What type of learner are you?

[HorseManiac]

I was thinking about this the other day and I was really curious what type of learners other people on this forum are.

Here are the definitions if you aren't sure:

VISUAL LEARNERS

* Visual learners learn primarily through the written word.
* They tend to be readers who diligently take down every word.

AUDITORY LEARNERS

* Auditory learners learn primarily through listening.
* They focus their ears and attention on your words, listening carefully to everything you say.
* They like to talk rather than write and relish the opportunity to discuss what they've heard.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS

* Kinesthetic learners learn better by doing.
* This group learns best when they can practice what they're learning.
* They want to have their hands on the keyboard, the hammer, or the test tube because they think in terms of physical action


For me it is Visual Learner. I love reading and would prefer not to have to do any thing hands on!

[Elinor]

I think I'm a very visual learner, but I consider my best retention to be when I use a combination of visual and auditory. iTunes U was an amazing find last year.

[Maniac Craniac]

For me, mostly a visual learner, although I'm also an auditory learner. I rarely ever memorize individual facts and words through repetition. Rather, I tend to have visions of what specific pages look like, in what part of what notebook I wrote what fact down, etc. This works out in my favor when working on foreign language vocabulary, as remembering where I saw a certain word can help me remember its context and meaning. Of course, over time, I completely forget exactly where I learned things, and the facts themselves become crystallized.

[HorseManiac]

For me, mostly a visual learner, although I'm also an auditory learner. I rarely ever memorize individual facts and words through repetition. Rather, I tend to have visions of what specific pages look like, in what part of what notebook I wrote what fact down, etc. This works out in my favor when working on foreign language vocabulary, as remembering where I saw a certain word can help me remember its context and meaning. Of course, over time, I completely forget exactly where I learned things, and the facts themselves become crystallized.

That sounds like you have a photographic memory! How cool!

[FinancialWorld]

I would say my strongest point is reading or visual. Boiling facts and meanings down to a simple form that I can correlate easily to something else. While I don't always remember where I learned a fact, I can usually remember bits and peaces of things and put them all together. It really helps with studying when you figure out which method of learning and studying works best for you. That is why I love CLEPs and DSSTs, you use your way of studying to learn the information needed.

[marianne202]

As a college instructor I'm very aware of these traits in my students. Most people learn through a mix depending on the type of material. Most people learn things like math via visual or kinesthetics. While some may learn things like a language mostly through auditory means. Most of my students are adult learners returning to school after many years of being in the workforce and most have no idea of the type of learner they are. It is very important to understand how you learn so you can learn effectively. Survey's have shown that most primary school teachers only teach one method, usually the same way they learn. This is why so many kids fall behind because their specific learning method isn't being used. It is very difficult to teach things in various ways, but it can be done. It is a shame more teachers don't take the time to do this as it would help so many students realize their potential and not get frustrated with school. There are survey's available that you can use to find out just what type of learning style is best suited to your particular learning needs. Good Poll question!

[PonyGirl93]

I'm mostly kinesthetic, but also pretty strongly visual.

For me it depends on what I'm learning, there are some things that I can figure out just reading about/watching them, but other things I absolutely have to do them myself.

I like auditory stuff, it's entertaining for me, but I don't master things very well with just auditory. I do love to talk things out, though, it helps me organize my thoughts.

This was my favorite part of studying for educational psych, too bad there weren't any questions on it :p

[burbuja0512]

I agree that this is a great question. Many students don't ever think about this and therefore waste valuable study time using a method that isn't ideal for their learning style.

I was a sales trainer for a time in my career and went through a week-long "train the trainer" session which focused heavily on teaching people in a variety of methods to engage all learners.

[FinancialWorld]

I'm mostly kinesthetic, but also pretty strongly visual.

For me it depends on what I'm learning, there are some things that I can figure out just reading about/watching them, but other things I absolutely have to do them myself. :p

For math, I don't really understand the formulas until I actually have to solve a problem. I really like math, but I've found that breaking each formula down helps me retain it. I basically have to find my own way of thinking through the problem.

[Maniac Craniac]

That sounds like you have a photographic memory! How cool!

There is no such thing as a photographic memory, but if there was, I promise you, I don't have one!!!! There are certain things that I can memorize easily, only because memory is an important skill to me and I have practiced it. One example is item lists. I have spent so much time memorizing foreign words, definitions from a glossary or Bible scriptures, that it hardly takes any time for me to get a solid mental grip of a list of items. When it comes to memorizing information in a textbook, I tend to look at things in categories and place things within them, or, think about new items of information radially, like a mind map or a concept map, but in my head, and instead of individual facts, I can often recall the layout of the page and where the information is kept. I'm not saying that I remember 100% what the page looked like, only that I have the general idea.