Grasping Learning Concepts in Different Ways

All learners have different learning styles. Using materials at the initial stage of the learning process can highlight preferred styles. Honey and Mumford show four learning styles – activists, theorists, reflectors and pragmatists, while VAK highlights visual, auditory and kinaesthetic preferences.

“Just as students have different personalities, they also have different ways of learing (Slavin, 107).” Learning styles are another important factor to incorporate when implementing the best learning environment. Learning styles are defined as an individual's mode of gaining knowledge. The most common learning styles addressed are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory leaners understand information through hearing. Visual learners need more visual aids in the learning process, such as diagrams, webs, or pictures. Kinesthetic learners learn better by using manipulatives or by being physically involved in the learning process. Learning styles is a piece of the “backbone” of differentiated learning. Both are used to individualize instruction to help students achieve the most success.

It is practical to assume that students will do better in tasks that reflect their particular style of learning, so knowledge of students’ learning styles, including a variety of tasks will make teaching more inclusive. A learning style questionnaire could be handed out at the start of a course which, once completed will inform the teacher about the learning styles of the students.

Fleming (2005) stated that people can be grouped into four styles of learning: (Gravells, 2012), Visual, Aural, Read / Write and Kinaesthetic (VARK), with Honey and Mumford (1992) suggesting that learners are a...

i. Understanding the learners learning styles can make my course to be engaging. Flemming (1987) noted three different styles of learning; visual, kinaesthetic and aural. In order to know which method(s) to use to benefit my students the first lesson on my course will centre around discussions on what they already know, the resources they are familiar with, and a learning style questionnaire which will provide me with information on preferred learning styles. Effectiveness can also be enhanced if I adapt my teaching style to give maximum benefit to learners.

Learning styles of individual students vary and as a consequence, learning needs also change from each student to the next (Liew, Sidhu, & Barua, 2015). The “styles” for learning that are widely adopted include the Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinesthetic (VARK) model, developed by Fleming and Mills (1992) include Visual (V), Auditory (A), Read/Write (R) and Kinaesthetic (K) types of learning approaches. The Visual (V) learner learns best by the use of information by visual means (using of charts, mindmaps, and other visual aids). The Auditory (A) learner understands best by

Many people can have more than one strong learning style which is normal and can be beneficial in the classroom. But unfortunately, teachers usually only teach a classroom using one (Harsher tone with “one”) learning style. The one often used is auditory, when they are talking to you and giving lectures to you. The other main one would be reading and writing for when you have to do the work yourself and homework. The problem is that many people are visual learners and kinesthetic learners which is barely being used in a classroom. Think of it this way: Are you going to ask a fish to climb a tree and then grade how well they are able to do the task? Sounds a little ridiculous right? But that's the problem. What person would want to go to a class when a teacher is learning a learning style that isn’t best fit for them? What if a person actually is trying in class, but isn’t understanding correctly so they

To travel more smoothly along their educational journey, it is also helpful to students to have a good understanding of their personal learning style. For example, I have discovered that I learn best by reading, audio or demonstrational video. In sitting through a lecture, I find myself easily distracted by the presenter’s mannerism or style. Having good reading resources, listening to recorded lectures, or viewing technical videos allows me to productively maintain my focus. Others may not be as comfortable with reading, and would prefer learning in a live lecture environment. Knowing their learning style and using it to their advantage will provide the student with the assurance that they will learn productively and stay on track with their goals.

This almost seems like one of those times that discussing something and hearing about a similar idea later is more than coincidence. In an almost serendipitous turn of events, I have spent the week discussing with teachers the importance of differentiation, and more importantly, the adherence to presenting material in more than one way through our professional learning communities. This was along similar lines to Gardner’s work with learning styles as discussed by Hattie in Visible Learning (2012). The connection stems from Hattie’s assertion that not all learning styles are equal and that visual and auditory are more prevalent than others in our society. This is not to say that others are less important, but rather that some occur as strengths

Your child/student took a “Learning Styles Inventory” last week to determine how they learn best. They discovered that they were a visual, an auditory, or a kinesthetic learner.

Education benefits individual mentally, emotionally and physically by placing them in better place than they were previously before. Everybody would agree that learning something new would take place throughout the life. Learning style defined as "A term that describes the variations among learners in using one or more senses to understand, organize, and retain experience" (Reid, 1987, p. 89). Furthermore, Felder and Henriques (1995, p. 21) explained learning styles as "the ways in which an individual characteristically acquires, retains and retrieves information". However, different learners possess different characteristics and different preferred learning styles to perceive, process, take in and understand information.

It is practical to assume that students will perform better in tasks that reflect their particular style of learning, so knowledge of students’ learning styles, including a variety of tasks will make teaching more inclusive. A learning style questionnaire could be handed out at the start of a course which, once completed will inform the teacher about the learning styles of the students.

In school everyone learns differently; however, according to the article The Myth of Learning Styles, “The idea of learning styles is based on a theory… developed in the early 1980’s.” (pg 1.) A lot has certainly changed from the 1980’s as we learn new more material in every class we take. With this being said, someone the scientists referred to in the article “assumed” that learning styles challenged the way of the educational system when in reality, it is simply a myth. Students, like myself, only prefer to process information that they find useful or interesting to him or her. Thus giving us the problems of that teachers may take too long to cover one idea, and students may miss out out on information because he or she did not prefer that learning style.

Learning styles and barriers to learning can be by the VARK to give a profile of learning preferences of how a person takes in and gives out information or Tidwell and Rodgers Practical learning styles Questionnaire. The VARK learning styles determines if the person learns by being a theorist, reflector, activist and/or pragmatist. The practical learning styles questionnaire looks at how people learn by their orientation, whether they are a realistic or creative, by their interaction, are they a doer or a thinker, by how they represent things, either by words or pictures, and how they process information, whether they are a surface or deep processor. There are many other

For years, there have been many theorists who have shared their views on how individuals learn. Such research has determined that individuals have different learning styles. It is important for teacher to understand the learning styles of both themselves and their students because it helps them to relay the subject knowledge to the students. The teacher is in a position where they must be able to assess the learning styles of their students. This means that the students and teachers are both in a process of learning.