assignments on learning styles

• ACADEMIC ADVICE

8 Types of Learning Styles | The Definitive Guide

• March 7, 2024

Table of Contents

Visual learning style, auditory learning style, kinesthetic learning style, reading/writing, logical/analytical learners, social/linguistic learners, solitary learners, nature learners, how do students learn best, cognitive factors influencing learning styles, emotional factors impacting learning styles, assessment and feedback for learning optimization, what are learning styles, and why are they important, how can teachers accommodate diverse learning styles in the classroom, is there a single best learning style for all students, how can students identify their preferred learning style, are there other factors besides learning styles that influence how students learn.

Every student has a strategy they use to remember information more efficiently while studying. Some of them take notes; some make diagrams; some prefer to listen to lectures, etc. Since no learning style fits all students, scientists have conducted research in order to understand the way students learn new information best.

Let’s look at the different types of learning they have distinguished.

What Are the Main Four Types of Learning in Education?

We mentioned before that scientists have for years tried to understand the best ways students learn through research. One of the popular theories, to this day, is the VARK model. This model identifies four types of learners: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing .

Most people are a combination of these four styles, but more times than not, they have a predominant style of learning. Each of these styles has a complementary way of teaching. Now, let’s see the characteristics each of these styles entails and how best to make use of them.

Visual learners are individuals who prefer to take in their information visually—be that with maps, graphs, diagrams, charts, and others. However, they don’t necessarily respond well to photos or videos, rather needing their information using different visual aids such as patterns and shapes.

The best way to present to visual learners is by showing them the relationship between different ideas visually. For instance, when explaining a scientific process, it can be done by using a flow chart.

Auditory learners are individuals who learn better when they take in information in auditory form when it is heard or spoken. They are prone to sorting their ideas after speaking rather than thinking ideas through before. Since, to them, saying things out loud helps them understand the concept.

If they are learning a second language or a new theory, auditory learners learn best when information is presented to them via strategies that involve talking, such as lectures and group discussions. They can benefit from repeating the lessons, utilizing technology for recordings of the lectures, doing group activities that require classmates to explain ideas, etc.

Kinesthetic learners are individuals who prefer to learn by doing. They enjoy a hands-on experience. They are usually more in touch with reality and more connected to it, which is why they require using tactile experience to understand something better.

The best way to present new information to a kinesthetic learner is through personal experience, practice, examples, or simulations. For instance, they can remember an experiment by recreating it themselves.

Reading/writing learners consume information best when it’s in words, whether that’s by writing it down or reading it. To them, text is more powerful than any kind of visual or auditory representation of an idea. These individuals usually perform very well on written assignments.

There are different ways to get a reading/writing learner to engage and understand a certain lesson. For instance, it would be best to have them describe charts and diagrams by written statements, take written quizzes on the topics, or give them written assignments.

Other Types of Learning Styles

Now that we have discussed some learning styles that have been around for a while, it’s time we dug a little deeper and introduced some other lesser-known learning styles. It is important to note that not everyone agrees on the types of learning styles, their names, or even their number. Recent studies and theories from psychologists and experts in the field suggest that there are anywhere between 3 to 170 different types of learning styles . Other types of learning styles, based on one of the senses and a social aspect, include:

As the name suggests, analytical learners depend on logic and analytical skills to understand a particular subject. These types of learners search for connections, causes, patterns, and results in their learning. A teacher can engage and motivate these students by posing questions that require interpretation, using material that activates problem-solving skills, and stimulating students to reach conclusions based on facts or reasoning.

These types of learners favor educational lessons that include peer work or participation. Social/ linguistic learners get two things out of this participation: socializing (which they love) and a better understanding of a subject. Teachers can motivate these types of learners by using role-playing and different communication activities , such as encouraging student interaction (asking questions, sharing stories, etc.).

Otherwise known as solo learners, these students are the opposite of social learners. Solitary learners prefer to study alone without having to interact with other learners. Individual work is a solo student’s forte. Teachers can help these types of learners by using activities that require individual work (including keeping a diary) and problem-solving skills, recognizing a student’s individual accomplishments, etc.

These types of learners excel when in contact with nature. A nature learner’s ideal study environment is a calm and relaxing environment. If we had to compare nature learners with another type, it would be tactile learners. The only difference is the nature part of this deal, as nature learners need to be outside to learn better. While learning in nature may not always be possible, teachers can still nurture this learning style in students by assigning hands-on activities, having classes outdoors when possible, and using nature examples when explaining a new lesson.

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Given that everyone has a unique learning method, it would be wrong to say that a specific learning style is the best way to go. However, understanding your or your child’s style of learning is very important.

Since the way someone best consumes information can be a deciding factor in their academic success, understanding what kind of learner they are is vital. You can do this by trying all four methods of learning and then deciding which one helps you remember best. Once you know what kind of style fits you, you can tailor your studies to fit your needs.

Additional Insights into Learning Styles

Understanding learning styles encompasses a broader spectrum beyond just the VARK model, delving into cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors influencing how individuals prefer to learn. 

Cognitive styles, such as sequential versus global processing, contribute significantly to learning preferences. Sequential learners thrive on step-by-step instruction, while global learners prefer grasping the big picture first. Factors like attention span, memory capacity, and processing speed also shape learning preferences.

Emotional elements, including motivation and self-esteem, play a crucial role in individuals engaging with different learning styles. Students with high confidence and motivation may readily explore various learning approaches, while those with lower self-esteem might stick to familiar methods. 

Moreover, the learning environment, encompassing aspects like noise level, lighting, and physical comfort, can significantly impact receptiveness to different learning styles. Flexibility in the environment, such as offering study location choices or adjusting classroom setups, helps accommodate diverse preferences.

Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learning Styles

Personalized strategies tailored to individual learning styles can enhance engagement and comprehension in teaching. Teachers can provide various learning materials, allow students to choose assignments, or offer alternative assessment methods to cater to varied preferences. 

Integrating technology, such as interactive multimedia presentations or online forums, further supports different learning modes. Collaborative learning opportunities, including group activities and peer tutoring, benefit students with social or linguistic learning preferences by fostering interaction and discussion. Conversely, solitary learners may thrive in environments where they can work independently.

Continuous assessment and feedback mechanisms are integral in identifying students’ preferred learning styles and adjusting instructional strategies accordingly. Regular feedback enables students to reflect on their learning processes and refine study habits based on their unique styles. 

Moreover, professional development programs for educators can provide training on recognizing and accommodating diverse learning styles in the classroom. Teachers can learn effective instructional strategies tailored to different preferences and gain insights into creating inclusive learning environments. 

By embracing the multifaceted nature of learning styles, educators can cultivate environments that cater to the diverse needs of all students.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Learning styles refer to individual preferences and approaches to acquiring knowledge. Understanding one’s learning style can enhance comprehension and academic success by tailoring study methods to fit individual needs.

Teachers can accommodate diverse learning styles by offering a variety of learning materials, allowing for student choice in assignments, integrating technology, fostering collaborative learning opportunities, and providing personalized feedback and support.

No, there is no single best learning style for all students. Every individual has a unique learning method that suits them best. It’s essential to explore different learning styles and determine which one works most effectively for each student.

Students can identify their preferred learning style by experimenting with different study methods, such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing techniques. Reflecting on which methods result in better comprehension and retention can help determine their preferred style.

Yes, besides learning styles, other factors such as cognitive abilities, emotional factors like motivation and self-esteem, environmental conditions, and teaching methods also influence how students learn. It’s essential to consider these factors holistically when designing educational strategies.

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Learning Styles

The models, myths and misconceptions – and what they mean for your learning.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

It's tempting to try to pin down one "perfect" way of learning. But it can also be dangerous.

Everyone's approach to learning is based on a complex mix of strengths and preferences. And we absorb and apply new concepts, skills and information in different ways at different times.

So, however helpful it would be to find out how each of us does it "best," there are many reasons why even asking the question is far from straightforward.

After all, how we learn depends a great deal on what we're learning. And our preferred learning techniques might not, in fact, be the most useful. Despite this, many scientists, psychologists and education experts have tried to identify distinct, innate "learning styles."

But serious doubts have arisen about some of the most popular models – especially the ways in which they have been applied. There are even concerns that the "labels" they produce might actually limit people's learning.

In this article, we look at how the key learning styles theories were developed, and explore their intentions and limitations. We also show why it's still valuable to understand your personal approach to learning – even if there's no single, "magic bullet" solution for any of us.

What Are Learning Styles?

The notion that everyone has their own learning style became popular in the 1970s. It's an attractive thought: if each of us could identify one, "ideal" approach to learning, we'd be able to focus on it – and be consistently successful.

What's more, by understanding other people's needs, we'd know how best to support them to learn. It could revolutionize education, training and L&D, and help all of us to reach our full potential as learners.

Before we explain why many experts now have little faith in learning styles, let's explore how some of the original ideas came about.

Learn more about the theories behind learning styles – and their drawbacks and limitations.

Different Learning Styles: 6 Influential Models and Theories

1. david kolb and experiential learning.

David Kolb's model of "experiential learning" stated that we learn continually, and, in the process, build particular strengths. Those strengths were said to give rise to personal preferences, which Kolb described in terms of four learning styles: Accommodating , Converging , Diverging , and Assimilating .

As Kolb saw it, Accommodators were "hands-on" types, keen to learn from real experience.

Convergers were supposed to deal better with abstract ideas, but still liked to end up with concrete results. They understood theories, but wanted to test them out in practice.

Divergers tended to use personal experiences and practical ideas to formulate theories that they could apply more widely.

And Assimilators , according to Kolb, were most comfortable working with abstract concepts. They extended their understanding by developing new theories of their own.

Kolb said that it was beneficial to know which type of learner you were, in order to "play to your strengths." He also believed that educators and trainers could tailor their teaching methods to different people's learning styles.

2. Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles

Peter Honey and Alan Mumford developed Kolb's model by focusing on how learning is used in practice, particularly at work. They identified four new learning styles: Activist , Pragmatist , Reflector , and Theorist – using terms that we might naturally pick to describe ourselves and our colleagues.

To find out more about Kolb's model, and about Honey and Mumford's Learning Styles, see our article on the 4MAT approach to learning.

3. Anthony Gregorc's Mind Styles

Anthony Gregorc and Kathleen Butler went into more detail about how we think, and how this might affect the way we learn.

This theory put us all on a spectrum between concrete and abstract thinking, and between sequential and random ordering of our thoughts.

• Concrete perceptions happen through the senses, while abstract perceptions deal with ideas.
• Sequential thinking arranges information in a logical, linear way, while a random approach is multidirectional and unpredictable.

In Gregorc's model, our strengths and weaknesses in each of these areas determined our individual learning style.

4. 4 Learning Styles (VARK)

Educational psychologist Walter Burke Barbe and his colleagues proposed three "modalities" of learning: Visual , Auditory , and Kinesthetic (movement and touch). These were often referred to simply as VAK.

A variation on the acronym, developed by New Zealand-based teacher Neil D. Fleming, is VARK® , or visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. You can find out more about both VAK and VARK in our article, VAK Learning Styles .

Visual Learning Style

A visually-dominant learner absorbs and retains information better when it is presented in, for example, pictures, diagrams and charts.

Auditory Learning Style

An auditory-dominant learner prefers listening to what is being presented. They respond best to voices, for example, in a lecture or group discussion. Hearing their own voice repeating something back to a tutor or trainer is also helpful.

Reading/Writing Learning Style

People with a dominant reading-and-writing learning style take in new information best when they read it as words and text. They're often good at summarizing information in written notes.

Kinesthetic Learning Style

A kinesthetic-dominant learner prefers a physical experience. They like a "hands-on" approach and respond well to being able to touch or feel an object or learning prop.

Barbe was clear that everyone had strengths, weaknesses and preferences in each of the VAK modalities. The most effective learning, he said, utilized all three in combination. He said that the mix we achieved depended on many factors, and would likely change over time.

The VAK model was popular and widely applied. But, like some of the earlier models, it became associated with a fixed outlook on learning. Many people took it to mean that learners could be classified by a single modality – as a "visual learner," for example – with little room for maneuver. And there was confusion over whether the VAK definition referred to someone's innate abilities, their personal preferences, or both.

5. The Learning Styles Task Force

In the 1980s, American educationalists were still trying to find out as much as they could about learning styles, to help classroom teachers to achieve the best possible results.

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) formed a research "task force," and proposed additional factors that might affect someone's ability to learn. These included the way study was organized, levels of motivation, and even the time of day when learning took place.

They divided learning styles into three categories: Cognitive , Affective and Physiological .

• Cognitive: how we think, how we organize and retain information, and how we learn from our experiences.
• Affective: our attitudes and motivations, and how they impact our approach to learning.
• Physiological: a variety of factors based on our health, well-being, and the environment in which we learn.

6. The Index of Learning Styles™

Various related questionnaires and tests quickly came into use, aimed at helping people to identify their personal learning style. One of the most popular was based on The Index of Learning Styles™ , developed by Dr Richard Felder and Barbara Soloman in the late 1980s.

The questionnaire considered four dimensions: Sensory/Intuitive , Visual/Verbal , Active/Reflective , and Sequential/Global . The theory was that we're all somewhere on a "continuum" for each of them. Neither extreme was said to be "good" or "bad." Instead, we'd do best by drawing on both ends of the spectrum.

Questionnaires like this promised to define anyone's learning style, so that they could address any "imbalances," and learn in the ways that would benefit them most.

Criticisms of Learning Styles

These and other theories about learning styles have become extremely popular and widespread. However, a growing body of research has challenged many of their claims.

