Every six months at the company I teach at I get a new batch of students. They’re grouped together based on their TOEIC test result, which is generally… inaccurate. Notwithstanding, the students come from varying backgrounds, have different jobs, and have different learning styles. All of us do, of course. Some learn by doing, some by seeing, some by thinking, and some by repetition. The challenge for any teacher is to identify each student’s style, and try to present effective lessons. As you may have guessed however, when there is more than one student there is a chance for more than one learning style. The key is to create a balanced lesson that can tap into each student’s brain…

I stumbled upon this webpage last night, from North Carolina State University. It attempts to calculate your personal learning style, and offers some tips on how to enhance your learning.

Here’s my result, along with a brief explanation of each scale.

ACTIVE AND REFLECTIVE LEARNERS
Active learners tend to retain and understand information best by doing something active with it–discussing or applying it or explaining it to others. Reflective learners prefer to think about it quietly first.

SENSING AND INTUITIVE LEARNERS
Sensing learners tend to like learning facts, intuitive learners often prefer discovering possibilities and relationships.

VISUAL AND VERBAL LEARNERS
Visual learners remember best what they see–pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations. Verbal learners get more out of words–written and spoken explanations.

SEQUENTIAL AND GLOBAL LEARNERS
Sequential learners tend to gain understanding in linear steps, with each step following logically from the previous one. Global learners tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly “getting it.”


What kind of learner are you?

No related posts.