Everybody has a specific way that he or she learns best. Learning styles can be categorized into three groups: visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners. Each style has its own advantages and disadvantages and it can be a challenge for a student to adapt to a specific teaching style of an instructor.
If a friend were to point out someone in the hallway, a visual learner would recognize their face before anything else, while an auditory learner would remember their name and a kinesthetic learner would remember what they did or how they acted.
Visual learners learn through seeing the information being presented to them, whether its in the form of pictures, video or written text. For this reason, studies show that visual learners tend to do best in science or math classes. Their biggest weakness is an inability or difficulty in remembering names or information that they have heard.
Junior Carrie Vergel de Dios considers herself a visual learner. “I do well with charts, power-points and pictures and also when teachers give presentations where you can actually see the information,” Vergel de Dios said.
Auditory learners learn by hearing information spoken out loud. They are usually very well-spoken and articulate, with an extensive vocabulary. In general, auditory learners excel in English or social studies classes, as well as foreign language courses. Because of their strong auditory skills, they are often musically talented. However, when they are studying, auditory learners prefer a quiet environment and tend to be annoyed or distracted by other noises.
Freshman Joelle Mushar considers herself an auditory learner because she learns best from listening to the teachers explaining the material. “When I am in class, I listen and take some notes. But then when I go back to study for the test, I read the notes aloud, and sometimes study with a partner,” Mushar said.
The final category of learning styles is kinesthetic learning. Kinesthetic learners understand material best when it is presented in an interactive way. Because of this, kinesthetic learners thrive in laboratory based classes.
Sophomore Helina Daniels said, “I think I am a kinesthetic learner because I learn best when we do activities in the class. For me especially in science class, labs help me to understand what we took notes on.”
Kinesthetic individuals are always eager to get started on a project or activity, even without really knowing what they are doing or how they are going to do it. Trends also show that kinesthetic learners usually have difficulty learning to read, are poor spellers, and have bad handwriting, which is usually messy and written lightly. However, kinesthetic individuals are also generally athletic and adventurous people by nature.
Because kinesthetic learners do depend on learning by action, sitting in class for long periods of time, simply taking notes or listening to lecturing is hard them.
Knowing what type of learner a student is extremely beneficial to them. Knowing if one is a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner, can also help one to make adjustments to various study habits. It will not only help the student in class, but it can also help them on the day of a test.