Let's look at the four key criticisms that have been leveled against them:

1. The Science Isn't Strong Enough

We may express our preferences about how we learn, but they're not necessarily an accurate reflection of how our brains work. According to neuroscientist Susan Greenfield , the idea that we can be defined as purely visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners is "nonsense." That's because, she says, "humans have evolved to build a picture of the world through our senses working in unison, exploiting the immense interconnectivity that exists in the brain."

A study by Massa and Mayer also found little difference in learning outcomes when they matched their test subjects' preferences (visual or verbal) to the learning materials they were given.

2. Learning Styles Change

Attempts to "diagnose" someone's learning style once and for all will likely fail. As Eileen Carnell and Caroline Lodge explain in their book " Effective Learning ," an individual's learning method will be different in different situations, and likely change over time.

3. Strengths and Preferences Are Not the Same

An influential piece of research published in the Journal of Educational Psychology revealed big differences between people's assessed strengths, and how they actually tackled learning tasks in practice. For example, someone who scores better in tests after hearing the information might still choose to learn by reading – simply because they enjoy that style of learning more.

4. Teaching to Particular Learning Styles Doesn't Work

For psychologist Scott Lilienfeld, the idea that "students learn best when teaching styles are matched to their learning styles" is one of the " 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology ." This, he says, "encourages teachers to teach to students' intellectual strengths rather than their weaknesses," limiting their learning as a result.

Using Learning Styles to Improve Learning

Despite the criticisms we've outlined, some of the ideas that underpin learning styles theories still have value – especially the emphasis on metacognition: "thinking about thinking."

One influential collection of research cast doubt on specific learning styles models, but was still positive about metacognition. And metacognition has been shown to improve educational outcomes – leading the Education Endowment Foundation to recommend it as a key teaching and learning tool.

Analyzing our thinking can help us to plan learning strategies that work for us. It can support us to become more organized in our studies, to use prior knowledge as the foundation for new learning, and to choose effective methods for different learning tasks.

Plus, by examining our strengths and weaknesses, we can make the most of any aspects of learning that "come naturally" and that we enjoy, while also working on the areas that might be holding us back.

If you're eager to improve your personal approach to learning, here are three key steps to take:

1. See the Big Picture

Do everything you can to gain a rounded picture of your learning. Look at all the different reasons why you tend to tackle learning the way you do.

And, when you're in the process of learning, ask yourself why you're doing it a particular way. Is it because it's the most effective for you, or simply because it's what you've always done?

Be wary of definitive judgments. Instead, consider different scenarios, and try to differentiate between how you like to learn, and how you learn best – in a variety of learning situations.

2. Identify Your Strengths

Highlight the types of learning that work best for you, and the conditions for learning that support them. For instance, you might be more of an active learner, who operates best in groups.

Keep doing the things that give the best results, to keep your learning fast and effective – and look for ways to improve them even more.

But also leave room to practice and strengthen any learning behaviors that you find more difficult.

3. Work on Your Weaknesses

You can often improve areas of your learning that are letting you down simply by using them more.

If you feel that you're not confident learning visually, for example, get into the habit of reading the charts and diagrams in an article before grappling with the ideas in the text.

Or, if you're an independent learner by nature, make a point of involving others in your problem-solving from time to time.

Also, actively look for opportunities to try out new ways to learn. You might be surprised about what works – and about the new elements of learning that you enjoy.

How to Help Other People to Learn

Becoming more aware of your own strengths and preferences helps you to appreciate and cater for the diverse ways in which others learn, too.

For example, when you're giving a presentation, chairing a meeting, or leading a training session, avoid leaning too heavily on the approach that you would enjoy yourself.

Remember that some learners will benefit from visual aids, while others will rely on listening to what you say, or on watching your body language. Back up abstract theories with real-life examples. Spend time discussing small details as well as outlining large-scale ideas.

You can't always cater for everyone, but you can better engage your audience by allowing for different approaches to learning. If nothing else, your varied approach will keep people energized and alert!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the kinesthetic learning style.

A learner with a preference for the kinesthetic learning style prefers a physical experience. They like a "hands-on" approach and respond well to being able to touch or feel an object or learning prop.

Can you have two learning styles?

Yes. Or more than two. Very few people, if any, are completely reliant on one learning style. They may favor, say, visual learning, but still be able to learn by reading and writing.

• "Learning Styles" theories attempted to define people by how they learn – based on individual strengths, personal preferences, and other factors such as motivation and favored learning environment.
• Many different Learning Styles models were developed, but even the most popular ones have now been called into question. The main criticisms are that they are unscientific, inflexible, and ineffective in practice.
• However, it's still worth using metacognition – "thinking about thinking" – to work out what does help you to learn. That way, you can play to your strengths, develop any weaker areas, and create the best conditions for learning.
• This level of awareness can also help you to communicate with greater impact, and to support other people to learn.

Butler, K. A. (1988). ' It's All In Your Mind ,' Columbia, CT: Learner's Dimension.

Carnell, E. and Lodge, C. (2002). ' Supporting Effective Learning ,' London: Paul Chapman Publishing.

Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning Styles and Pedagogy in Post-16 Learning: a Systematic and Critical Review. LSRC Reference, Learning & Skills Research Center, London. Available here .

Education Endowment Foundation (2018). Metacognition and Self-Regulation [online]. Available here . [Accessed November 13, 2019.]

Felder & Soloman. Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire [online]. Available here . [Accessed November 1, 2019.]

Henry, J. (2007). Professor Pans "Learning Style" Teaching Method [online]. Available here . [Accessed November 1, 2019.]

Honey, P., & Mumford, A. (1982). ' The Manual of Learning Styles .' Maidenhead: Peter Honey.

Keefe, J. W. (1985). 'Assessment of Learning Style Variables: the NASSP Task Force Model,' Theory into Practice , 24(2), 138-144. Available here .

Kolb, David A. (2015). ‘ Experiential Learning ' (2nd ed.), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Krätzig, G. P. and Arbuthnott, K. D. (2006). 'Perceptual learning style and learning proficiency: a test of the hypothesis,' Journal of Educational Psychology , 98(1), 238-246. Available here .

Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2010). ' 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology ,' Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Massa, L. J., & Mayer, R. E. (2006). 'Testing the ATI hypothesis: Should multimedia instruction accommodate verbalizer-visualizer cognitive style?' Learning and Individual Differences , 16(4), 321-335. Available here .

Pashler, H. et al. (2008). ‘Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence,’ Psychological Science in the Public Interest , 9(3), 105-19. Available here .

VARK is a registered trademark of Vark Learn Ltd., see www.vark-learn.com .

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Understanding Learning Styles

The idea of learning styles began in the 1970s, where a growing literature and industry posited that learners have specific, individualized ways of learning that work best for them. This Teaching Tip discusses the distinction between learning styles and learning preferences, and summarizes the Solomon-Felder index of learning styles.

The research on learning styles

There are many different theories of learning styles, including ones that classify people as visual, auditory, or tactile learners, or ones that outline different cognitive approaches people take in their learning.

However, there is virtually no evidence that supports that individuals have learning styles, nor that when taught in a way that “meshes” with their learning style that there is greater learning. A group of psychologists reviewed the literature and in their report:  Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence . They state that while there have been studies done on how individuals can have preferences for learning, almost none of the studies employed rigorous research designs that would demonstrate that people benefit if they are instructed in a way that matches their learning style (Pashler, et al., 2008).

In the study,  Matching Learning Style to Instruction Method: Effects on Comprehension , Rogowsky and colleagues (2015) conducted an experimental test of the meshing hypothesis, which is the hypothesis that providing instruction based on individuals’ preferred learning styles improves learning. They found that matching the type of instruction to learning style did not make a difference on students’ comprehension of material. Furthermore, certain teaching strategies are best suited for all learners depending on the material that is being taught. For example, learning how to make dilutions in a chemistry course requires a hands-on experiential approach, even if you have a preference to learn from reflection.

Important considerations when using learning styles

Learning style preferences refer to the “characteristic strengths and preferences in the ways [people] take in and process information” (Felder, 1996). Felder (2020) stresses the following when understanding and applying learning styles:

• Learning styles are  not  pairs of strict either-or categories. People can shift between preferences depending on the context and how strong their preference is.
• Learning styles are  not fixed and can change over time alongside lived and professional experiences.
• All learning style preferences are likely represented in your classroom. Instruction should routinely address all categories of the learning style model rather than focus on only one.
• Learning styles should  not be used to determine a students' major or profession. Learning style preferences provide no indication of what students are or are not capable of.

According to Felder (2020), the optimal balance of instruction " depends on the subject, the level of the course, the prior knowledge of the students, and the familiarity of the instructor with alternative teaching strategies...When that balance is achieved, all students are taught sometimes in their preferred categories, so they are not too uncomfortable to learn, and sometimes in their less preferred categories, so they can build critically important skills they might never acquire from matched instruction." (Felder, 2020)

Soloman-Felder Model

The Soloman-Felder model of learning styles incorporates most of the major approaches to understanding learning preferences and is designed for use with college and university students to self-test their learning preferences. " A learning style model is a small set of learning style dimensions selected to provide instructors with a useful— but not all-encompassing—collection of guidelines for designing instruction " (Felder, 2020).  Each of the four scales of the Soloman-Felder index of learning styles has two opposite preferences. Everyone uses all preferences at different times, but not usually with equal levels of confidence. 

The active/reflective scale: How do you prefer to process information?

The sensing/intuitive scale: how do you prefer to take in information, the visual/verbal scale: how do you prefer information to be presented, the sequential/global scale: how do you prefer to organize information.

Adapted from: Felder, R. (1996).  Matters of Style . ASEE Prism, December, pp. 18-23. See also : Felder, R. & Soloman, B. (2002)  Index of Learning Styles Page .

Learning strategies for your students

• Compensate for lack of discussion by scheduling regular meetings with advising faculty member or seek out other students interested in same or similar topics and organise discussion groups
• When developing your work to assess, find creative ways to use the material learned
• Talk about material learned with family and friends
• Schedule time to reflect on material
• Don’t just read – stop periodically to review the material and think of possible questions or applications
• Write short summaries of materials read
• Use reflective writing tasks (i.e., journals)
• Make connections to the real world
• Seek out specific examples of concepts and procedures
• Brainstorm about real world connections with your advising faculty member, other students, family, or friends
• Seek out interpretation and theory to link together facts
• Try to find theoretical connections to material learned
• Discuss theories and interpretations with your advising faculty member
• Take care not to miss the details when producing work to assess
• Seek out diagrams, graphs, sketches, schematics, photographs, flow charts, or other visual representations of material
• Review videos and animations of material
• Organize material into a concept map (or flow chart)
• Colour code your notes
• Write summaries and outlines of material 
• Convert diagrams, graphs, etc., into written descriptions
• Meet with advising faculty member regularly to discuss material
• Organise discussion groups with other students
• Explain material to family and friend
• Learn material in steps
• Ask advising faculty member to fill in any skipped steps when explaining information
• Take time to organize material in a logical order: themes, chronological, steps, etc.
• Try to strengthen global skills by relating new topics to material already learned
• Generate the big picture before trying to master details
• Seek out general review articles that summarize literature before reading individual research papers
• Skim through headings/subheadings before you read material carefully
• Instead of spending a little time on a subject daily, try to schedule larger blocks of time less often to immerse yourself in the subject
• Find connections to material already learned

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

Felder, R. (1996).  Matters of Style . ASEE Prism, December, pp. 18-23 Felder, R. & Soloman, B. (2002).  Learning Styles and Strategies .

Felder, R. (2020). “Opinion: Uses, Misuses, and Validity of Learning Styles.”  Advances in Engineering Education, 8(1). https://www.engr.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/drive/1tKCP5oEAV5VV4Yb97j-IG_geuBxCQqB6/2020-AEE%20Learning%20Styles%20Opinion%20Piece.pdf

Massa, L. & Mayer, R. (2006). Testing the ATI hypothesis: Should multimedia instruction accommodate verbalizer-visualizer cognitive style?. Learning and Individual Differences - LEARN INDIVID DIFFER. 16. 321-335. 10.1016/j.lindif.2006.10.001. 

Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence.  Psychological Science in the Public Interest Report, 9 (3). 

Rogowsky, B. A., Calhoun, B. M., Tallal, P. (2015). Matching learning style to instructional method: Effects on comprehension.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 107 (1), 64-78.

Weale, S. (2017, March 13). Teachers must ditch 'neuromyth' of learning styles, say scientists.  The Guardian.  https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-neuromyth-learning-styles-scientists-neuroscience-education

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The 7 main types of learning styles (and how to teach to them), share this article.

Understanding the 7 main types of learning styles and how to teach them will help both your students and your courses be more successful.

When it comes to learning something new, we all absorb information at different rates and understand it differently too. Some students get new concepts right away; others need to sit and ponder for some time before they can arrive at similar conclusions.

Why? The answer lies in the type of learning styles different students feel more comfortable with. In other words, we respond to information in different ways depending on how it is presented to us.

Clearly, different types of learning styles exist, and there are lots of debates in pedagogy about what they are and how to adapt to them.

For practical purposes, it’s recommended to ensure that your course or presentation covers the 7 main types of learning.

In this article, we’ll break down the 7 types of learning styles, and give practical tips for how you can improve your own teaching styles , whether it’s in higher education or an online course you plan to create on the side.

Skip ahead:

What are the 7 types of learning styles?

How to accommodate different types of learning styles online.

• How to help students understand their different types of learning styles

How to create an online course for all

In the academic literature, the most common model for the types of learning you can find is referred to as VARK.

VARK is an acronym that stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading & Writing, and Kinesthetic. While these learning methods are the most recognized, there are people that do not fit into these boxes and prefer to learn differently. So we’re adding three more learning types to our list, including Logical, Social, and Solitary.

