You probably know if it’s hard for your learners to learn by listening,
But if they get their bodied up and moving around, things click instantly.
Or maybe they love listening to audiobooks,
But nothing seems to make sense to them when they sit down to read a paper book.
What you are describing when you talk about your learners in this way is their learning style.
1. You probably know if it’s hard for your learners to learn by
listening,
But if they get their bodied up and moving around, things click
instantly.
Or maybe they love listening to audiobooks,
But nothing seems to make sense to them when they sit down to
read a paper book.
What you are describing when you talk about your learners in this
way is their learning style.
By discovering and better understanding your learners learning
styles, you can employ techniques that will improve the rate and
quality of your learners’ learning.
The more teachers understand their learners and the way their
brains work, the better they can be at helping them learn.
Knowing your learners styles of learning helps even teachers
shape their future careers.
Teachers who already have overloaded time tables and
overcrowded classes, it can seem like a lot to add in adjusting
instructions for different learning styles.
The great benefit teachers will find though is that once they
master ways to appeal to all learners, their lives actually become a
lot easier.
Opting for different learning styles can improve classroom
management. The chatty student who is constantly interrupting will
finally have a positive place in the classroom. The quiet girl who
knows all the answers but never raises her hand will feel confident
in sharing her knowledge.
One of the most influential studies found three learning styles:
visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. This was called the VAK model.
Since that study, another dominant style has been identified as
reading/writing, and the model was expanded to become VARK.
The most widely accepted model of learning styles is called the
VARK model, which stands for visual, aural/auditory,
reading/writing, and kinesthetic. In brief:
Visual learners learn best by seeing
Auditory (aural) learners learn best by hearing
Reading/writing learners learn best by reading and writing
Kinesthetic (physical) learners learn best by moving and doing
It is important for teachers to understand how their students
learn, but it is even more important for students to understand
how they, themselves learn.
It can be frustrating for your learners to sit in a classroom and
not understand why you just do not get it. They are not dumb, but
they just cannot seem to make the information click.
It can also be frustrating to be able they learn perfectly well
from one teacher, but struggle to learn from another.
Once teachers understand how and why their learners learn the
way they do, their education can vastly improve.
This type of thinking, called metacognition helps teachers
understand who their learners are and how they learn. It would be
impossible to discover your learners’ learning style without
engaging in metacognition.
It is very common for the learners to have one dominant
learning style, but it is highly unlikely that any learner will strictly
have one learning style. Most learners are a combination of many.
Visual Learners
Visual learners remember and learn what they see the most. This
could include videos and pictures.
Often, visual learners “see” words as pictures or other objects in
their head, and they often use their right brain to process
information.
One of the many benefits of being a visual learner is that the
human brain processes visual information much faster than plain
text.
When studying and learning, visual learners prefer the use of
maps, outlines, diagrams, charts, graphs, designs, and patterns.
When taking notes, these students are more likely to organize
their notes into visual patterns. They might use charts or diagrams;
they might separate their page of notes into different sections.
Many visual learners also do well with color-coding their notes
with different colored pens or highlighters.
Ideas to help visual learners
1) Use colors. Just like these learners tend to color things
themselves, it can be really helpful for them if you color your notes
as you write them or post them. For example, they could highlight
the new studied items.
2) Draw reasoning. Teach students how to draw out their
reasoning (rather than verbally explaining).
3) Use gestures. As you’re teaching, be aware of your body
language. If you include gestures and hand motions when you
speak, it will help your visual learners pay attention and make
connections.
4) Posters. As a project, learners can make posters illustrating
key concepts. Teachers can also hang these posters on the wall
when learners are done as decorations and to help drive home
important topics..
5) Charts and graphs. Use technology to help learners visually
see information by creating charts and graphs.
6) Draw the text. pick out a portion of the text with
especially vivid imagery. Instruct your learners to draw a
picture of what the writing describes. This helps learners
with close reading and understanding of the text.
Logical Learners
Learners who are good at maths and possess strong logical
reasoning skills are usually logical learners.
They notice patterns quickly and have a keen ability to link
information that would seem non-related by others.
Logical learners retain details better by drawing connections after
organizing an assortment of information.
