How do YOU learn Effectively? Learning Styles Lisa Clughen

Academic Support Lisa Clughen E014 DROP IN THURSDAYS!!

Some Key Points of Lecture You don’t just ‘learn’ or ‘remember’ something if you are told it. You need to DO something with the information to ‘learn’ it

Task 1 Fill in the VAK questionnaire (10 mins) (Cottrell, 2001, 215-6)

What are Learning Styles? The approach that you consistently take to learning - the way in which you deal with information YOU WHAT?

Ways of Dealing with Information VISUAL channel AUDITORY channel HAPTIC (KINAESTHETIC) channel.

Group Task 2 How do you remember: names spellings your cash point number phone numbers?

Group Task 3 How might people with each different learning style learn most effectively in ONE of the following contexts? When reading a book? Dealing with difficult material? When taking notes?

Visual Learners Use visual aids: illustrations, photographs, maps, diagrams, videos, films:

Visual Learners Write things down! Draw or visualise subject matter Take lots of notes

Visual Learners Use Colour and DIFFERENT Fonts and different SIZE FONTS to highlight main ideas in notes, textbooks, handouts, etc

Visual Learners Before reading an assignment set a specific study goal. Write it down and POST IT IN FRONT OF YOU “From 2:00 to 5:00 I will read 5-10 paragraphs.”

Visual Learners Preview a chapter before reading by first looking at all the pictures, section headings, etc.

Visual Learners Write typical subject words in colour on index cards with short definitions on the back.

Auditory Learners Study with a friend so you can talk out loud and hear the information.

Auditory Learners Recite out loud the thing you want to remember (quotes, lists, dates, etc.) Talking out loud and saying what they think the chapter will be about.

Auditory Learners Before beginning an assignment, set out a specific goal and say it out loud. “First, I will pick out the most common topic words”

Auditory Learners Read aloud whenever possible: ‘Hear the words in your head'. “To be or not to be…”

Auditory Learners Use tape cassettes (e.g. for lectures, or read notes onto a tape)

Kinaesthetic Learners Memorize by pacing or walking around while at the same time reciting to yourself or looking at a list or index card

Kinaesthetic Learners Study while lying on your stomach or back (when at home!) or with music on in the background.

Kinaesthetic Learners Close your eyes and write the information in the air with your finger. Picture the words in your head. Hear them too. Close your eyes and see it with your 'mind's eye', and 'hear' it in your head.

Main Point: LEARN IN AS MANY SENSUAL WAYS AS POSSIBLE ‘All creative activity, as well as much of your pleasure in life depends on your sensory awareness. Even your ability to absorb and use second-hand information depends on your ability to relate it to your own first-hand observations’ (Fred Morgan in Marshall and Rowland, 1998, p. 6)

REFERENCES Cottrell, S (2001) Teaching study skills and supporting learning, Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp Marshall, L. and Rowland, F. (1998) A guide to learning independently, Buckingham: Open University (Key text – includes a long discussion on how we remember things) O'Brien, L (1985) Learning channel preference checklist, Specific Diagnostic Services, Rockville, MD Klapper J M, et al (n.d.) DELPHI (Developing Language Professionals in Higher Education Institutions), [online], Date Accessed: 26/09/04