Visual learners

Visual learners are individuals that learn more through images, diagrams, charts, graphs, presentations, and anything that illustrates ideas. These people often doodle and make all kinds of visual notes of their own as it helps them retain information better. 

When teaching visual learners, the goal isn’t just to incorporate images and infographics into your lesson. It’s about helping them visualize the relationships between different pieces of data or information as they learn. 

Gamified lessons are a great way to teach visual learners as they’re interactive and aesthetically appealing. You should also give handouts, create presentations, and search for useful infographics to support your lessons.

Since visual information can be pretty dense, give your students enough time to absorb all the new knowledge and make their own connections between visual clues.

Auditory/aural learners

The auditory style of learning is quite the opposite of the visual one. Auditory learners are people that absorb information better when it is presented in audio format (i.e. the lessons are spoken). This type of learner prefers to learn by listening and might not take any notes at all. They also ask questions often or repeat what they have just heard aloud to remember it better.

Aural learners are often not afraid of speaking up and are great at explaining themselves. When teaching auditory learners, keep in mind that they shouldn’t stay quiet for long periods of time. So plan a few activities where you can exchange ideas or ask questions. Watching videos or listening to audio during class will also help with retaining new information.

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners

Reading & Writing learners absorb information best when they use words, whether they’re reading or writing them. To verbal learners, written words are more powerful and granular than images or spoken words, so they’re excellent at writing essays, articles, books, etc. 

To support the way reading-writing students learn best, ensure they have time to take ample notes and allocate extra time for reading. This type of learner also does really well at remote learning, on their own schedule. Including reading materials and writing assignments in their homework should also yield good results.

Kinesthetic/tactile learners

Kinesthetic learners use different senses to absorb information. They prefer to learn by doing or experiencing what they’re being taught. These types of learners are tactile and need to live through experiences to truly understand something new. This makes it a bit challenging to prepare for them in a regular class setting. 

As you try to teach tactile learners, note that they can’t sit still for long and need more frequent breaks than others. You need to get them moving and come up with activities that reinforce the information that was just covered in class. Acting out different roles is great; games are excellent; even collaborative writing on a whiteboard should work fine. If applicable, you can also organize hands-on laboratory sessions, immersions, and workshops.

In general, try to bring every abstract idea into the real world to help kinesthetic learners succeed.

Logical/analytical learners 

As the name implies, logical learners rely on logic to process information and understand a particular subject. They search for causes and patterns to create a connection between different kinds of information. Many times, these connections are not obvious to people to learn differently, but they make perfect sense to logical learners. 

Logical learners generally do well with facts, statistics, sequential lists, and problem-solving tasks to mention a few. 

As a teacher, you can engage logical learners by asking open-ended or obscure questions that require them to apply their own interpretation. You should also use teaching material that helps them hone their problem-solving skills and encourages them to form conclusions based on facts and critical thinking. 

Social/interpersonal learners 

Social or interpersonal learners love socializing with others and working in groups so they learn best during lessons that require them to interact with their peers . Think study groups, peer discussions, and class quizzes. 

To effectively teach interpersonal learners, you’ll need to make teamwork a core part of your lessons. Encourage student interaction by asking questions and sharing stories. You can also incorporate group activities and role-playing into your lessons, and divide the students into study groups.  

Solitary/intrapersonal learners 

Solitary learning is the opposite of social learning. Solitary, or solo, learners prefer to study alone without interacting with other people. These learners are quite good at motivating themselves and doing individual work. In contrast, they generally don’t do well with teamwork or group discussions.

To help students like this, you should encourage activities that require individual work, such as journaling, which allows them to reflect on themselves and improve their skills. You should also acknowledge your students’ individual accomplishments and help them refine their problem-solving skills. 

Are there any unique intelligence types commonly shared by your students? Adapting to these different types of intelligence can help you can design a course best suited to help your students succeed.

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How to help students understand their different types of learning styles 

Unless you’re teaching preschoolers, most students probably already realize the type of learning style that fits them best. But some students do get it wrong.

The key here is to observe every student carefully and plan your content for different learning styles right from the start.

Another idea is to implement as much individual learning as you can and then customize that learning for each student. So you can have visual auditory activities, riddles for logical learners, games for kinesthetic learners, reading activities, writing tasks, drawing challenges, and more.

When you’re creating your first course online, it’s important to dedicate enough time to planning out its structure. Don’t just think that a successful course consists of five uploaded videos.

Think about how you present the new knowledge. Where it makes sense to pause and give students the time to reflect. Where to include activities to review the new material. Adapting to the different learning types that people exhibit can help you design an online course best suited to help your students succeed.

That being said, here are some tips to help you tailor your course to each learning style, or at least create enough balance. 

Visual learners 

Since visual learners like to see or observe images, diagrams, demonstrations, etc., to understand a topic, here’s how you can create a course for them: 

• Include graphics, cartoons, or illustrations of concepts 
• Use flashcards to review course material 
• Use flow charts or maps to organize materials 
• Highlight and color code notes to organize materials 
• Use color-coded tables to compare and contrast elements 
• Use a whiteboard to explain important information
• Have students play around with different font styles and sizes to improve readability 

Auditory learners prefer to absorb information by listening to spoken words, so they do well when teachers give spoken instructions and lessons. Here’s how to cater to this learning type through your online course: 

• Converse with your students about the subject or topic 
• Ask your students questions after each lesson and have them answer you (through the spoken word)
• Have them record lectures and review them with you 
• Have articles, essays, and comprehension passages out to them
• As you teach, explain your methods, questions, and answers 
• Ask for oral summaries of the course material 
• If you teach math or any other math-related course, use a talking calculator 
• Create an audio file that your students can listen to
• Create a video of you teaching your lesson to your student
• Include a YouTube video or podcast episode for your students to listen to
• Organize a live Q & A session where students can talk to you and other learners to help them better understand the subject

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners 

This one is pretty straightforward. Verbal learners learn best when they read or write (or both), so here are some practical ways to include that in your online course:

• Have your students write summaries about the lesson 
• If you teach language or literature, assign them stories and essays that they’d have to read out loud to understand
• If your course is video-based, add transcripts to aid your students’ learning process
• Make lists of important parts of your lesson to help your students memorize them
• Provide downloadable notes and checklists that your students can review after they’ve finished each chapter of your course
• Encourage extra reading by including links to a post on your blog or another website in the course
• Use some type of body movement or rhythm, such as snapping your fingers, mouthing, or pacing, while reciting the material your students should learn

Since kinesthetic learners like to experience hands-on what they learn with their senses — holding, touching, hearing, and doing. So instead of churning out instructions and expecting to follow, do these instead: 

• Encourage them to experiment with textured paper, and different sizes of pencils, pens, and crayons to jot down information
• If you teach diction or language, give them words that they should incorporate into their daily conversations with other people
• Encourage students to dramatize or act out lesson concepts to understand them better 

Logical learners are great at recognizing patterns, analyzing information, and solving problems. So in your online course, you need to structure your lessons to help them hone these abilities. Here are some things you can do:

• Come up with tasks that require them to solve problems. This is easy if you teach math or a math-related course
• Create charts and graphs that your students need to interpret to fully grasp the lesson
• Ask open-ended questions that require critical thinking 
• Create a mystery for your students to solve with clues that require logical thinking or math
• Pose an issue/topic to your students and ask them to address it from multiple perspectives

Since social learners prefer to discuss or interact with others, you should set up your course to include group activities. Here’s how you can do that:

• Encourage them to discuss the course concept with their classmates
• Get your students involved in forum discussions
• Create a platform (via Slack, Discord, etc.) for group discussions
• Pair two or more social students to teach each other the course material
• If you’re offering a cohort-based course , you can encourage students to make their own presentations and explain them to the rest of the class

Solitary learners prefer to learn alone. So when designing your course, you need to take that into consideration and provide these learners a means to work by themselves. Here are some things you can try: 

• Encourage them to do assignments by themselves
• Break down big projects into smaller ones to help them manage time efficiently
• Give them activities that require them to do research on their own
• When they’re faced with problems regarding the topic, let them try to work around it on their own. But let them know that they are welcome to ask you for help if they need to
• Encourage them to speak up when you ask them questions as it builds their communication skills 
• Explore blended learning , if possible, by combining teacher-led classes with self-guided assignments and extra ideas that students can explore on their own.

Now that you’re ready to teach something to everyone, you might be wondering what you actually need to do to create your online courses. Well, start with a platform.

Thinkific is an intuitive and easy-to-use platform any instructor can use to create online courses that would resonate with all types of learning styles. Include videos, audio, presentations, quizzes, and assignments in your curriculum. Guide courses in real-time or pre-record information in advance. It’s your choice.

In addition, creating a course on Thinkific doesn’t require you to know any programming. You can use a professionally designed template and customize it with a drag-and-drop editor to get exactly the course you want in just a few hours. Try it yourself to see how easy it can be.

This blog was originally published in August 2017, it has since been updated in March 2023. 

Althea Storm is a B2B SaaS writer who specializes in creating data-driven content that drives traffic and increases conversions for businesses. She has worked with top companies like AdEspresso, HubSpot, Aura, and Thinkific. When she's not writing web content, she's curled up in a chair reading a crime thriller or solving a Rubik's cube.

• The 5 Most Effective Teaching Styles (Pros & Cons of Each)
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• 10 Steps To Creating A Wildly Successful Online Course

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10 Types of Learning and How to Teach Them: A Complete Guide to Learning Styles

If you have been a part of the education sector, you probably already know how different each child is. Every student has their own set of strengths and weaknesses which make them unique. Similarly, every student has a preferred way of learning and retaining the material. These preferences are called “learning styles”. 

Each learning style describes how a learner best receives information, interprets it, organizes it, and stores it. A majority of the learners today even have multiple or overlapping learning styles, also called multimodal learning . As an educator, it is extremely important to know the different types of learning – since this will help your students build on their strengths and retain information better. The original model of VARK only describes four of these - visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. However, in this article we explore 10 types of learning and how to teach them. 

Another factor that contributes to learning and retaining information is the subject of the information. It is a well known fact that some people excel better in creative fields like design, fine arts, photography, while others might excel in practical or calculative fields like mathematics, engineering, science, and so on.

Thus, different people have different interests and these interests contribute to different learning areas or subjects as well. 

1. Physical (Kinesthetic) Learning

Physical or kinesthetic learners prefer a hands-on experience rather than listening to lectures or sitting in a class. They like interacting physically with things that are tangible in nature. These learners could see the idea of studying for hours as a daunting experience but are better with actually doing things themselves. They possess qualities like being restless, preferring to get their hands “dirty”, outgoing and energetic.

Ways to engage physical learners:

• Encourage movement within lessons. Example: role play
• Give them well-spaced breaks between lessons to move around
• Use props and interactive models
• Declutter desks to promote better focus

2. Visual (Spatial) Learning

Visual or spatial learners learn best with the help of visual cues like charts, images, diagrams, graphs, etc. These learners respond best to colours and mind maps . They use their visual memory to retain information for longer periods of time. Many visual learners possess characteristics like frequent planning and doodling, they have a good attention span and are extremely observant, and they prefer visual directions.

Ways to engage visual learners:

• Use maps, diagrams, imagery
• Include technology like projectors
• Use colour coding techniques
• Encourage mind maps and flowcharts

3. Auditory Learning

People who tend to understand and retain information by hearing it or saying it out loud (oral) are called auditory learners. These types of learners can quickly notice the change in someone’s pitch, tone, and other voice qualities. They usually prefer discussing topics, participating in debates, and conversing about things to remember them. Most auditory learners are easy to distract and might even hum, sing, or talk to self frequently.

Ways to engage auditory learners:

• Try using different pitches and tones while reading the material
• Record voice lessons
• Encourage class presentations, group discussions, debates
• Ask them to teach others verbally

4. Verbal (Read/Write) Learning

These types of learners prefer traditional methods like using multiple written resources for learning. Verbal learners learn best through written material or by writing the material themselves. They usually possess a broad vocabulary and might even like using tools like acronyms, rhymes, tongue twisters, among others. Verbal learners are known to be bookworms.

Ways to engage verbal learners:

• Make use of mnemonics while teaching (song, rhyme, acronym, phrase)
• Inculcate scripts
• Encourage students to jot down and voice their ideas
• Include word games like crossword

5. Logical (Mathematical) Learning

Logical or mathematical learners tend to categorize information into groups to learn them better. They have a knack for quickly recognizing patterns and sequences; and understand equations, numbers, and relationships easily. These learners love structure and logic to things. Naturally, mathematics comes easy to them.

Ways to engage logical learners:

• Create an easy to navigate system to your lessons
• Try and inculcate statistics to subjects other than mathematics
• Classify concepts into groups or categories
• Generate cause-effect relationships between variables throughout all subject areas

6. Musical Learning

Where music or background noise is a distraction to most of us, musical learners prefer them. They tend to learn better with music, beats, and rhythm. Like logical learners, they too find patterns and relationships, but between different sounds. Some sources say they even think in sounds and rhythms instead of words and pictures.

Clearly, these learners often grow up to be musicians or instrumentalists. More often than never, some people are a combination of auditory and musical learners. This is why strategies to engage these two kinds aren’t too different.

Ways to engage musical learners:

• Encourage listening to soft background music
• Promote podcasts

7. Naturalist Learners

Naturalist learners learn best through experimentation and practical experiences. They like making observations of the world around them. Just like the name suggests, naturalistic learners are also said to be one with nature. They retain information best when they are outdoors, around plants, animals, among others. 

These types can also be somewhat related to kinesthetic learners since they appreciate tactile sensations. All-in-all, they apply scientific reasoning to the world around them and are highly interested in nature, as well as the things created by man.

