Learning Styles
Know how your students learn, so you can teach better!
Learning Styles Examples
Learning Styles
Why should we care?
As future teachers it is so important for us to understand not only how we learn but how our students will learn. Once we better understand the ways in which students learn we can adapt our teaching styles to meet the needs of more students. This is not easy and takes some creativity, but the first step is knowing the differences in your students.
Auditory Learners
Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. An auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of learning.[1] Auditory learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to understand and may have difficulty with instructions that are drawn but if the writing is in a logical order it can be easier to understand
Auditory Learners Usually:
- Enjoy talking.
- Talk aloud to themselves.
- Like explaining things to others.
- Remember names.
- Recognize variations in a person’s tone of voice.
- Understand concepts better by talking about them.
- Are distracted by background noise.
- Have difficulty following written directions.
- Read slowly.
- Have difficulty being quiet for extended periods of time.
- Like being read to.
- Memorize things by repeating them aloud.
- Enjoy music.
- Whisper the words on the page as they read.
- Hum or sing often.
- Like being around other people.
- Enjoy the performing arts.
Visual Learners
Examples
More information on visual learners
Tactile and Kinesthetic Learners
Tactile or kinesthetic learners are those who learn through experiencing/doing things. For this reason, tactile learners may become bored more quickly than other students while listening to a class lecture.
Kinesthetic Learners
Click here for more information on Kinesthetic Learners
Click this link to be directed to learn more about kinesthetic learners.
Teaching to Different Learning Styles
Complex Activities
- The use of complex activities forces students to use each of the learning styles
- Also allows students to approach the knowledge from the way of learning they are best at
Adding Alternatives
- offer alternative activities that replace more traditional ones
- give options for a more hands on learning
- alternate between teaching styles in order to re-engage students more often
Learning Cycles
- use the various learning styles in order to push students to grow in all the areas of learning styles
- use activities that utilize each of the main learning styles
- allows each student to contribute using his or her preferred style while experiencing other styles
What is your learning style? Click here to find out!
Take this 20 question quiz to find out your learning style!