Learning Styles

Episode Breakdown

• 18:40 What Are Learning Styles?

  Originally for Teachers and Presenters

  The concept of learning styles comes from the differences in learning modalities. Individuals have a prefered modality and by addressing that modality teachers and presenters should be better able to communicate with students.

  Several Different Models

  There are several different models for understanding learning styles. Of the various models Felder and Soloman’s Index of Learning Styles and Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences are the most widely recognized. The model that BJ learned in school is the VAK or VARK model. That stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic.

  “Learning styles theory says that an auditory learner will learn things better when they are presented aurally. But there are many types of knowledge which are hard to grasp aurally – for example the shape of a country or how to ride a bike. Just about everyone will learn the shape of a country by seeing that shape, that is visually. Just about everyone learns how to ride a bike by doing it, that is kinaesthetically. It is the type of information that drives how we should present it – not the learning style of the learner.” ~ Olivia Mitchell

• 23:45 Styles of Learning

  Each of these represents a different modality of learning. Individuals generally have a prefered modality or multiple prefered modalities. However depending on the situation or material some modalities are better suited for learning than others.

  Visual

  Visual learners learn by visualizing information and the relationships between different sets of data. They prefer charts and graphs or infographics and can become distracted by too much visual stimuli in their environment.

  Auditory

  Auditory learners prefer hearing and reciting information. They learn best through lectures, podcasts, or discussion groups. Environments with a lot of noise can be distracting.

  Tactile

  Kinesthetic learners take in information by movement. Activities like labs and roleplaying benefit this style. They prefer to be hands on and experimental but have more difficulty with less practical and more conceptual learning.

  Read/Write

  This is more than just a visual-tactile combination, they learn by reading and writing. They prefer to interact with text, test their understanding, and fill out handouts or take detailed notes. They will take notes when no written material is presented.

• 35:47 Settings for Learning

  Social

  Social learners prefer to interact with the presenter or in a question/answer format. They excell in discussion groups and tend to be outgoing. However they may stray off topic in a group or get bored in lectures without some form of social interaction.

  Solitary

  Solitary learners learn best with self study. They prefer to know the material thoroughly before discussing it and may be uncomfortable in a discussion group.

  Location

  Location has a large effect on your ability to learn. Where you are learning may have distractions that impede your prefered style. For example, Will has difficulty with learning in a noisy environment and avoids coffee shops whereas BJ can easily tune out auditory noise but has difficulty learning in places with multiple visual stimuli.

• 41:08 Learning Mindsets

  Active

  Similar to the kinesthetic modality, active learners prefer to learn by interacting with the material and manipulating objects. They learn best with physical experiments and can get bored or fidgety in a pure lecture environment.

  Reflective

  Solitary learners often fall into the reflective mindset. They learn by analysis preferring to think through problems and evaluate options. This can lead to indecision when not fully understanding the material or experiencing information procrastination.

  Detailed

  Detailed learners take in information linearly, in an ordered manner. They prefer concrete, practical, and procedural information. Generalizations can be distracting.

  Overview

  Overview learners take in information holistically or systematically. They prefer conceptual, innovative, and theoretical information. They get bored or distracted when focussing on fine details.

• 44:26 Individual Differences

  Debunked?

  “Rather than concern ourselves with the preferred learning style of an audience member we should think about the modality that best suits the content.” ~ Olivia Mitchell

  Research into learning styles has consistently shown no significant difference in the effect of learning when styles are used in planning teaching and presentation materials.

  Reward for Research

  There is a $5,000 reward for research proving learning styles work when taken into account in designing teaching materials. However, the modalities of different learning styles do exist in individuals.

  Individuals

  The research does show that individuals have a prefered learning style. The issue comes with the use of learning styles when designing teaching materials. The learning modality used in designing materials should instead focus on the content being presented.

  Using Learning Styles

  When learning new material individuals will differ on how best to learn and what distractions have the most impact. As programmers we can use these styles to better our ability to learn and to avoid the situations that will reduce our ability to learn.