Ways to engage naturalistic learners:

• Take students out for a field trip 
• Give lessons in outdoor spaces 
• Promote journaling, drawing, sketching, photographing or natural phenomena
• Encourage work that involves getting into nature (especially in subjects like biology)

8. Linguistic Learners 

Linguistic learners are the combination of auditory and verbal learners. They absorb knowledge best by writing, reading, and sounding the material out. These learners can use the traditional methods of learning just like verbal learners and also prefer listening to the information. Linguistic learners also make their own notes while studying. 

Ways to engage linguistic learners:

• Read out to them and have them read it back to you
• Include written projects and assignments
• Avoid using too many diagrams; use verbal methods of engaging them 
• Avoid using a monotonous voice; use different pitches, voices, and characters

9. Interpersonal (Social) Learners

Social or interpersonal learners learn best while working in groups or with other people. They often make good leaders and others even come for advice to them. Social learners learn by relating their ideas and thoughts to the lives of other people. These learners are usually empaths and possess qualities like sensitivity to others, excellent communication, leadership skills, and  problem-solving skills. This type of learning can fall adjacent to one or more types mentioned above. 

Ways to engage social learners:

• Figure out their adjacent learning style and inculcate those strategies 
• Encourage role-playing
• Assign group activities and projects

10. Intrapersonal (Solitary) Learners

In a complete contrast to interpersonal or social learners, intrapersonal or solitary learners prefer solitude while studying. They are more independent and introspective by nature and prefer to be with their own thoughts and ideas without too much external interference. Usually, you can find these types sitting at the back of the class or you might refer to them as the “quiet kid” but they may end up acing the exam. Solitary learning too can fall adjacent with other learning styles. 

Ways to engage solitary learners:

• Designate a quiet area
• Check in with them every once in a while 
• Define a specific time for collaboration so they feel prepared enough

To summarize, remember to not put your students in a box. It is not necessary and probably unlikely that a student is only one type of learner. There can exist multiple variations and combinations between their learning styles. This is also called a multimodal approach. According to statistics, more than 60% of people are multimodal learners. 

Acknowledge that each child is different and you might have the need to find varying ways to approach their education. Again, these differences can also exist with regards to the subject area. Certain people are simply better suited and more interested in some, while others might have completely opposing interests. These learning styles only provide you with a framework to follow.  

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Learning styles, what are learning styles, why are they so popular.

The term  learning styles is widely used to describe how learners gather, sift through, interpret, organize, come to conclusions about, and “store” information for further use.  As spelled out in VARK (one of the most popular learning styles inventories), these styles are often categorized by sensory approaches:   v isual, a ural, verbal [ r eading/writing], and k inesthetic.  Many of the models that don’t resemble the VARK’s sensory focus are reminiscent of Felder and Silverman’s Index of Learning Styles , with a continuum of descriptors for how learners process and organize information:  active-reflective, sensing-intuitive, verbal-visual, and sequential-global.

There are well over 70 different learning styles schemes (Coffield, 2004), most of which are supported by “a thriving industry devoted to publishing learning-styles tests and guidebooks” and “professional development workshops for teachers and educators” (Pashler, et al., 2009, p. 105).

Despite the variation in categories, the fundamental idea behind learning styles is the same: that each of us has a specific learning style (sometimes called a “preference”), and we learn best when information is presented to us in this style.  For example, visual learners would learn any subject matter best if given graphically or through other kinds of visual images, kinesthetic learners would learn more effectively if they could involve bodily movements in the learning process, and so on.  The message thus given to instructors is that “optimal instruction requires diagnosing individuals’ learning style[s] and tailoring instruction accordingly” (Pashler, et al., 2009, p. 105).

Despite the popularity of learning styles and inventories such as the VARK, it’s important to know that there is no evidence to support the idea that matching activities to one’s learning style improves learning .  It’s not simply a matter of “the absence of evidence doesn’t mean the evidence of absence.”  On the contrary, for years researchers have tried to make this connection through hundreds of studies.

In 2009, Psychological Science in the Public Interest commissioned cognitive psychologists Harold Pashler, Mark McDaniel, Doug Rohrer, and Robert Bjork to evaluate the research on learning styles to determine whether there is credible evidence to support using learning styles in instruction.  They came to a startling but clear conclusion:  “Although the literature on learning styles is enormous,” they “found virtually no evidence” supporting the idea that “instruction is best provided in a format that matches the preference of the learner.”  Many of those studies suffered from weak research design, rendering them far from convincing.  Others with an effective experimental design “found results that flatly contradict the popular” assumptions about learning styles (p. 105). In sum,

“The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing” (p. 117).

Pashler and his colleagues point to some reasons to explain why learning styles have gained—and kept—such traction, aside from the enormous industry that supports the concept.  First, people like to identify themselves and others by “type.” Such categories help order the social environment and offer quick ways of understanding each other.  Also, this approach appeals to the idea that learners should be recognized as “unique individuals”—or, more precisely, that differences among students should be acknowledged —rather than treated as a number in a crowd or a faceless class of students (p. 107). Carried further, teaching to different learning styles suggests that “ all people have the potential to learn effectively and easily if only instruction is tailored to their individual learning styles ” (p. 107).

There may be another reason why this approach to learning styles is so widely accepted. They very loosely resemble the concept of metacognition , or the process of thinking about one’s thinking.  For instance, having your students describe which study strategies and conditions for their last exam worked for them and which didn’t is likely to improve their studying on the next exam (Tanner, 2012).  Integrating such metacognitive activities into the classroom—unlike learning styles—is supported by a wealth of research (e.g., Askell Williams, Lawson, & Murray-Harvey, 2007; Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Butler & Winne, 1995; Isaacson & Fujita, 2006; Nelson & Dunlosky, 1991; Tobias & Everson, 2002).

Importantly, metacognition is focused on planning, monitoring, and evaluating any kind of thinking about thinking and does nothing to connect one’s identity or abilities to any singular approach to knowledge.  (For more information about metacognition, see CFT Assistant Director Cynthia Brame’s “ Thinking about Metacognition ” blog post, and stay tuned for a Teaching Guide on metacognition this spring.)

There is, however, something you can take away from these different approaches to learning—not based on the learner, but instead on the content being learned .  To explore the persistence of the belief in learning styles, CFT Assistant Director Nancy Chick interviewed Dr. Bill Cerbin, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and former Carnegie Scholar with the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.  He points out that the differences identified by the labels “visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing” are more appropriately connected to the nature of the discipline:

“There may be evidence that indicates that there are some ways to teach some subjects that are just better than others , despite the learning styles of individuals…. If you’re thinking about teaching sculpture, I’m not sure that long tracts of verbal descriptions of statues or of sculptures would be a particularly effective way for individuals to learn about works of art. Naturally, these are physical objects and you need to take a look at them, you might even need to handle them.” (Cerbin, 2011, 7:45-8:30 )

Pashler and his colleagues agree: “An obvious point is that the optimal instructional method is likely to vary across disciplines” (p. 116). In other words, it makes disciplinary sense to include kinesthetic activities in sculpture and anatomy courses, reading/writing activities in literature and history courses, visual activities in geography and engineering courses, and auditory activities in music, foreign language, and speech courses.  Obvious or not, it aligns teaching and learning with the contours of the subject matter, without limiting the potential abilities of the learners.

• Askell-Williams, H., Lawson, M. & Murray, Harvey, R. (2007). ‘ What happens in my university classes that helps me to learn?’: Teacher education students’ instructional metacognitive knowledge. International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning , 1. 1-21.
• Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L. & Cocking, R. R., (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school (Expanded Edition). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
• Butler, D. L., & Winne, P. H. (1995) Feedback and self-regulated learning: A theoretical synthesis . Review of Educational Research , 65, 245-281.
• Cerbin, William. (2011). Understanding learning styles: A conversation with Dr. Bill Cerbin .  Interview with Nancy Chick. UW Colleges Virtual Teaching and Learning Center .
• Coffield, F., Moseley, D., Hall, E., & Ecclestone, K. (2004). Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning. A systematic and critical review . London: Learning and Skills Research Centre.
• Isaacson, R. M. & Fujita, F. (2006). Metacognitive knowledge monitoring and self-regulated learning: Academic success and reflections on learning . Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning , 6, 39-55.
• Nelson, T.O. & Dunlosky, J. (1991). The delayed-JOL effect: When delaying your judgments of learning can improve the accuracy of your metacognitive monitoring. Psychological Science , 2, 267-270.
• Pashler, Harold, McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R.  (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence . Psychological Science in the Public Interest . 9.3 103-119.
• Tobias, S., & Everson, H. (2002). Knowing what you know and what you don’t: Further research on metacognitive knowledge monitoring . College Board Report No. 2002-3 . College Board, NY.

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What are Learning Styles, and How Should Teachers Use Them?

• Learning Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

Introduction

Learning styles are an essential aspect of education that impact both student performance and teacher effectiveness. Teachers must recognize and understand these learning styles to create a conducive learning environment for their students. This article explores what learning styles are, their importance, and how teachers can use them to enhance student experiences.

What are Learning Styles?

Learning styles refer to the various ways individuals process and retain information. They describe a person’s preferred method of gathering, interpreting, organizing, and thinking about new information. Various models categorize learning styles differently, but some of the most common include:

1. Visual Learning: Visual learners process information effectively when presented in charts, diagrams, or other visual aids.

2. Auditory Learning: Auditory learners absorb information best when it is spoken or heard.

3. Kinesthetic Learning: Kinesthetic learners prefer hands-on experiences or physical activities to understand new concepts.

4. Reading/Writing Learning: Reading/writing learners effectively gather information through reading text or writing about the material they learn.

Why are Learning Styles Important?

Understanding different learning styles has several benefits for both students and teachers:

1. Enhances Students’ Understanding: A tailored approach to teaching can help clarify complex topics and improve comprehension by addressing each student’s preferred learning style.

2. Encourages Active Participation: Students feel more engaged when lessons match their preferred learning style, promoting participation in classroom discussions and activities.

3. Boosts Confidence: When students experience success through tailored teaching methods, their confidence and motivation increase.

4. Personalized Education Experience: Customizing instruction according to learning styles ensures that no student is left behind due to a one-size-fits-all approach.

How Should Teachers Use Learning Styles?

Teachers can implement various strategies based on understanding their students’ learning styles:

1. Offer Diverse Instructional Methods: Teachers should incorporate visual aids, auditory explanations, hands-on activities, and reading/writing assignments in their lessons to appeal to a range of preferences.

2. Cater to Multiple Learning Styles Simultaneously: Presenting material in diverse formats at once can engage multiple learning styles and foster a deeper understanding.

3. Foster Collaborative Learning: Teachers can encourage students with different learning styles to work together on projects or assignments, promoting active engagement and shared understanding.

4. Adapt Assessments: Varying assessment formats, such as oral presentations, written essays, or practical tasks, enables students to perform at their best based on their preferences.

5. Maintain Flexibility: Educators must be willing to adjust teaching methods based on student feedback and ongoing assessments of class progress.

Teachers play a vital role in facilitating the growth of every student by recognizing and adapting their teaching style to meet each student’s unique needs. Understanding learning styles and employing strategies that cater to them can have a profound impact on student success, resulting in a more inclusive, engaging, and effective classroom experience for all involved.

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Discover Your Learning Style – Comprehensive Guide on Different Learning Styles

Each person has different learning preferences and styles that benefit them. Some may find they even have a dominant learning style. Others that they prefer different learning styles in different circumstances. There is no right or wrong answer to which learning style is best for you – or mix of learning styles.

By discovering and better understanding your own learning styles, you can employ techniques that will improve the rate and quality of your learning.

There has been a big push in education in recent years on how teachers can better meet the needs of the students, and a very effective way to do that is to learn about different learning styles. The more teachers understand their students and the way their brains work, the better they can be at helping them learn.

Even if you’ve never heard the term “learning style” before, it’s likely you already have an idea of what your learning style is. You probably know if it’s hard for you to learn by listening, but if you get your body up and moving around, things click instantly. Or maybe you love listening to audiobooks, but nothing seems to make sense when you sit down to read a paper book. What you’re describing when you talk about yourself in this way is your learning style.

This guide will help you understand what each learning style is, as well as how teachers can alter their instruction to help students of each learning style.

For teachers who already have a lot on their plate, it can seem like a lot to add in adjusting instruction for different learning styles. The great benefit teachers will find though is that once they master ways to appeal to all learners, their lives actually become a lot easier.

Catering to different learning styles can improve classroom management, and it makes for happier students in the classroom. The chatty student who is constantly interrupting will finally have a positive place in the classroom. The quiet girl who knows all the answers but never raises her hand will feel confident in sharing her knowledge.

Understanding your learning style and that of those around you isn’t only helpful in educational settings. It can also help you understand yourself and others in work, families, relationships, and other settings. If you’re a parent, knowing the learning style of your child can be extremely beneficial as you help them with their schoolwork and as you just relate to them in daily life. Maybe there actually is a valid reason they zone out every time you tell them what to do.

With so many studies on learning styles, there are a lot of theories about how many learning styles there are and what each one should be called. One of the most influential studies found three learning styles: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. This was called the VAK model. Since that study, another dominant style has been identified as reading/writing, and the model was expanded to become VARK.

The VARK Model

The most widely accepted model of learning styles is called the VARK model, which stands for visual, aural/auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. In brief:

• Visual (spacial) learners learn best by seeing
• Auditory (aural) learners learn best by hearing
• Reading/writing learners learn best by reading and writing
• Kinesthetic (physical) learners learn best by moving and doing

According to Neil Fleming and David Baume, it’s important for teachers to understand how their students learn, but it’s even more important for students to understand how they, themselves learn. By understanding your own process of learning and thinking, you can be more efficient in studying and learning.

