What are the different styles of learning that are there?
Learning is an integral part of humankind and its life. Human beings tend to keep learning throughout their lives, even if their formal education methods have stopped at a young age. This is because there is never a person who can claim that he/she knows everything and is always up to date with everything that is happening around the world. Human beings have a lot of curiosity that is imbibed in them as a part of their biology. They use this as a tool to learn new things that they previously did not know about. But this learning is not done in the same way by everybody. Even though the information processed and produced might be the same, how it is done differs for almost every human being. Let us know What are the ‘Learning Styles’.
Learning Styles
There are various learning styles that human beings employ to learn more about what they did not know. Concerning students, there are majorly 4 learning styles and 4 additional ones. They are all different in their ways and each of them works differently, thereby helping every student differently. These learning styles vary with each learner and not the same method can be employed by teachers and mentors for everybody.
Every student and teacher has a different strategy that they use to learn and remember what they have learned. There is no single way that a student can learn or a mentor can teach. Even one single person may adopt many strategies and ways of learning and teaching. Some prefer just listening and some prefer mind maps, there is not a single generalized way to target every student.
Here are the 4 major and the 4 additional learning styles that are generally adopted by the majority of the population:
Visual method
This is the first of the four major learning styles that have been found by researchers and scientists. Some students learn concepts and remember them by using visual aids such as graphs, mindmaps, flowcharts, maps, or diagrams. These work very well for those who can remember pictures and figures better than words. This may not work for others but it is a widely recommended and suggested mechanism to remember a lot of things in a quick period. The best way to use this is to correlate the concepts visually with a flow chart. Using different colors will also help in this method. This is also the reason why the kindergarten level has more colors and charts than words.
Patterns and shapes are an easy method of learning and remembering for visual learners. They can relate the concept to the image that they have seen and they remember the concept only through this image. The first thing that strikes their minds is the image that they have seen and have imprinted on their minds. These people can also have a photographic memory of images and have an aptitude for visual exercises.
Auditory method
The auditory method, as the name signifies, is the method by which learners learn by way of listening to the concept taught. This can either be a different person speaking or themselves speaking and listening to themselves to learn and remember. They usually sort through their ideas after they have spoken or heard them rather than thinking about them beforehand. We might have seen people who have the habit of thinking aloud, and chances are, they are auditory learners. Holding seminars and asking students to teach a concept are some examples of the usage of auditory methods of teaching. The learners who use this method can remember things from group discussions, doubt sessions, or peer teaching sessions. Recording and repeating the lessons are also great ideas that they employ in learning.
Kinesthetic method
These learners generally prefer a hands-on experience and they remember concepts better when they perform an experiment. It was found that those learning who are more kinesthetically inclined are more in touch with reality and hence this tactile approach helps them a lot. Personal experience, simulations, experiences, and mistakes that they commit are great ways for kinesthetic learners to remember a concept. Lab experiments and other experiments form a crucial base for this type of learning. The learners of this method can duplicate an experiment all by themselves and remember the concept eventually. When having hands-on experience, they relate it to the concepts in their brains and are thus good at remembering out of experiments and projects.
Reading/Writing
The conventional methods of reading and writing notes are some of the most used ways to learn concepts. These learners can process and remember information best when it’s in the form of words and numbers than anything else. Written assignments and reading comprehensions are their cups of tea and they tend to perform well in these. In cases of diagrams in a subject, they can explain it in words and that way, remember it better.
These are the major ways of learning adopted widely. Students and learners may either adopt one of these methods or more of these while being majorly inclined towards one of these. Now that we have seen the major methods of learning, four other minor methods can be used by students and teachers. Let us have a look at those too.
Logical/analytical learning
As the name suggests, analytical learners use their analytical skills to delve deep into a concept, understand the basics, and remember it thus. They tend to look for patterns, logic, and connections in the concepts that they have to learn. They can be simulated and encouraged by posing questions that require interpretation and problem-solving skills. Based on some basic facts or points, they can arrive at bigger conclusions and remember them well.
For students and learners who are highly logical and practical in their thinking, this form of learning helps a lot as it doesn’t vary much with who they are. Most of the learning styles are adopted by students unconsciously.
Social/Linguistic learners
These types of learners are those who like socializing and prefer peer work or group work rather than learning individually. When discussing a concept with someone, they have a better chance of remembering it than by studying alone. Role plays, group activities, and group study sessions are some ideas to motivate these types of learners. They remember things better by asking questions, sharing anecdotes, and chitchatting a little in between! They have a better understanding of the subject as they socialize so they don’t feel like they are sitting down to study.
Solitary learning
They are otherwise called solo learners and they prefer to study alone, rather than in groups. This is exactly in contrast to social/linguistic learners who prefer interaction as they study. They prefer individual projects and learning. Although this is widely used, it is not very well recognized as it is very common. But these types of learners ought to be encouraged as well by giving them activities that require individual effort. Recognizing the individual accomplishments of these learners is a great way to motivate them and help them in their learning process.
While learning things alone, they might employ one or more of the other learning styles. They might be inclined towards the visual method of learning, and in this case, they can be found making their graphs and diagrams to learn.
Nature learning
Nature is something that many people relate to and feel comfortable being surrounded by it. Since nature is associated with calm and peace, they feel better in such an environment and can concentrate better. Being inside the four walls of a classroom would not work very well with this kind of learner. Rather, being in touch with the outside world and interacting with the elements of nature will be of great help. Teachers cannot hold all their lessons outside of classrooms but they can give some activities related to nature and including nature related examples in their lectures, and so on.
There are many more learning styles that are being employed every day by learners and mentors. Researchers say that there are over 150 learning styles and generalizing one style for every student will not help in their education. It is not possible for teachers to employ all of the styles always either but trying to incorporate activities from all of the four major styles will ensure each student enjoys the process of learning and can be engaged in it.
Most of these (and sometimes, all) serve to be useful to people in very different ways. So don’t be discouraged if a style doesn’t immediately work out for you. Give it some time and then if it still doesn’t work, you can consider adopting a different method!
Conclusion
There are so many different styles that can be employed by learners of all categories, in all fields. These styles are known to help students in their learning process and make remembering concepts easier. They also help students in enjoying what they learn rather than just studying concepts like a machine. To get the best of the learning styles, it is recommended to first understand what kind of learner you are. Eventually, you can proceed with using the correct strategy that helps you.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I be a learner of more than one type?
It is very much possible to be a learner who is inclined towards different styles of learning. You just have to employ all of the methods properly and in the right places.
- Which type of learners are most students?
Most students, as research has found, are visual learners. Around 65% of learners fall under the visual learning category.