By :Mr.Samir Bounab (yellowdaffodil66@gmail.com )
Learning Styles
Mr. Samir Bounab
2. Social Learners
Social learners usually have excellent written and verbal
communication skills.
These individuals are at ease speaking with others and are
adept at comprehending other people's perspectives. For this
reason, people frequently seek counsel from social learners.
Social learners learn best working with groups and take
opportunities to meet individually with teachers. If your learners
like bouncing their ideas off others ,there's a good chance they
are social learner.
If your learners are social learners, they should seek
opportunities to study with others. They can set their own
learning groups
Auditory Learners
Auditory learners learn best by hearing and carefully listening.
They are volunteer to answer questions and to actively participate
in classroom discussions.
Auditory learners have a great advantage in the classroom
because they are not afraid to speak their.
Any form of listening or speaking is going to be the most
efficient learning method for this category.
)
Some popular methods include lectures, audiobooks,
discussion, and verbal processing.
These learners are typically good at storytelling and giving
speeches as well.
A lot of these learners often prefer studying and working in
groups because they can talk through the information. This often
makes them social learners when looking at the theory of
memletics
A note for teachers of auditory learners:
These learners process information best by listening to it, they
don’t need to look at the notes. It might seem like they are zoning
out or not paying attention.
These learners might also tend to get chatty during class. This
can be great when you are trying to get a lively class discussion or
debate going, but not so great when you need the class to listen
intently to you. Instead of getting frustrated and angry, remember
that this is how their brain works and how they learn. As much as
you can and as much as is practical for your subject matter, try to
facilitate discussions and play into this rather than squashing it.
You should always keep in mind that these learners might really
struggle with written and visual information.
Auditory learners are learners who can answer every single
question you ask in class, and then get an excellent mark in an
exam that’s testing the same information. If you have a doubt that a
learner who bombed a test actually knows the information, give
them a chance to verbally answer the test questions.
Ideas to help auditory learners
Audiobook. Give learners the option to listen to an audiobook-
this can be effective with novels as well as textbooks.
Socratic Seminar. This is a type of discussion where the
learners lead the discussion. The teacher provides some topics to
talk about, and then the learners take over. By sitting in a circle and
having a more laid back atmosphere, more learners are likely to
join in the conversation. Often auditory learners tend to lead these
discussions, and it gives them a chance to shine and be rewarded
for their talking that can get them in trouble in other situations.
Speeches. The often school task that many learners anticipate
is actually often a favorite of auditory learners. This type of task is
where auditory learners feel in their element. Speeches can be
short or long and planned, and they can be done in any subject.
Record notes. You can either record yourself speaking or give
your learners permission to record during your lectures so that they
can go back and listen. You can also encourage learners to record
themselves reading their own notes.
Text to speech. This is something students can do on their
own, but they might need your encouragement or feel better about
doing it if you give them permission. When writing essays, learners
can use speech to text to capture their thoughts. It can also be
beneficial to then use text to speech to proofread and catch errors.
Debate. This can be done at all grade levels and in all
disciplines. Here is a great resource for some debate ideas, as well
as different debate formats for different grade levels.
Reading/ Writing Learners
Would you rather read the transcript or get the information from
a book? Then you’re probably a reading/writing learner.
Reading/writing learners learn best by, well, reading and
writing.
They often relate to the famous Flannery O’Connor quote “I
write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”
Verbal input can often go in one ear and out the other for these
types of learners. For them, seeing notes on the board
These learners learn best from books, lists, notes, journals,
dictionaries, etc. Some things these learners might do to intuitively
help themselves learn are rewriting their notes, using flash cards,
adding notes to pictures or diagrams, choosing a physical book
over an audiobook, and using closed captions on videos.
Careers for reading/writing learners:
A common and obvious career choice for reading/writing
learners is writing, but if this is your learners’ learning style, they
are definitely not limited to writing.
Editing, advertising, researching, translating, and economic
advising are also great career choices that would be a good fit.
A note for teachers of reading/writing learners:
While these learners are often your typical “good learner” they
can really struggle to learn from lectures or completely auditory
methods. They may not respond well to class discussions, and
need some more time to process things that they hear. If you give
them some time to write their thoughts down before asking them to
share out loud, they will feel less stressed and will be able to
process their thoughts.