It can be really frustrating to sit in a classroom and not understand why you just don’t get it. You know you’re not dumb, but you just can’t seem to make the information click. It can also be frustrating to be able to learn perfectly well from one teacher, but struggle to learn from another.

If you’ve experienced feelings like this, it likely all comes back to your learning style. Once you understand how and why you learn the way you do, your education can vastly improve. You can stop feeling dumb and getting frustrated, and you can start to advocate for yourself and your education.

According to Fleming and Baume,

“VARK above all is designed to be a starting place for a conversation among teachers and learners about learning. It can also be a catalyst for staff development- thinking about strategies for teaching different groups can lead to more, and appropriate, variety of learning and teaching.”

This type of thinking, called metacognition , helps you understand who you are and how you learn. It would be impossible to discover your own learning style without engaging in metacognition.

It’s very common for people to have one dominant learning style, but it is highly unlikely that any one person will strictly have one learning style. Most people are a combination of many. This guide and the research talks about each learning style with different labels, but the label isn’t what’s important. What is important is understanding your brain and the way you learn. Try not to get caught up in labels or classifying yourself or others.

It’s obvious that the labels aren’t important when you realize that there are many different theories of learning styles, and each theory uses different terms. Another theory that takes into account some additional learning styles is called memletics. This theory takes the basics of the VARK model and adds in a few different categories. Memletics includes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic that is seen in the VARK model, and also adds in the following types of learners:

• Verbal learners who learn best by speaking
• Logical (mathematical) learners who learn best by using logic and reasoning (these learners are typically mathematically inclined)
• Social (interpersonal) learners who learn best in groups
• Solitary (intrapersonal) learners who learn best alone

Note that it does not include the reading/writing addition that was added when VAK expanded to VARK, however it does include the four above mentioned categories. Within memletics, there is a lot of overlap between learning styles due to the nature of the categories. Take, for example, two solitary learners. They both learn best in solitary situations, but one learns best by using logic while the other learns best by seeing.

In a study about learning styles , Aranya Srijongjai noted that

“According to the Memletics model, everyone has a mix of learning styles, and learning styles are not fixed (Advanogy.com, 2003), so instructors should also accommodate other types of learning styles by providing diverse learning environments. McCarthy (1980) points out that instructors should vary activities so that students learn in their own preferred style and also can have a chance to develop other styles as well. As a result, matching and mismatching learning styles and instructional methods will complement the students’ learning performance and create more flexible learners in the long run.”

As Srijongjai suggests, students and teachers should not think of learning styles as a box to be placed into. Learning styles are just one small piece in the overall puzzle of student learning.

No matter what theory your dominant learning styles fall under, knowing your style can help make your learning easier and more successful. Most learners fall into at least one of the styles in the VARK theory.

This guide will offer information and advice to teachers, students, and parents, as it is important for everyone in the educational environment to understand why and how people learn the way they learn. With each learning style, there are also suggestions included for career choices.

These suggestions are in no way meant to be limiting, but they can be helpful. If you are a visual learner, but feel pulled toward one of the fields listed in the auditory learner section, by all means pursue your passion. The career suggestions merely show what careers that style might gravitate towards as well as careers they are likely to excel in with minimal effort.

Understanding your learning style is really helpful, but again, you should also be careful not to put yourself in a box and to define yourself by your learning style. Take what insight you can, but don’t let it overcome your thoughts about yourself.

Visual Learners

Do you ever remember taking a test in school and thinking “I don’t remember the answer, but I remember I had it highlighted pink in my notes”… then you might be a visual learner.

That’s because visual learners remember and learn what they see the most. This could include videos and pictures, but it doesn’t have to. Visual learners do well with spatial reasoning, charts, graphs, etc. Often, visual learners “see” words as pictures or other objects in their head, and they often use their right brain to process information.

One of the many benefits of being a visual learner is that the human brain processes visual information much faster than plain text. As a visual learner, you can take in and retain a lot of information really quickly because you prefer this processing method that humans are already very good at.

When studying and learning, visual learners prefer the use of maps, outlines, diagrams, charts, graphs, designs, and patterns. When taking notes, these students are more likely to organize their notes into visual patterns. They might use charts or diagrams; they might separate their page of notes into different sections. Many visual learners also do well with color coding their notes with different colored pens or highlighters.

Careers for visual learners:

Visual learners are often pulled toward, and do well in, STEM fields. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. Specifically, some careers include photography, construction, graphic design, interior design, architecture, physics, advertising, engineering, and surgery.

A note for teachers of visual learners:

Sometimes these students might stare out the window or doodle in their notes. If this is the case, let them. Locking their eyes on you constantly might be too much visual stimulation, and that flower they’re drawing next to their notes might help them remember that point by connecting it to their visual drawing.

It’s also easy for visual learners to get overwhelmed by a lot of visual input. If the classroom setting is chaotic with a lot of students moving around, it might be too much for them to take in. The design of your classroom is also very important to visual learners. If there is a lot of clutter or too many posters adorning the walls, this can overwhelm the mind and processing of a visual learner.

For some visual learners, it also could actually be helpful for them to pay careful attention to your movements. They might remember the silly hand motion you made or the way you pointed to a country on the map. Keeping that in mind when delivering your lessons can be very helpful.

Lesson ideas to help visual learners

• Use colors. Just like these learners tend to color code things themselves, it can be really helpful for them if you color code your notes as you write them or post them. As a homework or in class assignment, you could have students annotate/read actively, and use different colors for different things you want them to look for. For example, they could highlight dates in blue and names in yellow.
• Draw reasoning. In math, teach students how to draw out their reasoning (rather than verbally explaining).
• Use gestures. As you’re teaching, be aware of your body language. If you include gestures and hand motions when you speak, it will help your visual learners pay attention and make connections.
• Posters. As a project or class assignment, students can make posters illustrating key concepts. Once finished, they could even present their posters to the class, which would appeal to auditory learners. You can also hang these posters on the wall when students are done as decorations and to help drive home important topics. Just remember to cover them up or take them down during assessments if they give away too much information.
• Charts and graphs. Use technology to help students visually see information by creating charts and graphs. This is often used in a math and science setting, but can be used in other disciplines as well. For example, in gym class, students could keep track of how many push ups, sit ups, etc. they can do and then you can create a class chart or graph with the data.
• Draw the text. In the language arts classroom, pick out a portion of the text with especially vivid imagery. Instruct students to draw a picture of what the writing describes. This helps students with close reading and understanding of the text.

Auditory Learners

Do you sometimes talk to yourself when you’re thinking really hard, studying, or trying to organize something? If that sounds like you, you’re likely an auditory learner.

Auditory learners learn best by hearing and carefully listening. This can include hearing things from external sources, as well as hearing themselves talk. They are very likely to volunteer to answer questions and to actively participate in classroom discussions.

Auditory learners have a great advantage in the classroom because they’re not afraid to speak their mind and get answers to their questions. While reading/writing learners might not even realize they have a question until they’ve had time to go back and process their notes, auditory learners learn by listening and speaking, so they process through information very easily right there in the classroom.

Any form of listening or speaking is going to be the most efficient learning method for this category. Some popular methods include lectures, audiobooks, discussion, and verbal processing. These learners are typically good at storytelling and giving speeches as well. A lot of these students often prefer studying and working in groups because they can talk through the information. This often makes them social learners when looking at the theory of memletics.

Careers for auditory learners:

Any job that requires a lot of listening and/or speaking is likely going to be a great fit for an auditory learner. Some careers to consider include radio or TV broadcasting, law, teaching, speech-language pathology, and counseling.

A note for teachers of auditory learners:

Just like the visual learners, these students also might stare off into space, but for a different reason. Since they process information best by listening to it, they don’t need to look at the notes or the PowerPoint very often. It might seem like they’re zoning out or not paying attention. If you’ve ever caught a student staring off into space and asked them a question, thinking you’ve caught them off guard, only to get the perfect answer, you’ve likely found a very auditory learner.

These students might also tend to get chatty during class. This can be great when you’re trying to get a lively class discussion or debate going, but not so great when you need the class to listen intently to you. Instead of getting frustrated and angry, remember that this is how their brain works and how they learn. As much as you can and as much as is practical for your subject matter, try to facilitate discussions and play into this rather than squashing it.

You should always keep in mind that these learners might really struggle with written and visual information. Auditory learners are those students who can answer every single question you ask in class, and then get a 60 on an exam that’s testing the same information. If you have a hunch that a student who bombed a test actually knows the information, give them a chance to verbally answer the test questions.

Lesson ideas to help auditory learners

• Audiobook. Give students the option to listen to an audiobook- this can be effective with novels as well as textbooks.
• Socratic Seminar. This is a type of discussion where the students lead the discussion. The teacher provides some topics to talk about, and then the students take over. By sitting in a circle and having a more laid back atmosphere, more students are likely to join in the conversation. Often auditory learners tend to lead these discussions, and it gives them a chance to shine and be rewarded for their talking that can get them in trouble in other situations. Teacher Kelly Gallagher offers a great handout called trace the conversation that can help auditory and visual learners with Socratic seminars. There are many ways to conduct socratic seminars; the National Council of Teachers of English has a great explanation .
• Speeches. The often hated, but necessary, school assignment that many students dread is actually often a favorite of auditory learners. This type of assignment is where auditory learners feel in their element. Speeches can be short and impromptu or long and planned, and they can be done in any subject.
• Record notes. You can either record yourself speaking or give your students permission to record during your lectures so that they can go back and listen. You can also encourage students to record themselves reading their own notes.
• Text to speech. This is something students can do on their own, but they might need your prompting or feel better about doing it if you give them permission. When writing essays, students can use speech to text to capture their thoughts. It can also be beneficial to then use text to speech to proofread and catch errors.
• Debate. A structured debate is a really beneficial way for auditory learners to get their ideas across. This can be done at all grade levels and in all disciplines. Here is a great resource for some debate ideas, as well as different debate formats for different grade levels.

Reading/Writing Learners

Do you tend to zone out when people are talking to you or you hear a lecture? Would you rather read the transcript or get the information from a book? Then you’re probably a reading/writing learner.

Reading/writing learners learn best by, well, reading and writing. They often relate to the famous Flannery O’Connor quote “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” Verbal input can often go in one ear and out the other for these types of learners. For them, seeing notes on the board or on a PowerPoint is really important, as is taking their own notes.

These students learn best from books, lists, notes, journals, dictionaries, etc. Some things these students might do to intuitively help themselves learn are rewriting their notes, using flash cards, adding notes to pictures or diagrams, choosing a physical book over an audiobook, and using closed captions on videos.

Careers for reading/writing learners:

A common and obvious career choice for reading/writing learners is writing, but if this is your learning style, you’re definitely not limited to writing. Editing, advertising, researching, translating, and economic advising are also great career choices that would be a good fit.

A note for teachers of reading/writing learners:

While these learners are often your typical “good student” they can really struggle to learn from lectures or completely auditory methods. They may not respond well to class discussions, and need some more time to process things that they hear. If you give them some time to write their thoughts down before asking them to share out loud, they will feel less stressed and will be able to process their thoughts.

Every teacher has had that student who needs more time before you move on to the next slide, even though you’re done explaining and all the other students are ready to move on. A reading/writing learner is most likely that student, and when you understand their learning style it’s easier to cut them a little slack. Sometimes they struggle to get all their notes down because they are trying to write down every single thing you say. You can really help them by working with them to pull out the most important parts of your lecture and to paraphrase what they hear.

Lesson ideas to help reading/writing learners

• Handouts. No matter what your lesson is about, one of the best things you can do to help reading/writing learners is provide handouts highlighting the most important information. It’s also important to give these learners enough time to write detailed notes. Providing handouts or guided notes can help these learners have enough time to get down all the information.
• Essays and reading assignments. These simple, traditional assignments often work best for reading/writing learners. This is why this learning style often thrives in the traditional classroom setting.
• Vocabulary stories. Have students create stories or plays to make their vocabulary words more fun and interesting. This can be done in any subject area that has vocabulary words. You can give students a topic or let them be creative, but all they have to do is write a story containing x number of their vocabulary words. You can also extend this activity to help kinesthetic learners by having students act out their stories for the class.
• Think, pair, share. Reading/writing learners often struggle with sharing their thoughts out loud. Those students who ace every test but freeze when you call on them in class are likely reading/writing learners. Think, pair, share can really help give them confidence to verbalize their thoughts. This, again, can be done with any age group and in any subject area. First, ask students an open ended question and give them time to silently think and write their answers. Then, have students pair up in small groups to share their answers. Finally, open the discussion to the whole class. Often when you just ask a question and want students to respond right away, you’ll only get answers from the auditory learners because they are the quickest at verbal processing. This method though gives the reading/writing learners time to process in their own way and gives them time and confidence to construct a verbal response.

Kinesthetic Learners

Are you the first one to get up and volunteer to demonstrate an experiment for everyone else? Do you need to actually change the oil, rather than look at a diagram, in order to learn how to do it? If so, it sounds like you’re a kinesthetic learner.

The root word “kines” means motion, and as such, a kinesthetic learner learns best by going through the motions or actually doing something. When they are actively moving their body and combining that with what they are learning, it’s much easier for them to internalize the information.

These students tend to shine in demonstrations and experiments. They also learn best from seeing something first hand, watching live videos, and going on field trips. Even just combining a physical motion with a piece of information can help them. They might fidget while they’re listening in class, and they are much more likely than those with other learning styles to talk with their hands.

Careers for kinesthetic learners:

Any career that allows you to be physically active and move your body is going to be right up the alley of a kinesthetic learner. Sometimes they say the phrase “I don’t sit well,” and they typically don’t thrive at a desk job. Kinesthetic learners typically feel in their element as professional athletes, farmers, carpenters, physical therapists, and mechanics.

