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The following article about learning
styles, When Learning and Testing Styles Don't
Match, will light the way to solving learning "problems" your child
or student may be experiencing.
This is an excerpt from
School Smart Kids Newsletter No. 4.
When Learning and Testing
Styles Don't Match
VISUAL (Seeing)
When the VISUAL style is preferred, the person is actually thinking in images or
pictures. It is as if they have a movie camera in their mind. They take in what
they hear or read and translate it into images in their brain. We call these
people VISUAL learners. When the VISUAL learner wants to recall what he or she
has learned, they simply glance upward and look at the image that they have
stored on their "picture screen". This process is much like going to the movies
and then recalling what one has seen, in order to tell a friend. The memory
process is taking place by reviewing the pictures from the movie and then easily
talking about the story line to someone else. Visual learners speak in terms of
"I see, I get the picture."
In a classroom, the VISUAL learner
performs very well because all testing is conducted in a written "visual"
format. This requires that VISUAL images be made when recalling information.
Good readers read the black and white text and then convert the information into
pictures. This makes the memory process easier. The VISUAL child will easily
conform to most classroom standards, such as sitting quietly, writing neatly and
organizing materials well.
When choosing careers, the VISUAL
person selects those which fit the learning style: architect, designer,
decorator, engineer, surgeon, and those which require a "vision" of the future,
such as CEOs and other executive positions.
KINESTHETIC (Touching)
The second learning style is
defined as KINESTHETIC. This person prefers to learn through their body or
feelings. If they can touch it and feel whatever they are learning about, the
KINESTHETIC learner will process and remember the information quite well. As
students in a classroom, these children are usually quite restless, have more
difficulty paying attention, and can't seem to get “focused " (a visual term).
These learners like to speak about learning in terms of their feelings and say
things like "I feel" or "I'd like to get a better handle on this information."
KINESTHETIC learners do not have
the internal pictures of neatness and organization that visual learners make so
easily in their minds. This is one of the reasons that kinesthetic learners have
a more difficult time demonstrating what they know in a traditional classroom.
Children who prefer the KINESTHETIC learning style are not usually making
pictures in their minds. If they do not make pictures, it follows that there are
no pictures to either keep neat, or to "mess up" Therefore, it is normal for
them not to be organized. A sense of time is also quite difficult for the child
who prefers to learn kinesthetically. Often, there is little projection of
consequences of actions, simply because this child does not "see" out into the
future. They only understand the present moment.
The KINESTHETIC child will excel
in a classroom where book reports can be "acted out" and can choose assignments
which allow them to build projects. Careers of choice include the wonderful
world of athletics, building, construction, dancing, etc., any work which can
involve the body and movement.
AUDITORY (Hearing)
The third type of learner is known
as the AUDITORY person. He or she learns best by hearing or listening. These
people do not necessarily make pictures in their minds, as do the visual
learners, but rather filter incoming information through their listening and
repeating skills. The AUDITORY learner tells wonderful stories and solves
problems by "talking" about them.
The excellent hearing and
listening skills of this type of learner are what make great musicians, disc
jockeys, psychologists, etc. Speech patterns will represent exactly how the
AUDITORY person thinks, i.e., "I hear ya, that clicks, that sounds right, that
rings a bell" etc. In school, the AUDITORY learner learns by listening and can
easily repeat statements back to the teacher. The AUDITORY child likes class
discussions but can become easily distracted. Of the three styles, the AUDITORY
is the most talkative and has more difficulty writing.
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