When it came to grasping and understanding sports data, my son was born with an encyclopedic brain. He was able to recite statistics on every major league baseball player by the time he was 4 years old. Not a reader at the time, it was clear he absorbed the information by hearing it and by seeing it. I asked his teachers to teach him the 3Rs by taping into his passion for sports and utilizing his affinity to hear and look at things such as charts and diagrams. They wouldn’t and they didn’t. In those years, teaching and learning were done one way and one way only.
Today, things are different. We now know that people have a variety and combination of learning styles and that teachers can teach to those styles. No matter what your age, school status or work status, knowing your learning style(s) will enable you to learn more effectively without having to put so much effort into every single learning attempt.
1.Visual or spatial learners prefer pictures/images and spatial understanding. Color, mind maps and diagrams help visual learners remember information.
2.Aural or auditory learners prefer sound and musical effects. Sound, rhyme and recordings help aural learners remember information and build skills.
3. Verbal or linguistic learners prefer words in both speech and writing. To make the most of word based techniques, use rhyme, rhythm and mnemonics to access learning.
4. Physical or kinesthetic learners are hands on learners. Touch and movement are key elements to learning as are taking things apart and putting them back together, touchable and movable flashcards and describing feelings of actions while taking notes.
5. Logical, mathematical learners use logic and reasoning systems. Logical learners are motivated to understand the why’s and where for’s behind how things work. Lists, statistics, data make materials memorable.
6. Social or interpersonal learners prefer to learn in groups and/or with other people. Study groups, collaborative meetings, workshops and peer reviews are ideal learning settings for social learners. Interaction is the name of this learning style.
7. Solitary or intrapersonal learners need quiet time and the ability to study on their own. It’s important for solitary learners to define and grasp goals, objectives and plans and why they are important in order to learn effectively.
Most people have more than one learning style and therefore combine several styles to glean the most from information and situations.
One tool that could assist you in defining your own learning style(s) is the Memletics Learning Style Questionnaire. Having a grasp on what kind of learner you are can eliminate the frustrations you are experiencing and lessen comparisons to how others are learning when you understand how YOUR mind was specifically designed!
