Presented by the ACCESS Center

What is a “Learning Style”?

• The Goal of this program is to help you understand the different styles of acquiring knowledge.

• We will explore techniques to improve your ability to absorb information.

• Upon completion of this workshop you should be aware of ways to develop less dominant styles and clues to your teacher’s style.

“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” Socrates

Take a few minutes to evaluate your learning style:

web address:

URL:http://how to learn.com/personal.html

“What I hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I do, I understand.”

Confucius

• Three major Learning Styles:

Visual ( Seeing) 60%

If dominant in this style you prefer reading. Images or pictures are created when information is heard or read .

Occipital and

parietal lobes

Linguistic

List key points

Organized diagrams/white space Highlight

Improve your visual Improve your visual abilitiesabilities

Learn the SQ3R systemLearn the SQ3R system

Increase reading comprehensionIncrease reading comprehension

Create visual images to recall informationCreate visual images to recall information

Auditory (Hearing) 30%

Your dominance in this style indicates that you learn by listening. Problem solving improves with talking, you may be able to repeat statements but may be easily distracted.

Right temporal Tape notesInternal dialogue

Ask questions

Musicalbrainstorm

Improve your auditory skillsImprove your auditory skills

Be actively Be actively involvedinvolved

Listen with Listen with an open an open mindmind

Eliminate Eliminate distractionsdistractions

Ask Ask questionsquestions

Kinesthetic (Touching) 10% People that choose this style as a preference learns best if they can touch or involve movement in processing information. Many enjoy acting out solutions and focusing on feelings.Motor cortex (back of must move aroundFrontal lobe) modelspresent oriented charts

Improving Kinesthetic learning

Notice details

Make puzzles or games

Describe your interpretation

 

                        This chart helps you determine your learning style; read the word in the left column and then answer the questions in the successive three columns to see how you respond to each situation. Your answers may fall into all three columns, but one column will likely contain the most answers. The dominant column indicates your primary learning style.

When you..Visual Auditory Kinesthetic & Tactile

Spell Do you try to see the word?Do you sound out the word or use a phonetic approach?

Do you write the word down to find if it feels right?

TalkDo you sparingly but dislike listening for too long? Do you favor words such as see, picture, and imagine?

Do you enjoy listening but are impatient to talk? Do you use words such as hear, tune, and think?

Do you gesture and use expressive movements? Do you use words such as feel, touch, and hold?

ConcentrateDo you become distracted by untidiness or movement?

Do you become distracted by sounds or noises?

Do you become distracted by activity around you?

Meet someone again

Do you forget names but remember faces or remember where you met?

Do you forget faces but remember names or remember what you talked about?

Do you remember best what you did together?

Contact people on business

Do you prefer direct, face-to-face, personal meetings?

Do you prefer the telephone?Do you talk with them while walking or participating in an activity?

ReadDo you like descriptive scenes or pause to imagine the actions?

Do you enjoy dialog and conversation or hear the characters talk?

Do you prefer action stories or are not a keen reader?

Do something new at work

Do you like to see demonstrations, diagrams, slides, or posters?

Do you prefer verbal instructions or talking about it with someone else?

Do you prefer to jump right in and try it?

Put something together

Do you look at the directions and the picture?

Do you ignore the directions and figure it out as you go along?

Need help with a computer application

Do you seek out pictures or diagrams?Do you call the help desk, ask a neighbor, or growl at the computer?

Do you keep trying to do it or try it on another computer?

Adapted from Colin Rose(1987). Accelerated Learning.   Last modified: March 28, 1998 Yannis Grammatis

Additional Theories

Myers Briggs Type Indicator

Multiple Intelligences

Active/ Reflective

Concrete/Abstract

Memletics

“To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” Marilyn vos Savant

Additional information on Learning Styles 

Web sites 

URL; http://howtolearn.com/personal.html (longer inventory check list) http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/learning-styles.html

www.advisorteam.com www.learning-styles-online.com/ www.scholastic.com www.learninginfo.com www.learningstyles.org www.learnstudyskills.com http://crse002.lsu.edu/lac.nsf/guest-diagnosticframe  

BooksMalone, John C., Jr., Theories of Learning: A historical ApproachLawrence, Gordon, People Types and Tiger StripesPerry, William, Forms of Intellectual and ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme