by Miren Zabaleta
Home >> What are your learning styles and strategies?
You might have heard about individual learning styles before. This concept originated in the 1970s, when it was discovered that most people have particular methods to process information. Most individuals have a particular method of learning which seems to allow him or her to learn best.
The authors of the article I read talked about four different categories of learners, each consisting of a dichotomy. There are active and reflective learners, sensing and intuitive learners, visual and verbal learners, and sequential and global learners. Let’s see what all this is about!
Are you an active or a reflective learner? Active learners retain information by discussing, applying, or explaining it to others. They enjoy working in groups, but they don’t like taking notes and sitting through lectures. On the other hand, reflective learners like to think quietly about the information given before trying it out. They prefer working alone.
And what about being a sensing or an intuitive learner? Sensing learners like learning and memorizing facts, are patient with details, and like hands-on work. They enjoy solving problems by well-established methods (no surprises allowed!). They are practical and careful. Sensors don’t like courses that don’t have any connection with the real world. Intuitors, on the other hand, like establishing relationships among facts. They enjoy discovering relationships and they like innovation. They are good at grasping new concepts, abstractions, and mathematical formulations. They don’t like courses that involve repetition, memorization, and routine calculations.
According to the authors of the text, everybody is active sometimes and reflective sometimes, and everybody is sensing sometimes and intuitive sometimes. Your preference for one or the other category can be strong, moderate, or mild. They say that a balance of action and reflection is desirable, and that to be an effective learner and problem solver, you need to function both sensitively and intuitively.
Now, are you a visual or a verbal learner? Visual learners remember best when they see pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations. They like listing points, enclosing them in boxes, and drawing lines to show connections. They enjoy colour-coding their notes. On the other hand, verbal learners get more out of words, of written and spoken explanations. They like writing summaries or outlines of course material in their own words.
The article says that most people are visual learners, although everyone learns more when information is presented both visually and verbally. Good learners can process information presented either visually or verbally.
And to end up with, are you a sequential or a global learner? Sequential learners understand little by little, in linear steps, each step following logically from the previous one. So, they follow logical paths when finding solutions. Although they may not understand all the material, they can do something with it, as the pieces they have grasped are connected logically. On the other hand, global learners learn in jumps, absorbing material randomly. They might solve a complex problem quickly once they have grasped the big picture, but they may have difficulties explaining how they did it or seeing the details.
But learning styles are not only important for learners. The article also recommended that teachers assess the learning styles of their students, and then adapt their methods to best fit each student’s learning style. What do you think?
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Posted on http://www.weeklyletter.com at 2007-01-11 11:00:00 +0100
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Or maybe students who have a particular learning style should be matched with teachers who have that same learning style?
A fantastic topic Miren – especially at this time of year I think – for all students & teachers!
Is it possible for our learning styles to depend on what subject we’re studying? Perhaps I have different learning styles when learning a foreign language and when learning algebra. What do the experts say?
My dad may in general be better than my mom, or mum, in math, or maths, but she is better at explaining things to ME. She can explain ANY math thing by using her fingers to make drawings in the air.
This is a fascinating subject.I think that our learning styles and strategies change depending on the circumstances. Learning to fish as a pastime and learning to fish to feed your family would, I imagine, provoke different learner responses.
Like many teachers I am a terrible learner. I learn best when I am playing. I get bored very, very easily. As soon as things become repetitive, I stop. I like making new combinations of things and trying things out.
That’s why I think it’s important to have education delivered in lots of different ways; books, cds, video, live classroom, games, music, video-conferences etc. I think that teachers, in the traditional sense, will disappear and that in the future we will have ‘facilitators’ who help students learn.
The teacher of the future will be an all-rounder who has expertise in many fields. And the learner of the future? The learner will be dazzled at the opportunities.
Hi!
I think both student and teacher must adapt their own method according with the specific material, because, for example, it´s not the same to study a foreign language as it is to study Physics
Though whatever you study or teach, it is always necessary to have discipline and motivation, unless one have the same luck of Homer Simpson!!
Bye!!
Hello!
Thank you all for your comments!
Yes, I also believe that this is an interesting topic! :-)
Paola, I think that I can’t answer you as an expert, but it seems quite right to think that certain learning styles are more adecuate than others depending on the circumstances (subject, place, way of learning, etc.).
A learning style is never pure, it is always a mixture, and certain characteristics are more important than others.
Experts say that the individual capable of using all learning styles is considered an effective and balanced learner.
I’m afraid this is quite difficult, though…
:-)
Very interesting article, Miren.
After reading all the possible categories of learners, Ithink I may have to invent a new category: all of the above. When I was younger I suppose I memorized things, but I have an extremely effective “photographic memory” which allows me to visualize the exact page number, position of a paragraph, and also the text which I want to recall. As years go by, age is setting in, so that photographic memory is turning into “enhanced photographic memory” which involves remembering things that do not even form part of my previous memory.
In any event, at some stage in life and as Paola says, according to the subject matter, I have used different learning methods. As an American, I believe in practical education and have absolutely little or no faith in degrees or honorific titles which certain professionals offer as credentials. My experience tells me that some people have credentials, others have the education, and very few seem to have both in Europe. Americans learn by practicing our profession, rather than studying it. But I suppose everyone has their own unique method. Great article!
Paul