Unit 3 Learning Styles Essay

Adjusting learning and studying strategies can be a fast easy way to improve a college grade from a B to an A. Through studies of learning styles I have been able to decipher my learning types. I am a visual learner, have an integrated brain, meaning I use both hemispheres, and ranked highest in bodily-kinesthetic and logic-mathematical intelligence.

The learning style survey reflected that I am a strong visual learner. The survey was extremely accurate and has a strong correlation as to why certain subjects are easier for me to be successful in than others. For example, math is easier for me to grasp than literature based courses. Mathematics is comprised of complex formulas and diagrams. Explicit modeling must be done by the instructor (solving problems on the board and drawing diagrams) in order to effectively teach math. This is a direct contrast to literature instruction.

After taking the learning styles assessment it was found that I am a visual learner most of all followed by tactile and auditory. This meaning that I like to see what I am learning, I am able to understand things and later recall what I have seen. I honestly have to say that I do not agree with these results; I say that because after reading and just knowing how I am, I believe my best type of learning is through tactile, I have been this way since elementary school. When you are a tactile person you like to learn and pick up the information best through touching and doing things, you are very hands-on. Versus someone who is a visual learner just needs to see it or read it. Some of the characteristics a tactile person has is completely me; such as I am always doing something, I like to be hands on, when I talk I move my hands sort of like I am trying to act out what I am saying, I always have my legs going or am swaying side to side, like flashcards to study with, and am always chewing gum.

Before taking the Learning Style Inventory, I always felt I was mostly a tactile learner. I would be able to learn in a visual fashion if need be, but I would rather learn and by doing and making mistakes. After taking the Learning Style Inventory, the results definitely supported my initial thoughts. My tactile preference was 14 points higher than my auditory score, but only 2 points higher than my visual. Although I believe I will always will be a stronger tactile learner, my visual learner skills have been improving throughout my college learning experience. Plus, it’s important to note that many tactile learning situations are dependent on visual learning. This means that tactilely learning has been strengthening my visual learning skills.

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.

Upon completion of the learning styles module, I have confirmed that I am a multimodal learner, meaning that I use multiple learning styles and strategies. The main learning styles are visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. In addition, each style has subgroups. For example, a person with visual- nonverbal style can learn by simply looking at an image, and not find it necessary to be told the meaning of the image. Such learners may find color-coding to be a useful tool to retain information (studentlingo.com).

From an early age I found learning hard and in my early educational years I

The poem “Students” by Tom Wayman, shows four different learning styles: The Vaccination Theory of Education, The Dipstick Theory of Education, The Easy Listener Theory of Learning, and The Kung Fu Theory of Education. Wayman is a teacher that has noticed that every person devolves into one of these different learning styles. The four different theory of education are used every day even if we do not know.

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.

Following a review of the Vark Questionnaire and Analysis, it has been determined that preferred learning style is multimodal.

This paper will identify which of the Kolb learning styles best suits me and why I think so. It will also give some examples from my past and present to support these findings. After determining, the learning styles that best fit me and completing an inventory exercise, I have concluded that I learn best using audio and visual techniques in the learning process. I agree with everything this exercise has brought to light. I never knew that these styles were the meaning by which I learned. I have also included examples as to how I see the use and benefits of these learning styles in my career.

From doing the Learning Style Inventory, I learned that I learn better when I write things down and when I have a visual of the information I am learning. For my writing style way of learning, I found I should take notes. When the professors give us notes I should write them in my hand writing. I just need to be able to read my notes because I write so fast some times.

Knowing your learning style is very important to be a successful student and worker. Knowing your learning style will enhance your ability to learn new skills and information efficiently and quickly. My personal learning style is multimodal, but more specifically, my learning style is called ARK. I have three ways that I can efficiently learn, which are aural, reading/ writing, and kinesthetic. These three different learning styles can be coincided so that I learn the maximum amount possible in different ways, which means a lot of the time the information will stay and resonate longer in my brain, therefore sinking in further. It is very important I learn how to thoroughly utilize all three of these learning skills so that I can be an even better student and employee throughout my lifetime.

When we did the Learning Styles: Modality Preference Inventory worksheet, I scored a 23 in Visual, a 16 in Auditory, and a 23 in Kinesthetic/Tactile. For me, I always had to write things down in order to even come close to remembering it. I also had to actually do what was being done to understand. I always seemed to be both a visual and hands on type of person.

Personal learning styles are highly complex and unique to specific individuals. It is often difficult to pinpoint an exact learning style. Though there are different categories, we often fine tune them to our own abilities. By examining our traits and tendencies we create a clearer understanding of how we process and learn information. With careful review, I have developed a specific analysis of my learning characteristics, including an evaluation of skill levels. Based on what I have recently learned and know from experience, I have also devised a structured plan for improvement of time management and study skills.