DaveC426913 said:
The three types of learning are:
visual, auditory and kinesthetic.
I know I am not auditory or kinesthetic because neither of those stimulate retention of knowledge in me.
There are actually more learning styles than that, those are just three often talked about. Actually, the one this thread is discussing, of visual spatial is not the same as visual even. A visual learner is someone who learns well just from reading a textbook, for example, or watching something demonstrated. A visual spatial learner is more able to manipulate objects in their mind, and can do well on tasks that involve envisioning three-dimensional structures.
Also, people frequently lump together kinesthetic and tactile learners, which is also not correct. A tactile learner is someone who needs to manipulate things with their hands to learn well. These can be people who do well in laboratory courses, but can also be someone who just learns best when pacing the floor, standing at a white board jotting down diagrams, etc. The kinesthetic learner, on the other hand, is really using more of the whole learning context. They're the ones who might perform best if they study in the room where their exams are held, because the contextual environment of that classroom aids them in recall. Or, if learning a new language, may be best using it in context...go to the park and teach them phrases about seeing dogs in parks, hearing children laugh, etc. Seeing a picture of a dog in a park might not be as effective, nor would just learning to translate a sentence on a piece of paper.
And, reading through the discussion here and people providing all their various advice on how to learn, highlights the problems that happen in the classroom. If someone is an auditory learner, it is very hard for them, when they begin to lecture, to understand how someone who is a tactile learner is acquiring knowledge, and can neglect students with learning styles different from their own. There is some evidence in the literature I've been recently reading that students with particular learning styles tend to gravitate toward specific majors and professions. This may NOT necessarily mean that those professions require those learning styles, but that the bias of the educators in those fields who also were selected by their instructors' biases could be self-perpetuating this selection for learning styles.
So, for example, when Proton Soup is suggesting that to learn something well, one should read, write, speak, hear and do it...he may very well be a kinesthetic learner, needing the sum total of all those experiences to fully learn a subject.
I am very much a tactile learner. Unless I'm using my hands in some way while reading, it doesn't "stick." For example, if I'm reading a journal article, I'll do odd things like hold up a hand with a closed fist..."Okay, here's the hypothesis." And then as I read through the presented evidence, I'm ticking off with my fingers each major piece of evidence. It may sound strange, and wasn't something I really recognized I was even doing until really starting to learn about learning styles. I might have to read something several times to get all the key points. If I'm sitting through talks and lectures, it might as well go in one ear and out the other...though doodling helps while listening. But, put something in my hands and explain to me how to do something while I'm doing it, and you'll never need to explain it again...it just clicks instantly. I'm the same way with directions. Tell me directions, and I may or may not remember them all. Drive me somewhere, and I'll remember most of the turns, but probably would still get lost. Put me behind the wheel and tell me when to turn right or left, and I will always be able to find my way...and no problem at that point of mentally reversing the directions to get back home either.
One other thing that's worth noting is that there are people who do not just have one predominant learning style. There are some who can learn equally well from reading and listening, and are both visual and auditory learners. Often, people have one dominant learning style that is preferred, but have a secondary style that works for them too, so can be somewhat adaptive to different teaching styles.