A note for teachers of kinesthetic learners:

Just because you see a student fidgeting or being antsy, that doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention or that they’re bored. Their brain just craves that movement to help them make connections. There’s no need to force students to sit completely still as long as they aren’t distracting others in the classroom. As much as you can, try to connect movement to the concepts you’re teaching.

Kinesthetic learners really just need to move and they can benefit from active brain breaks. Try to do your best to keep them active and to allow for movement in your classroom. If you look out to your students and see that glazed over look, pause your lesson for 30 seconds and have the whole class do jumping jacks. Or if you notice one of your kinesthetic learners just can’t take sitting in their seat any longer, ask them to run a quick errand to the office for you.

So often these students get punished for trying to move and follow their natural learning style. The more you can find ways to reward them for their learning style, the more engaged they will become.

Lesson ideas to help kinesthetic learners

• Labs and experiments. These types of lessons are common in science classes, but they can be successfully implemented in the curriculum of all different subjects. For example, psychology students could replicate the studies they are learning about. An elementary math lesson could involve measuring the height of each student and then creating problems based on the measurements.
• Field trips. When schools are cutting their budgets left and right, it can be really hard to plan educational field trips, and that’s understandable. Field trips don’t have to be major events, though. For an art project, you could take students outside and have them draw or photograph what they see. An English lesson could include a nature walk where students journal or write a story about what they see when they’re outside.
• Physical props. Whenever you can, use practical and/or memorable props. When teaching a history lesson, you could dress in the attire of the era you are teaching about. If you’re an anatomy teacher, bring in a skeleton or use your own body as a prop.
• Take a stand. This is an activity that is very easy to set up and appeals to kinesthetic as well as auditory learners. To prep, come up with a series of questions that students can either agree or disagree with. If your students are reading To Kill A Mockingbird, your questions could revolve around racism, for example. (Note: if tackling a sensitive subject such as racism, make sure you know your students and their maturity level) Hang signs on either side of your classroom indicating “agree” and “disagree.” Then, read through each question and have students move to the side of the room that fits their belief. Once there, they can discuss their thoughts with the group that follows their beliefs, and then you can open up the discussion to the whole class.
• Act it out. This works well for literature and history lessons. Instead of reading silently, assign students parts and have them act out the story.
• Tableaux Vivants. Again, this works well in literature and history classrooms, and is a great review activity. It’s very similar to charades. Break students into groups and assign each group a “scene”- this could be from a work of literature or a scene from history. Each group works together to create a silent re-enactment consisting of “snapshots” of the scene. Students pose and pause for 5-10 seconds, and then move on to their next pose. Once they have moved through their poses, the rest of the class guesses what scene they were re-enacting.
• Demonstration speeches. As the famous quote attributed to Einstein says, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Demonstration speeches give students a chance to explain something they understand really well in a simple manner so their peers understand. Students pick a topic, for example, how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They then give a speech explaining the process while simultaneously demonstrating the process. The demonstration portion of this is what really appeals to kinesthetic learners, and it appeals to all learners because students have a lot of freedom in choosing their topic.

Logical Learners

Individuals who excel at math and possess strong logical reasoning skills are usually logical learners. They notice patterns quickly and have a keen ability to link information that would seem non-related by others. Logical learners retain details better by drawing connections after organizing an assortment of information.

Maximize your ability to learn by seeking to understand the meaning and reasoning behind the subject you’re studying. Don’t depend on rote memorization. Explore the links between related subject matter and make sure to understand details. Use ‘systems thinking’ to help you better understand the relationship between various parts of a system. This will not only help you understand the bigger picture, it will help you understand why each component part is important.

Social Learners

Social learners usually have excellent written and verbal communication skills. These individuals are at ease speaking with others and are adept at comprehending other people’s perspectives. For this reason, people frequently seek counsel from social learners. Social learners learn best working with groups and take opportunities to meet individually with teachers. If you like bouncing your ideas off others, prefer working through issues as a group, and thoroughly enjoy working with others, there’s a good chance you’re a social learner.

If you’re a social learner, you should seek opportunities to study with others. If the class you’re in doesn’t have formal groups, make your own group.

Solitary Learners

Solitary learners usually prefer working by themselves in private settings. They do not rely on others for help when solving a problem or studying. Solitary learners frequently analyze their learning preferences and methods. Since solitary learners prefer to work alone, it is possible for them to waste time on a difficult problem before seeking assistance. However, solitary learning can be a very effective learning style for students.

Tips to Simultaneously Help Learners of All Types

Lessons that can combine multiple learning styles are often the most effective, as they can reach the most students. Also, since most people are a combination of learning styles, it makes sense that activities that combine learning styles are some of the most effective.

Many of the activities already provided give opportunities for learners of all types to reap some benefit. If you try to be creative, you can make little tweaks in any lesson to reach different learning styles. Following are some ideas of ways to reach all four learning styles in one lesson or activity.

• Centers. The way this works is you have multiple different stations or centers throughout the classroom and you break your students into groups so there is a group at each center. Then, you provide different activities at each center and students rotate with their groups to each center. There are many benefits of this in addition to reaching students of all learning styles. Even if you don’t have a center that caters to kinesthetic learners, the simple act of getting up and moving to different places throughout the classroom will help them. The same goes for auditory learners as well; being in small groups and rotating throughout the room naturally invites discussion.
• Write an essay (appeals to reading/writing learners)
• Record a podcast or TED talk (appeals to auditory learners)
• Film a video (appeals to kinesthetic learners)
• Create a poster or multimedia project (appeals to visual learners)
• Headphones. Allow students to use headphones while working independently in class. For most learning types, this can help cut out distractions around them, and for auditory learners, this can help them make connections between what they hear and what they’re learning. This can be very helpful for them during times when they need to work silently.
• Technology. Technology has come a long way and there are so many apps and websites available that can help students. For example, here is a list of apps for elementary math that appeals to all four learning styles. Games that include pictures and sound help visual and auditory learners. Reading explanations and lessons on the apps helps reading/writing learners. Physically manipulating and touching a device helps kinesthetic learners. A quick Google search will reveal beneficial websites and apps for any discipline.

Final Words

There is nothing right or wrong with any of the learning styles; they are simply names and categories for the ways different brains process information. Sometimes it is easier for those with a dominant reading/writing learning style to succeed in a traditional academic setting, thus landing those students with a “good student” label. Education has come a long way and schools and teachers are now catering to a variety of learning styles.

It’s always important to remember that every single student is unique and even two students who are both visual learners might still differ very much in what works best for them. The best way to approach education is to learn about and understand each student. By remembering that all students are human beings who have needs and feelings, teachers can approach them in an empathetic way.

If you’re interested in learning which learning style you are, you can take the VARK questionnaire . If you’re a teacher, it is a good idea to have all of your students take the questionnaire to help their learning. Not only will you be able to see what type of learners you have in your classroom, but your students will also be able to learn more about which ways to study and learn work best for them.

Remember, a learning style is only one explanation of a student’s preferred way of learning. This style can change over time, and every student matches with each style to differing degrees. No matter what facet of education you’re coming from, you can benefit from understanding the learning style of yourself and those around you.

Similar Posts:

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• The Flipped Classroom: The Definitive Guide
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Types of Learning: All About Learning Styles

ALI Staff | Published  September 20, 2023 | Updated December 14, 2023

Anyone who’s ever stood before a classroom to teach quickly understands that not all students are created the same. This is true regarding your students’ behavior, their style, and even how they learn. 

Even though learning styles may differ, your ability to meet students where they’re at, to get them interested in what you’re teaching, is always possible.

You just have to understand that different learning styles exist and then ensure your curriculum addresses as many ways to learn as possible.

It’s not always easy, but with the right tools, support, and understanding of the various styles of learning, you can do it.

What are learning styles?

Labels associated with styles of learning emerged as studies illustrated that there’s no one way everyone learns.

Categorizing types of learning helps explain how students process information, and most students will lean in a certain direction when it comes to a preferred method of learning.

Offering activities that fit into various learning styles can help more students succeed, with greater levels of comprehension and more motivation to continue learning.

It is worth noting that, although there are distinct learning styles, most people aren’t a single type of learner.

A person’s learning style can also change over time. This is why it’s important to understand the different ways to learn and craft lessons to hit more than one at a time.

Why are there multiple styles of learning?

Gaining access to information in the format that works best for each student helps build academic confidence.

Instead of grappling with the challenges of adapting their thinking and unfamiliar information, students can now access new content at their own level.

This not only enhances their comfort and ease with learning but also provides them with a deeper understanding of their own cognitive processes.

How different types of learning help reach all students

Meeting students where they learn allows you to optimize their ability to absorb, process, understand, and retain information.

Think about a single objective on a lesson plan -- by teaching it just one way, you’ll only have a handful of students truly learn what you’re trying to teach.

Providing a variety of methods to access the same objective gives every student an equal chance at hitting the benchmarks you’ve set for the curriculum.

How many different learning styles are there?

There are a variety of learning styles out there, and understanding the most common ones can help make you a more effective teacher.

It can also improve the effectiveness of curriculum, assessments, and daily activities, leading to stronger engagement with students. New research continues to emerge with new labels for learning styles, but the primary four used today are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing.

Visual learners

Visual learners like images, maps, and graphics. They’ll primarily gravitate toward patterns and shapes over photos and videos, so think charts and diagrams.

Using these to present new information can help visual learners see the relationship between ideas and understand how content fits together.

Auditory learners

Auditory learners hit their sweet spot in both lectures and group discussions. They consume information best when speaking about it or listening to someone else talk.

They’ll often need repetition and mnemonic devices to build retention and may need to say information out loud, in their own words, to understand fully.

Kinesthetic learners

For kinesthetic learners, it’s all about the hands-on activity . They need tactile representations of the material to make connections, so simulations and practice work best for them.

For schools incorporating STEAM into their curriculum, students with this learning type may benefit the most, although STEAM learning hits all the major learning styles in its approach. 

Reading/Writing preference learners

Copious note-takers and avid readers often fit into this learning style. Here, text is the most powerful tool, and reading/writing learners learn best through words.

You’ll find that these students excel at essay writing and all written assignments.

Other learning styles you might see

While many students will exhibit, in part, one of the four primary learning types, they may also fit into these newer categories of learning styles.

• Analytical learners — use logic and analytical skills to understand an idea. They’ll thrive when they can find patterns and make connections in their learning.
• Social learners — like a learning environment where they can engage with others. They’ll thrive in group and peer-to-peer work.
• Solo learners — are the champions of individual work. They want to put their heads down and focus on an assignment independently.

Research continues to present new learning styles you may want to consider, so be on the lookout for studies in this area.

Providing activities in a variety of learning methods

An ideal activity considers all the ways to learn and hits as many learning styles as possible. It may not encompass them all, but what’s important is to not lean too heavily on any single learning type.

A great activity that accommodates a variety of learning methods would have the following:

• Verbal instructions
• Written instructions with a diagram or graphic 
• Hands-on components to the activity
• Written follow-up to evaluate the results or share impressions

Mixing all these elements into a single activity has the added bonus of reaching students whose learning style is a combination of types. And having a learning style mix is also pretty common.

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Varying Assignments to Enhance Student Learning Styles

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Each student comes to your class with their own learning style strengths and weaknesses. Some will be stronger at auditory learning or learning through listening and sound. Others might find they learn better visually , gaining understanding through reading and writing.  Finally, many students will be stronger kinesthetic learners , learning better through hands-on activities. Therefore, it is important that we present lessons to students through a variety of techniques that play to each of their strengths.

While most teachers know this and try to vary presentation techniques as much as possible, it can be quite easy to forget about changing up assignments. In other words, if your student is an auditory learner, their understanding of the material will be reflected better through an auditory method. Traditionally, we have students present us with what they have learned through written means: essays, multiple-choice tests, and short answers. However, some students might do a better job reflecting their comprehension of what they have learned through either verbal or kinesthetic means. 

Therefore, requiring students to vary their responses can not only help more of them shine by working in their dominant learning style but it can also allow all students the chance to find new ways to learn. 

The following are ideas for activities that you can have students complete in each of their dominant learning styles. Realize, however, that many of these actually play to the strengths of more than one category. 

Visual Learners

• 'Typical' Written Activities: These include assignments like essays and short answer questions. 
• Outlining: Students can outline a chapter in a book or other reading assignment. 
• Flash Cards: Students can create flashcards that they can not only submit as an assignment but also use for review. 
• SQ3R: This stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review and is quite an effective reading comprehension method. 

Auditory Learners

• Cooperative Learning Activities: Activities that include auditory interaction between students can be quite powerful.
• Class Discussions: Students can discuss the lesson with teacher support. 
• Debates: Students can work in groups to debate an issue. 
• Recitations: Having students memorize and recite poetry or other readings also has the added benefit of helping improve their memory. 
• Musical Activities: Students can use music in a number of ways. For example, in an American History class, students might find songs that represent the turmoil of the 1960s protests. You might also have students write their own lyrics to songs as a way to present the information that they have learned. 
• Kinesthetic Learners
• Dramatic Presentations: Having students present their information through a play or other dramatic presentation not only helps kinesthetic learners but also auditory learners as well. 
• Speeches With Props: Students can stand before the class and speak about a topic while using props. 
• 'Teacher' for the Day Activities: Give students parts of a lesson that they are to 'teach' to the rest of the class. You can choose to have the students work individually or in small groups. 
• Simulations: Getting students moving around the classroom as they simulate an event like a presidential election can build interest and excitement in learning. 
• Manipulatives: Students enjoy being able to use manipulatives in classes like mathematics and science.
• Incorporating Dance or Exercise: While this might not work in some classes, allowing students the ability to choose to incorporate dance or exercise as a method of lesson presentation can open up a whole new avenue of learning. 
• Outdoor Activities: Students can be given assignments that require them to go outside and move around. 

