My learning style
What do you think?
Before you get started, think about how you would answer the following questions.
- What do you know about learning styles?
- Why is it important to identify your learning style?
- Think back on a class in which you received a good grade. How did the teacher teach? How did you study for the tests?
- What would you do first to figure out how to assemble a computer desk you received as a gift?
See, hear or do: Learn what works best for you
Everyone has preferences for learning. If you understand how you learn best when gaining new information, studying for exams or acquiring new skills on a job, you can save yourself hours of time and frustration. Your learning preferences show how your brain processes or translates information. The most commonly mentioned learning styles include visual, auditory and tactile (or kinesthetic) learning. It is common to use more than one learning style, but don’t be surprised if you find that one of these styles works for you better than the other.
Which type do you think best describes you?
| Visual learner: | You learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format, such as through books, graphics or diagrams. |
| Auditory learner: | You learn best when information is presented orally, such as in class lectures and study groups where discussion of key concepts can be heard. |
| Tactile or kinesthetic learner: | You learn best when you participate in hands-on activities such as application activities, demonstrations or physical activities. |
Determine your style
Diablo Valley College in California suggests ways to begin identifying your learning style:
“Think about the way in which you remember a phone number. Do you see, in your mind’s eye, how the numbers look on the phone? Or can you ‘see’ the number on that piece of paper, picturing it exactly as you wrote it down? You might be a visual learner. Or, perhaps you can ‘hear’ the number in the way that someone recited it to you. In this case, you might be an auditory learner. If you ‘let your fingers do the walking’ on the phone, i.e., your fingers dial the number without looking at the phone, you may be a tactile/kinesthetic learner.”
To find out what your learning style is, complete one or both of the inventories — including Diablo Valley’s — presented in the activities section and eSources.