Image by NEC Corporation of America, Flickr
If you type the phrase ‘learning style’ into a Google search, you’ll find a ton of different categories and names for styles within the classroom, workplace and more. Generally speaking, most people are familiar with the kinesthetic, auditory and visual learner. Most people can identify with at least one of these learning styles.
Auditory Learners
If you’re an auditory learner, you typically need to hear things to absorb the information. It’s common for auditory learners to talk to themselves. They often like to read aloud and they naturally mouth words. To consume and retain information, it’s a good idea to record yourself repeating whatever content you need to learn. Once you’ve recorded yourself saying it, play the recording back to yourself over and over again. This will help the material become second nature to you.
Visual Learners
Visual learners obviously retain information best through what they see. Reading is very helpful for visual learners because they’re able to see the words and remember the content that way. Visual aids are essential for the visual learner to retain information. For example, when the teacher is writing information on the board, it would be wise to include a diagram or some sort of pictorial reference. This will do so much for the visual learner’s attention span and retention of the information. Diagrams and graphs are both great tools for the visual learner to use. If you’re a visual learner and you’re enrolled in a master in public administration online, it would be great to purchase a dry erase board and recreate the notes from the online lectures. Simple strategies like colorful markers and a dry erase board will help visual learners succeed.
Kinesthetic Learners
If you’re a kinesthetic learner, you learn best through touch. Kinesthetic learners need a tactile element to their lessons because they need movement to stimulate them. It doesn’t have to be extremely complex, but little elements of touch will do a lot for the kinesthetic learner. Allowing the kinesthetic learner to type their notes on the laptop will help them retain information better than writing it out in a notebook would. If the presenter is lecturing and there’s no way to incorporate the tactile element, stretch breaks every 30 minutes will be very helpful.
No matter what category you belong to, there’s always a way to consume, learn and retain information. Yes, some of the learning process might involve getting creative and thinking outside of the box. However, once you’ve nailed down your learning style, the sky is the limit.
This article was contributed by guest author Rachelle Wilber.