Obviously, your subject matter and classroom environment will impact which of these would be the best fit for your students. However, I challenge you to move outside your comfort zone and try to find a way to not only represent lessons while incorporating all three learning styles, but also giving students' assignments and activities that allow them to use different learning modalities as well. 

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The Science Of Learning: Exploring The 4 Most Common Learning Styles

Learning is a complex process that involves a diverse range of cognitive and behavioral activities. In order for students to achieve the best possible outcomes, it is important to identify your own personal learning style. There are several different learning styles recognized by educators, each with its own unique characteristics and strategies. By understanding your preferred learning style, you can tailor your study methods to optimize your learning potential. In this blog post, we will explore the four most common learning styles, and provide tips on how to use them most effectively.

What Are The Different Learning Styles?

One popular model for identifying learning styles is the VARK model, which categorizes learners as either Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, or Kinesthetic.

• • A uditory
• • R eading & Writing
• • K inesthetic

How Can I Identify My Learning Style?

To identify your learning style, it is important to reflect on your personal preferences when it comes to learning. Do you find that you learn best when you read information on a page, or would you rather listen to a lecture and take notes? Do you need to physically engage with your learning material, such as through hands-on activities, or do you prefer to visualize concepts in your mind? By asking yourself these types of questions, you can start to recognize patterns in your learning behavior and determine which learning style best suits you. You can also find out what your main learning style is by taking The VARK Quesetionnaire .

In the following sections, we will explore each of the four learning styles in more detail and provide tips on how to use them effectively.

Visual Learners

Visual learners are those who learn best through the use of images, videos, diagrams, and other visual aids. They prefer to see information presented in a clear and organized way, and may struggle with large blocks of text or spoken lectures without accompanying visuals. Visual learners benefit from using color coding, mind maps, and other visual aids to help them organize and remember information. They may also find it helpful to create their own diagrams or illustrations to explain complex concepts. To maximize their learning potential, visual learners should seek out visual aids and resources, and avoid distractions such as noisy environments or cluttered workspaces.

What Comes Easy:

• • Visual learners can easily process and remember information that is presented through images, charts, and diagrams.
• • They can quickly grasp complex ideas by seeing them visually.
• • They have the ability to create mental images to remember information.

What Takes More Work:

• • It can be difficult for visual learners to understand information that is presented only through spoken words.
• • They may struggle to read and retain large amounts of text.
• • They may become easily distracted by visual stimuli in their environment.

Auditory Learners

Auditory learners process information best through sound and spoken words. They prefer to learn through lectures, discussions, and verbal explanations. They may struggle with reading comprehension or written instructions. To maximize their learning potential, auditory learners should seek out opportunities to listen to lectures, podcasts, or audiobooks. They may also benefit from studying in a quiet environment and repeating information out loud to themselves. Group discussions or study groups can also be effective for auditory learners to engage in verbal exchanges and retain information through conversation.

• • Learners can easily remember information if it is presented through sound.
• • They can understand complex ideas by listening to lectures, speeches, or conversations.
• • They can benefit from group discussions and debates.
• • It can be difficult for auditory learners to learn from written materials.
• • They may be easily distracted by background noise or other sounds.
• • They may struggle to recall information that was not presented through sound.

Reading & Writing Learners

Reading and writing learners, also known as verbal-linguistic learners, learn best through written texts and written exercises. They enjoy reading and writing, and are able to absorb information quickly through reading and taking extensive notes. They may struggle with oral presentations or lectures without accompanying written materials. To maximize their learning potential, reading and writing learners should take detailed notes, create outlines, and summarize information in their own words. They can also benefit from practicing writing exercises and engaging in discussions that require them to articulate their ideas in writing.

• • These learners can easily comprehend written material and can quickly process information by reading.
• • They can take notes and organize their thoughts effectively.
• • They can improve their learning by writing summaries, essays, and research papers.
• • It can be challenging for these learners to understand complex ideas that are not presented in written form.
• • They may struggle to learn from oral presentations.
• • They may become easily fatigued from reading and writing for extended periods.

Kinesthetic Learners

Kinesthetic learners, also known as tactile (touch) learners, learn best through physical movement and hands-on experiences. They prefer to learn by doing and may struggle with long periods of sitting still and listening to lectures. Kinesthetic learners benefit from hands-on activities, experiential learning, and role-playing exercises that allow them to physically engage with the material. They may also benefit from taking frequent breaks, using fidget toys or stress balls to keep their hands busy, and studying in a space that allows them to move around and use their body. To maximize their learning potential, kinesthetic learners should seek out opportunities for hands-on learning and physical activity, such as experiments, simulations, and field trips.

• • Kinesthetic learners are able to retain information better when they physically engage with the material.
• • They are often able to solve problems more creatively by using their hands and bodies.
• • Kinesthetic learners tend to have strong motor skills and hand-eye coordination, which can be useful in certain activities and professions.
• • Kinesthetic learners may struggle in traditional classroom settings that rely heavily on lectures and sitting still for long periods.
• • They may have difficulty learning abstract concepts or information that cannot be physically manipulated.
• • Kinesthetic learners may require more resources or materials to support their hands-on learning style, which may not always be available.

Can I Combine Learning Styles?

While there are different types of learning styles, most people do not fit into just one category. Rather, they prefer a combination of learning styles. For example, a student may be primarily a visual learner, but also benefit from hands-on activities to reinforce their learning. Another student may prefer to read and write, but also benefit from verbal explanations. By understanding their own unique combination of learning styles, individuals can tailor their approach to learning and maximize their potential for success. It’s important to note that everyone’s learning style is unique, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning.

How Can I Create An Effective Learning Environment?

Understanding your learning style is the first step to creating a learning environment that caters to your needs. Once you know your learning style, you can apply techniques that align with it to enhance your learning experience. Here are some strategies that you can use to create a learning environment that caters to your learning style:

• 1. Visual learners: Visual learners prefer to learn by seeing. To create an environment that supports your learning style, you can use visual aids like diagrams, charts, and pictures. You can also use highlighters and color codes to organize your notes and make connections between ideas.
• 2. Auditory learners: If you are an auditory learner, you may benefit from listening to lectures, discussions, or podcasts. To create a conducive learning environment, you may want to use headphones to block out external sounds and distractions. You can also record lectures and play them back later to reinforce your learning.
• 3. Reading & Writing learners: If you are a reading and writing learner, you may prefer to take notes and read texts. To create an environment that supports your learning style, you can use a quiet space to read and write without distractions. You can also use different fonts and colors to differentiate between ideas and concepts.
• 4. Kinesthetic learners: Kinesthetic learners prefer to learn by doing. To create an environment that supports your learning style, you can participate in hands-on activities like experiments, role-playing, or simulations. You can also take breaks to move around and use physical objects to reinforce your learning.

By creating a learning environment that aligns with your learning style, you can enhance your ability to retain information and improve your overall academic performance.

What Does This All Mean For Me?

Understanding your learning style is an important step towards maximizing your potential for success. By identifying your preferred learning style, you can create a learning environment that caters to your needs, enhances your ability to retain information, and improves your overall academic performance. Whether you are a visual, auditory, reading and writing, or kinesthetic learner, there are strategies that you can use to optimize your learning experience. By applying these techniques, you can achieve your academic goals with greater ease and confidence.

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Designing Assignments for Learning

The rapid shift to remote teaching and learning meant that many instructors reimagined their assessment practices. Whether adapting existing assignments or creatively designing new opportunities for their students to learn, instructors focused on helping students make meaning and demonstrate their learning outside of the traditional, face-to-face classroom setting. This resource distills the elements of assignment design that are important to carry forward as we continue to seek better ways of assessing learning and build on our innovative assignment designs.

On this page:

Rethinking traditional tests, quizzes, and exams.

• Examples from the Columbia University Classroom
• Tips for Designing Assignments for Learning

Reflect On Your Assignment Design

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Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2021). Designing Assignments for Learning. Columbia University. Retrieved [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/teaching-with-technology/teaching-online/designing-assignments/

Traditional assessments tend to reveal whether students can recognize, recall, or replicate what was learned out of context, and tend to focus on students providing correct responses (Wiggins, 1990). In contrast, authentic assignments, which are course assessments, engage students in higher order thinking, as they grapple with real or simulated challenges that help them prepare for their professional lives, and draw on the course knowledge learned and the skills acquired to create justifiable answers, performances or products (Wiggins, 1990). An authentic assessment provides opportunities for students to practice, consult resources, learn from feedback, and refine their performances and products accordingly (Wiggins 1990, 1998, 2014). 

Authentic assignments ask students to “do” the subject with an audience in mind and apply their learning in a new situation. Examples of authentic assignments include asking students to: 

• Write for a real audience (e.g., a memo, a policy brief, letter to the editor, a grant proposal, reports, building a website) and/or publication;
• Solve problem sets that have real world application; 
• Design projects that address a real world problem; 
• Engage in a community-partnered research project;
• Create an exhibit, performance, or conference presentation ;
• Compile and reflect on their work through a portfolio/e-portfolio.

Noteworthy elements of authentic designs are that instructors scaffold the assignment, and play an active role in preparing students for the tasks assigned, while students are intentionally asked to reflect on the process and product of their work thus building their metacognitive skills (Herrington and Oliver, 2000; Ashford-Rowe, Herrington and Brown, 2013; Frey, Schmitt, and Allen, 2012). 

It’s worth noting here that authentic assessments can initially be time consuming to design, implement, and grade. They are critiqued for being challenging to use across course contexts and for grading reliability issues (Maclellan, 2004). Despite these challenges, authentic assessments are recognized as beneficial to student learning (Svinicki, 2004) as they are learner-centered (Weimer, 2013), promote academic integrity (McLaughlin, L. and Ricevuto, 2021; Sotiriadou et al., 2019; Schroeder, 2021) and motivate students to learn (Ambrose et al., 2010). The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning is always available to consult with faculty who are considering authentic assessment designs and to discuss challenges and affordances.   

Examples from the Columbia University Classroom 

Columbia instructors have experimented with alternative ways of assessing student learning from oral exams to technology-enhanced assignments. Below are a few examples of authentic assignments in various teaching contexts across Columbia University. 

• E-portfolios: Statia Cook shares her experiences with an ePorfolio assignment in her co-taught Frontiers of Science course (a submission to the Voices of Hybrid and Online Teaching and Learning initiative); CUIMC use of ePortfolios ;
• Case studies: Columbia instructors have engaged their students in authentic ways through case studies drawing on the Case Consortium at Columbia University. Read and watch a faculty spotlight to learn how Professor Mary Ann Price uses the case method to place pre-med students in real-life scenarios;
• Simulations: students at CUIMC engage in simulations to develop their professional skills in The Mary & Michael Jaharis Simulation Center in the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center in the Columbia School of Nursing; 
• Experiential learning: instructors have drawn on New York City as a learning laboratory such as Barnard’s NYC as Lab webpage which highlights courses that engage students in NYC;
• Design projects that address real world problems: Yevgeniy Yesilevskiy on the Engineering design projects completed using lab kits during remote learning. Watch Dr. Yesilevskiy talk about his teaching and read the Columbia News article . 
• Writing assignments: Lia Marshall and her teaching associate Aparna Balasundaram reflect on their “non-disposable or renewable assignments” to prepare social work students for their professional lives as they write for a real audience; and Hannah Weaver spoke about a sandbox assignment used in her Core Literature Humanities course at the 2021 Celebration of Teaching and Learning Symposium . Watch Dr. Weaver share her experiences.  

​Tips for Designing Assignments for Learning

While designing an effective authentic assignment may seem like a daunting task, the following tips can be used as a starting point. See the Resources section for frameworks and tools that may be useful in this effort.  

Align the assignment with your course learning objectives 

Identify the kind of thinking that is important in your course, the knowledge students will apply, and the skills they will practice using through the assignment. What kind of thinking will students be asked to do for the assignment? What will students learn by completing this assignment? How will the assignment help students achieve the desired course learning outcomes? For more information on course learning objectives, see the CTL’s Course Design Essentials self-paced course and watch the video on Articulating Learning Objectives .  

Identify an authentic meaning-making task

For meaning-making to occur, students need to understand the relevance of the assignment to the course and beyond (Ambrose et al., 2010). To Bean (2011) a “meaning-making” or “meaning-constructing” task has two dimensions: 1) it presents students with an authentic disciplinary problem or asks students to formulate their own problems, both of which engage them in active critical thinking, and 2) the problem is placed in “a context that gives students a role or purpose, a targeted audience, and a genre.” (Bean, 2011: 97-98). 

An authentic task gives students a realistic challenge to grapple with, a role to take on that allows them to “rehearse for the complex ambiguities” of life, provides resources and supports to draw on, and requires students to justify their work and the process they used to inform their solution (Wiggins, 1990). Note that if students find an assignment interesting or relevant, they will see value in completing it. 

Consider the kind of activities in the real world that use the knowledge and skills that are the focus of your course. How is this knowledge and these skills applied to answer real-world questions to solve real-world problems? (Herrington et al., 2010: 22). What do professionals or academics in your discipline do on a regular basis? What does it mean to think like a biologist, statistician, historian, social scientist? How might your assignment ask students to draw on current events, issues, or problems that relate to the course and are of interest to them? How might your assignment tap into student motivation and engage them in the kinds of thinking they can apply to better understand the world around them? (Ambrose et al., 2010). 

Determine the evaluation criteria and create a rubric

To ensure equitable and consistent grading of assignments across students, make transparent the criteria you will use to evaluate student work. The criteria should focus on the knowledge and skills that are central to the assignment. Build on the criteria identified, create a rubric that makes explicit the expectations of deliverables and share this rubric with your students so they can use it as they work on the assignment. For more information on rubrics, see the CTL’s resource Incorporating Rubrics into Your Grading and Feedback Practices , and explore the Association of American Colleges & Universities VALUE Rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education). 

