing – active learners, of practical nature, the need to get involved.  Enjoy working in groups and learn to figure out problems by trying	Reflective	Learn through reflection – sitting back and thinking before doing.  They think things through, evaluate the various options and learn by analysis
Sensory	Using a method or a framework to address tasks and solve problems – very Stubborn , sometimes a repetitive learner.  Look first for the facts and prefer concrete, practical and procedural information	Intuitive	Use of more innovative methods.  Dislike repetition and more into impulsiveness. They  like to discover new ways of doing things.  Look for meaning and prefer conceptual, innovative and theoretical information.
Visual	Visual learners work more effectively in a visual environment – through maps, drawings, pictures or spider diagrams	Verbal	Verbal learners are more effective with written tasks, instructions and guidelines.  They like to hear or read information and understand best explanations that use words.
Global	Global learners like to tackle tasks and problems as a whole.  They like to see the big picture first and then fill in the details systematically.  This is called a holistic approach to learning.	Sequential	These learners progress by taking small steps.  They need information in a linear and orderly manner.  They piece together the details to understand the bigger picture.

A number of trials have been developed to understand how people study, How they Perceive information, how they process it and how they organise what they have learned and present for  later revision.

One of the most common and widely used categorizations of the various types of learning styles is Fleming's VAK model  which expanded upon earlier  (VARK) models. The VAK tests is a way of identifying what type of learner you are weather you are a Visual Learner, Auditory Learner or Kinesthetic Learner.

Visual Learner

A Visual Learner manages to learn information better if the notes or class has lots of colour. They also learn best by reading text and allowing themselves to read from booklets. They also learn best if there are diagrams or animation being used to display the topic that is being taught.

Auditory Learner

This type of learner will often listen to lecturers teach. They typically learn best by listening to people talk or themselves. Some auditory learners will record themselves reading to their notes and then listen to there recording will they’re sleeping. They will also sometimes listen to music will they make there revision notes to associate a beat with the words and turn it into a song or read it out with the beat. If they may what to read a book they may prefer to listen to a audio book.

Kinesthetic Learner

A kinesthetic learner will prefer to do practical lessons to learn how to do something. They like to get hands on with what they are doing weather they are creating something from a block of wood or reading a book. They will leave revision notes in random places such as the kitchen fridge or their phone, to learn things in small sections in flashes. They may learn best when doing experiments in science rather than reading out of textbook. If they read a passage from a book they may look up a play reenacting what they may have read.   

How to Benefit from Knowing your Learning Style

Each style has advantages and disadvantages. Knowing your learning style is not meant to limit you, but to expand , for example I have used the link, http://brainboxx.co.uk/a3_aspects/pages/VAK_quest.htm, to find my learning style and I have found out that I am a kinesthetic learner. This means that I learn best by being very active and like to do physical activities. Now that I know that I am a kinesthetic learner I can adjust the way I can learn to optimize my learning potential. Another benefit of knowing what type of learner I am able to identify that I work best when being a team-player who flourishes in group situations and projects, I learn best when working in a team environment.

Having a kinesthetic Learning means that I have many different ways of being able to learn. I can use flash cards and make recalling facts into a game. By simply writing a question on the front of the card and the answer on the back allows me to read through these flash cards quickly with a detailed answer on the back for the question.

I have also found out that I should refer to lots of examples when studying as I tend to make better associations with the examples than just the plain facts. For an example instead of f=ma I can think of a phone being dropped off a two story building.

I also have found that kinesthetic learners learn best in a group of people but unfortunately I find that this does not help me as it often ends up in a group chat about something that has nothing to do with the subject I may be trying to learn. That is why I would much rather keep my hands busy while studying by tapping a pen of a table or throw a ball from one hand to another. I find that these may be the best ways to study if your are a Kinesthetic Learner, But to be an efficient learner you should really only do one of these helpful activities at a time. The reason for this is that it can become to focused on one of the task and then forget about work which on a website says that kinesthetic learner's loss concentration easiest of the three learning groups.

How does Knowing Your Learning Styles effect your Role in a Group

In a group there are many different roles weather you the leader or making the difficult decisions. Knowing what your learning style is can help identify what role you should apprehend in the group. If a person does not know there learning style they can be misinterpreted in a way that could be disastrous for the group, such as a Kinesthetic learner making the difficult decision when they tend to rush into something and not understand what the target for the group is.

In life these learning styles can help develop your skills in School, your personal life and professional life. In ways knowing your learning style can boost your self-confidence will you reduce the amount of stress  and frustration in your learning experiences. If you have a professional knowing your learning style can enable you to stay up-to-date professionally and gives you an edge over your other competitors. So knowing your learning styles can boost your knowledge and in group can exceed any sort of target set by a leader.

Understanding the different types of learners in a group can make tasks simpler and make giving roles to certain people easier because of what type of learner they are. If an individual is good at leading a group then play to their strength and use it to your advantage, but if someone would rather sit by themselves and work hard by themselves well then let them get on with there activities. In a group all people need to be acknowledged so that the needs of the individual and the group have be accomplished.