Reflection #2 Learning Styles

Learning Styles

         We all experience the world in unique ways, and with that comes variation in the ways we learn best. Understanding these different types of learning styles can impact the way teachers handle their students, set up group projects and adapt individual learning. Without understanding and acknowledging these different ways of learning, teachers might end up with a handful of students falling behind their classmates in part because their unique learning style hasn’t been activated. Part of your responsibility as an educator is to adjust your lessons to the unique group of students you are working with at any given time. The best teachers can cater to each student’s strengths, ensuring they are truly learning

These are the most common types of learners, first is the Visual learners, visual learners are someone with a preference for visual learning is partial to seeing and observing things, including pictures, diagrams, written directions and more. This is also referred to as the “spatial” learning style. To cater this learner using the whiteboard or smartboard is your best friend when teaching these types of learners. Give students opportunities to draw pictures and diagrams on the board or ask students to doodle examples based on the topic they’re learning. Second is the Auditory learners, auditory learners tend to learn better when the subject matter is reinforced by sound. These students would much rather listen to a lecture than read written notes, and they often use their own voices to reinforce new concepts and ideas. Since these students generally find it hard to stay quiet for long periods of time, get your auditory learners involved in the lecture by asking them to repeat new concepts back to you. Ask questions and let them answer. Third is the Kinesthetic learners, kinesthetic learners sometimes called tactile learners, learn through experiencing or doing things. They like to get involved by acting out events or using their hands to touch and handle to understand concepts. These types of learners might struggle to sit still and often excel at sports or like to dance. They may need to take more frequent breaks when studying. The best way teachers can help these students learn is by getting them moving. Instruct students to act out a certain scene from a book or a lesson you’re teaching.

Learning styles are important in that they allow people to know and gauge forms of mental representations. However, the styles should be perceived as preferences by the learners and not a way of dividing the learners according to their learning capabilities. Identifying learning styles is vital in the teaching and learning process. Teachers may use this as a basis for the strategies that they will utilize in promoting optimum develop of the learners.