3 Different Types of Learners

Robyn Cameron - Existentialist, fire dancer passionate about education, philosophy, music, sports, reading, books, crafts & nature. Shareholder & General Manager @ Hire Education.  I believe success is a journey not a destination.

Have you ever seen your child sit studying for hours on end, only to find that their grades are not indicative of the amount of time spent studying?

Most of us are only taught of one general way to study, although we have five different senses which our body uses to take knowledge in and then process it. Our information base is built from our use of these sensory observations. If we want to learn about something new we shouldn’t only “see it”, but also “hear it, touch it, taste it and feel it”.

Nowadays people will tend to use one or two senses more than others. This means that in order to learn, different people need to stimulate different senses. That sense will then associate that specific stimulation with a memory.

For e.g.  Smell one of your favourite perfume or cologne – it will probably remind you of certain times and events in your life. You can remember those times because when you stimulate your sense of smell with that particular perfume it recalls the memory associated with it.

These tendencies to learn and remember things when certain senses are used are called learning styles. This is a broad subject and one can go into depths with it, but for the sake of simplifying it, this post gives an idea of what the generally known 3 learning styles are.

In order to help your child study smart and not hard see below for the 3 main types of learning styles. Remember you can have strengths in more than one learning style and of course the goal would be to stimulate and learn from as many of your senses as possible.

Visual Learning Style

• Learn primarily through the written word
• Reader/ Observer
• Respond well to visual aids such as mind maps, coloured pens, highlighters, diagrams, pictures and visual mnemonics (e.g. Acronyms)
• Need to see the teachers’ body language and facial expression to fully understand
• If in a lecture would prefer overhead/ board with notes/ notes handout to accompany the spoken information
• May think in pictures

Auditory Learning Style

• Learn primarily through hearing
• Respond well to auditory aids such as recordings, lectures, and auditory mnemonics (eg. Songs and rhymes)
• Interpret according to the finer nuances of speech such as tone, pitch and  speech
• Prefer orally given directions to printed, will do well in lectures
• Might repeat what has been said to store the information

Kinaesthetic/Tactile Learning Style

• Learns primarily by doing
• Likes to touch/ handle objects – will probably fidget when studying or listening
• Might accompany speech with hand gestures
• Likes to doodle while listening, thus processing information
• Will need regular breaks from sitting down for a long period

Once you know what type of learner your child is, there are many different learning strategies that you can try in order for your child to gain the most of their studying. Keep an eye out on further posts for these strategies.

In the meantime there is a great document that you can download from the Department of Education's website with tips for success in the Matric examinations.