Every teacher has had that learner who needs more time
before you move on to the next lesson step , even though you are
done explaining and all the other students are ready to move on.
A reading/writing learner is most likely that learner, and when
you understand their learning style it’s easier to cut them a little
slack. Sometimes they struggle to get all their notes down because
they are trying to write down every single thing you say. You can
really help them by working with them to pull out the most important
parts of your lecture and to paraphrase what they hear.
By :Mr.Samir Bounab (yellowdaffodil66@gmail.com )
3. Ideas to help reading/writing learners
Handouts. one of the best things you can do to help
reading/writing learners is provide handouts highlighting the most
important information. It’s also important to give these learners
enough time to write detailed notes..
Essays and reading assignments. These simple, traditional
assignments often work best for reading/writing learners. This is
why this learning style often thrives in the traditional classroom
setting.
Vocabulary stories. Have learners create stories or plays to
make their vocabulary words more fun and interesting. This can be
done in any subject area that has vocabulary words. You can give
learners a topic or let them be creative, but all they have to do is
write a story containing x number of their vocabulary words. You
can also extend this activity to help kinesthetic learners by having
students act out their stories for the class
Think, pair, share
Reading/writing learners often struggle with sharing their thoughts
out loud. Those learners who ace every test but freeze when you
call on them in class are likely reading/writing learners.
Think, pair, share can really help give them confidence to verbalize
their thoughts.
This can be done with any age group and in any subject area.
First, ask learners an open ended question and give them time to
silently think and write their answers.
Then, have learners pair up in small groups to share their answers.
Finally, open the discussion to the whole class.
Often when you just ask a question and want learners to respond
right away, you will only get answers from the auditory learners
because they are the quickest at verbal processing.
This method though gives the reading/writing learners time to
process in their own way and gives them time and confidence to
construct a verbal response.
Kinesthetic Learners
The root word “kines” means motion, and as such, a kinesthetic
learner learns best by going through the motions or actually
doing something.
These learners tend to shine in demonstrations and
experiments. They also learn best from seeing something first
hand, watching live videos, and going on field trips. Even just
combining a physical motion with a piece of information can
help them. They might fidget while they’re listening in class, and
they are much more likely than those with other learning styles
to talk with their hands.
Careers for kinesthetic learners:
Any career that allows you to be physically active and move your
body is going to be right up the alley of a kinesthetic learner.
Kinesthetic learners typically feel in their element as professional
athletes, farmers, carpenters, physical therapists, and
mechanics
A note for teachers of kinesthetic learners:
If you see learners impatience or restless, that does not mean
they are not paying attention or that they are bored. Their brain
just craves that movement to help them make connections. There
is no need to force learners to sit completely still as long as they
are not distracting others in the classroom.
As much as you can, try to connect movement to the concepts
you are teaching.
Kinesthetic learners really just need to move and they can benefit
from active brain breaks. Try to do your best to keep them
active and to allow for movement in your classroom.
If you notice one of your kinesthetic learners just cannot take
sitting in their seat any longer, ask them to run a quick errand to
the office for you. So often these learners get punished for
trying to move and follow their natural learning style. The more
you can find ways to reward them for their learning style, the
more engaged they will become
. Ideas to help kinesthetic learners
Labs and experiments. These types of lessons are common in
science classes, but they can be successfully implemented in
the curriculum of all different subjects.
Field trips. When schools are cutting their budgets left and right,
it can be really hard to plan educational field trips, and that’s
understandable. Field trips don’t have to be major events,
though. For an art project, you could take students outside and
have them draw or photograph what they see. An English
lesson could include a nature walk where students journal or
write a story about what they see when they are outside.
Physical props. Whenever you can, use practical and/or
memorable props. When dealing with project round up , like
Land marks and traditional wearings and eating habbits ,
teacher may suggest to the learners wear traditional and show
the kind of food related to .
Take a stand. This is an activity that is very easy to set up and
appeals to kinesthetic as well as auditory learners. To prep,
come up with a series of questions that students can either
agree or disagree with . This works well for literature and
history lessons. Instead of reading silently, assign students
parts and have them act out the story.
