Learning Styles and Preferences

Figuring out how students learn best

UNIT 1

Helping students to identify:

Learning strengths

Learning preferences

Distinctive intelligence type

What do I need to know?

The more you know about yourself and

your abilities and the more you know about how you learn best, the better you’ll do in school.

You must figure out what your teacher wants you to learn, and you must anticipate the questions that are likely to be asked on a test.

Personal Learning Modality

What type of learner are you? What model of learning do you prefer?

Different Learning Modalities

Auditory Visual Tactile Kinesthetic Experimental

Auditory Learners

Assimilate information best by hearing it.

Tips for studying and learning:

Recite information aloud. Repeat information several times aloud. Focus on what teachers say during

lectures and class discussions.

Visual Learners

Assimilate information best by seeing it.

Tips for studying and learning:

Read and reread content written in texts and notes

Use diagrams, illustrations, graphs, charts, and flashcards as study tools.

Tactile Learners

Assimilate information best by touching and manipulating materials.

Tips for studying and learning:

Use hand-on manipulation of materials.

Translate data into concrete representations (build or draw something that incorporates the information you need to learn).

Kinesthetic Learners

Assimilate information best by linking the data with movement.

Tips for studying and learning:

Use physical movement to master academic content.

Do “walk-throughs” and “run-throughs” to learn techniques, routines, and procedures.

Experimental Learners

Assimilate information best through active participation.

Tips for studying and learning:

Use experimentation and “trial and error.”

Take something apart to figure out how pieces fit together.

Apply what you are learning (practice a foreign language by speaking with native speakers).