Tableaux Vivantes. Again, this works well in literature and
history classrooms, and is a great review activity. It’s very
similar to charades. Break students into groups and assign
each group a “scene”- this could be from a work of literature or
a scene from history. Each group works together to create a
silent re-enactment consisting of “snapshots” of the scene.
Students pose and pause for 5-10 seconds, and then move on
to their next pose. Once they have moved through their poses,
the rest of the class guesses what scene they were re-enacting.
Demonstration speeches. As the famous quote attributed to
Einstein says, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it
well enough.” Demonstration speeches give students a chance to
explain something
they understand really well in a simple manner so their peers
understand. Students pick a topic, for example, how to put on a
computer. They then give a speech explaining the process while
simultaneously demonstrating the process. The demonstration
portion of this is what really appeals to kinesthetic learners, and it
appeals to all learners because students have a lot of freedom in
choosing their topic.
Solitary Learners
Solitary learners usually prefer working by themselves in private
settings.
They do not rely on others for help when solving a problem or
studying.
4. Solitary learners frequently analyze their learning preferences
and methods.
Since solitary learners prefer to work alone, it is possible for
them to waste time on a difficult problem before seeking
assistance. However, solitary learning can be a very effective
learning style for students.
Tips to Simultaneously Help Learners of All Types
Lessons that can combine multiple learning styles are often the
most effective, as they can reach the most students. Also, since
most people are a combination of learning styles, it makes sense
that activities that combine learning styles are some of the most
effective.
Many of the activities already provided give opportunities for
learners of all types to reap some benefit.
If you try to be creative, you can make little tweaks in any
lesson to reach different learning styles.
Ideas of ways to reach all four learning styles in one lesson
or activity.
1. Centers. The way this works is you have multiple different
stations or centers throughout the classroom and you break your
students into groups so there is a group at each center. Then,
you provide different activities at each center and students rotate
with their groups to each center.
2. Give options. No matter what you are doing with your
students, give them options if it is a possibility. For example,
instead of just assigning an essay at the end of a unit, assign a
project with different options. When giving students options, there
is no need to mention which choices line up with which learning
style. Students will often naturally gravitate toward whichever
option suits their learning style best. Here is an example of 4
different project options:
Write an essay (appeals to reading/writing learners)
Record a podcast (appeals to auditory learners)
Film a video (appeals to kinesthetic learners)
Create a poster or multimedia project (appeals to visual
learners)
3..Technology. Technology has come a long way and there are
so many apps and websites available that can help students.
Physically manipulating and touching a device helps kinesthetic
learners. A quick Google search will reveal beneficial websites
and apps for any discipline.
MEMLETICS
Another theory that takes into account some additional
learning styles is called memletics. This theory takes the basics
of the VARK model and adds in a few different categories.
Memletics includes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic that is seen
in the VARK model, and also adds in the following types of
learners:
Verbal learners who learn best by speaking
Logical (mathematical) learners who learn best by using logic
and reasoning (these learners are typically mathematically
inclined)
Social (interpersonal) learners who learn best in groups
Solitary (intrapersonal) learners who learn best alone
Note that memletics does not include the reading/writing
addition that was added when VAK expanded to VARK, however it
does include the four above mentioned categories.
Within memletics, there is a lot of overlap between learning
styles due to the nature of the categories.
Take, for example, two solitary learners. They both learn best in
solitary situations, but one learns best by using logic while the other
learns best by seeing.
"According to the Memletics model, everyone has a mix of
learning styles, and learning styles are not fixed
So instructors should also accommodate other types of learning
styles by providing diverse learning environments.
Instructors should vary activities so that students learn in their
own preferred style and also can have a chance to develop other
styles as well
As a result, matching and mismatching learning styles and
instructional methods will complement the students’ learning
performance and create more flexible learners in the long run."
Learners and teachers should not think of learning styles as a
box to be placed into.
Learning styles are just one small piece in the overall puzzle of
learners’ learning.
Final Words
There is nothing right or wrong with any of the learning styles;
they are simply names and categories for the ways different brains
process information.
Sometimes it is easier for those with a dominant reading/writing
learning style to succeed in a traditional academic setting, thus
landing those students with a “good student” label.
Education has come a long way and schools and teachers are
now catering to a variety of learning styles.
By : Mr.Samir Bounab (yellowdaffodil66@gmail.com )