Build in metacognition

Ask students to reflect on what and how they learned from the assignment. Help students uncover personal relevance of the assignment, find intrinsic value in their work, and deepen their motivation by asking them to reflect on their process and their assignment deliverable. Sample prompts might include: what did you learn from this assignment? How might you draw on the knowledge and skills you used on this assignment in the future? See Ambrose et al., 2010 for more strategies that support motivation and the CTL’s resource on Metacognition ). 

Provide students with opportunities to practice

Design your assignment to be a learning experience and prepare students for success on the assignment. If students can reasonably expect to be successful on an assignment when they put in the required effort ,with the support and guidance of the instructor, they are more likely to engage in the behaviors necessary for learning (Ambrose et al., 2010). Ensure student success by actively teaching the knowledge and skills of the course (e.g., how to problem solve, how to write for a particular audience), modeling the desired thinking, and creating learning activities that build up to a graded assignment. Provide opportunities for students to practice using the knowledge and skills they will need for the assignment, whether through low-stakes in-class activities or homework activities that include opportunities to receive and incorporate formative feedback. For more information on providing feedback, see the CTL resource Feedback for Learning . 

Communicate about the assignment 

Share the purpose, task, audience, expectations, and criteria for the assignment. Students may have expectations about assessments and how they will be graded that is informed by their prior experiences completing high-stakes assessments, so be transparent. Tell your students why you are asking them to do this assignment, what skills they will be using, how it aligns with the course learning outcomes, and why it is relevant to their learning and their professional lives (i.e., how practitioners / professionals use the knowledge and skills in your course in real world contexts and for what purposes). Finally, verify that students understand what they need to do to complete the assignment. This can be done by asking students to respond to poll questions about different parts of the assignment, a “scavenger hunt” of the assignment instructions–giving students questions to answer about the assignment and having them work in small groups to answer the questions, or by having students share back what they think is expected of them.

Plan to iterate and to keep the focus on learning 

Draw on multiple sources of data to help make decisions about what changes are needed to the assignment, the assignment instructions, and/or rubric to ensure that it contributes to student learning. Explore assignment performance data. As Deandra Little reminds us: “a really good assignment, which is a really good assessment, also teaches you something or tells the instructor something. As much as it tells you what students are learning, it’s also telling you what they aren’t learning.” ( Teaching in Higher Ed podcast episode 337 ). Assignment bottlenecks–where students get stuck or struggle–can be good indicators that students need further support or opportunities to practice prior to completing an assignment. This awareness can inform teaching decisions. 

Triangulate the performance data by collecting student feedback, and noting your own reflections about what worked well and what did not. Revise the assignment instructions, rubric, and teaching practices accordingly. Consider how you might better align your assignment with your course objectives and/or provide more opportunities for students to practice using the knowledge and skills that they will rely on for the assignment. Additionally, keep in mind societal, disciplinary, and technological changes as you tweak your assignments for future use. 

Now is a great time to reflect on your practices and experiences with assignment design and think critically about your approach. Take a closer look at an existing assignment. Questions to consider include: What is this assignment meant to do? What purpose does it serve? Why do you ask students to do this assignment? How are they prepared to complete the assignment? Does the assignment assess the kind of learning that you really want? What would help students learn from this assignment? 

Using the tips in the previous section: How can the assignment be tweaked to be more authentic and meaningful to students? 

As you plan forward for post-pandemic teaching and reflect on your practices and reimagine your course design, you may find the following CTL resources helpful: Reflecting On Your Experiences with Remote Teaching , Transition to In-Person Teaching , and Course Design Support .

The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is here to help!

For assistance with assignment design, rubric design, or any other teaching and learning need, please request a consultation by emailing [email protected] . 

Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework for assignments. The TILT Examples and Resources page ( https://tilthighered.com/tiltexamplesandresources ) includes example assignments from across disciplines, as well as a transparent assignment template and a checklist for designing transparent assignments . Each emphasizes the importance of articulating to students the purpose of the assignment or activity, the what and how of the task, and specifying the criteria that will be used to assess students. 

Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) offers VALUE ADD (Assignment Design and Diagnostic) tools ( https://www.aacu.org/value-add-tools ) to help with the creation of clear and effective assignments that align with the desired learning outcomes and associated VALUE rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education). VALUE ADD encourages instructors to explicitly state assignment information such as the purpose of the assignment, what skills students will be using, how it aligns with course learning outcomes, the assignment type, the audience and context for the assignment, clear evaluation criteria, desired formatting, and expectations for completion whether individual or in a group.

Villarroel et al. (2017) propose a blueprint for building authentic assessments which includes four steps: 1) consider the workplace context, 2) design the authentic assessment; 3) learn and apply standards for judgement; and 4) give feedback. 

References 

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., & DiPietro, M. (2010). Chapter 3: What Factors Motivate Students to Learn? In How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching . Jossey-Bass. 

Ashford-Rowe, K., Herrington, J., and Brown, C. (2013). Establishing the critical elements that determine authentic assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 39(2), 205-222, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.819566 .  

Bean, J.C. (2011). Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom . Second Edition. Jossey-Bass. 

Frey, B. B, Schmitt, V. L., and Allen, J. P. (2012). Defining Authentic Classroom Assessment. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation. 17(2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.7275/sxbs-0829  

Herrington, J., Reeves, T. C., and Oliver, R. (2010). A Guide to Authentic e-Learning . Routledge. 

Herrington, J. and Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 23-48. 

Litchfield, B. C. and Dempsey, J. V. (2015). Authentic Assessment of Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 142 (Summer 2015), 65-80. 

Maclellan, E. (2004). How convincing is alternative assessment for use in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 29(3), June 2004. DOI: 10.1080/0260293042000188267

McLaughlin, L. and Ricevuto, J. (2021). Assessments in a Virtual Environment: You Won’t Need that Lockdown Browser! Faculty Focus. June 2, 2021. 

Mueller, J. (2005). The Authentic Assessment Toolbox: Enhancing Student Learning through Online Faculty Development . MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. 1(1). July 2005. Mueller’s Authentic Assessment Toolbox is available online. 

Schroeder, R. (2021). Vaccinate Against Cheating With Authentic Assessment . Inside Higher Ed. (February 26, 2021).  

Sotiriadou, P., Logan, D., Daly, A., and Guest, R. (2019). The role of authentic assessment to preserve academic integrity and promote skills development and employability. Studies in Higher Education. 45(111), 2132-2148. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1582015    

Stachowiak, B. (Host). (November 25, 2020). Authentic Assignments with Deandra Little. (Episode 337). In Teaching in Higher Ed . https://teachinginhighered.com/podcast/authentic-assignments/  

Svinicki, M. D. (2004). Authentic Assessment: Testing in Reality. New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 100 (Winter 2004): 23-29. 

Villarroel, V., Bloxham, S, Bruna, D., Bruna, C., and Herrera-Seda, C. (2017). Authentic assessment: creating a blueprint for course design. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 43(5), 840-854. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1412396    

Weimer, M. (2013). Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice . Second Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Wiggins, G. (2014). Authenticity in assessment, (re-)defined and explained. Retrieved from https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/authenticity-in-assessment-re-defined-and-explained/

Wiggins, G. (1998). Teaching to the (Authentic) Test. Educational Leadership . April 1989. 41-47. 

Wiggins, Grant (1990). The Case for Authentic Assessment . Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation , 2(2). 

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Understanding Different Learning Styles in Students and How to Cater to Them

• by Team Varthana
• Posted on December 15, 2023
• in Education

Education is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Each student has unique strengths, weaknesses, and preferences when it comes to learning. Understanding the different learning styles, their importance and how to cater to them is crucial for schools to create inclusive and effective learning environments. 

Understanding Learning styles

The theory of learning styles was first introduced by Neil Fleming in 1992 . The varied methods by which students learn and process information are referred to as learning styles. They are influenced by factors such as personality, cognitive abilities, sensory preferences, and environmental factors. They can influence how learners comprehend, retain, and apply new information. There are many models and theories of learning styles, but one of the most widely used is the VARK model, which identifies four main types of learners: Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic. 

Importance of identifying learning styles

When it comes to students’ learning and development, one of the few things is to identify learning styles . This is because it allows one to customize their students’ learning experiences to their specific preferences. When students are taught in a way that matches their learning style, they are more likely to absorb the content and remember it for a longer amount of time. This in turn results in improved performance, greater motivation, enhanced staff engagement, and increased confidence.

Understanding the different learning styles and catering to them

As a teacher, one may have noticed that not all students learn in the same way. Some may prefer to listen to lectures, while others may enjoy hands-on activities or visual aids. These preferences reflect the different learning styles that students have, and they can affect their academic performance and motivation. Most students are a mix of various learning types, although they usually have a dominant learning style. Each of these styles will also have a complementary way of teaching.

1. Visual Learners

Visual learners thrive when information is presented in a visual format. They prefer to see and observe information through images, diagrams, graphs, and videos. For these learners, incorporating visual aids and creating visually stimulating learning materials is essential. Teachers can cater to Visual learning styles as follows:

• use visual aids like infographics, charts, diagrams,  and mind maps to present information and enhance comprehension and retention
• provide opportunities to create their own visual representations of concepts
• incorporate videos, animations, and slideshows to reinforce concepts
• encourage visual note-taking and the use of colour coding to organize information.
• provide written instructions and handouts to supplement verbal explanations.

2. Auditory Learners

Auditory learners absorb information best through sound and spoken words. They prefer listening to lectures, discussions, and audio recordings. To cater to auditory learners, teachers should focus on verbal communication. Strategies to engage these learners effectively.   Teachers can cater to the Auditory learning style as follows:

• Ask students to read aloud
• Engage students in discussions and debates to encourage active listening.
• Use lectures, podcasts, and audio recordings to deliver information.
• Encourage students to explain concepts verbally or participate in group discussions.
• Provide opportunities for students to present their ideas and findings orally.

Also Read: What school leaders can do to change academic outcomes for kids?

3. Kinesthetic/Physical/Tactile Learners

Kinesthetic learners are hands-on learners who thrive through physical activity and movement. They prefer to engage in practical experiences and learn through touch and manipulation. To cater to kinesthetic learners, educators should incorporate experiential learning and real-world applications into their teaching methods. 

• Incorporate hands-on activities, experiments, and simulations.
• Encourage students to participate in role-plays, skits, or physical demonstrations.
• Use manipulatives, models, or interactive technology to reinforce concepts.
• Provide opportunities for students to engage in practical applications of knowledge.
• Provide opportunities for movement during lessons, such as incorporating gestures or allowing students to work in groups

4. Reading/Writing Learners

Reading/writing learners prefer to learn through written words. They excel in reading, writing, note-taking, and organizing information in written form. To cater to these learners, teachers should provide ample reading materials, textbooks, and written assignments that can enhance their understanding and encourage critical thinking.  Teachers can cater to the Reading/Writing learning style as follows:

• Incorporate writing prompts, journals, and written reflections. 
• use graphic organizers, outlines, and bullet points that can help visually organize information and reinforce comprehension.
• Assign readings and provide written materials for students to review.
• Encourage note-taking, summarizing, and highlighting important points.
• Incorporate writing assignments, essays, and reflective journals.
• Provide opportunities for students to write and present reports or research papers.

5. Social Learners

Social learners thrive in collaborative and interactive learning environments. They prefer working with others, engaging in group discussions, and learning through social interaction. To cater to social learners, educators should incorporate group projects, cooperative learning activities, and peer-to-peer interactions into their teaching methods to foster social learners’ understanding and strengthen their communication and teamwork skills.  Teachers can cater to the Social learning style as follows:

• Inquire about what they think about a concept/topic/idea.
• Request that they bounce ideas off one another and compare their thoughts to those of others.
• Allow them to talk and share their stories.
• Include group work.
• Play a role-playing game.

6. Solitary Learners

Solitary learners prefer to work alone and engage in self-directed learning. They excel in independent study, self-reflection, and individual exploration. To cater to solitary learners, teachers should provide quiet spaces for individual work and independent research can enhance their understanding.  Teachers can cater to the Solitary learning style as follows:

• Ask questions in order to understand what they are thinking and how they’re feeling.
• Provide individual problem-solving activities.
• Explain why the lesson topic is essential because solo learners are frequently concerned with results.
• Provide means for the class to track their development.
• Make connections between what they have already learned/should know and new concepts.
• Provide reading materials, and encourage self-paced learning
• Incorporate technology tools like e-learning platforms, online resources, and virtual libraries

7. Naturalist learners

Naturalist learners learn through working with and experiencing nature. They learn through seeing patterns in nature and applying scientific logic to gain comprehension.  Teachers can cater to the Naturalist learning style as follows:

• Include experiments in the sessions while teaching.
• Make students think of what is being presented as a new ecosystem that they can learn about by identifying patterns. This will assist them in connecting concepts.
• Include exercises in which students must recognise and categorize.
• Use examples from everyday life, people, or nature.
• Observational data, such as case studies, should be provided.

8. Logical thinkers

Logical learners like logic and reasoning. They like classifying and categorizing information and solving numerical difficulties. Logical learners excel at examining cause-and-effect relationships.  Teachers can cater to the Logical learning style as follows:

• Provide problem-solving assignments to the class as a strategy for educating logical learners.
• Encourage them to figure things out for themselves.
• Instruct them on how to comprehend abstract visual information.
• Include activities in critical thinking .
• Provide data and information.
• Ask them to draw conclusions after presenting them with evidence.

Also Read: How to Finance School Construction in India in 5 Easy Steps?

9. Multimodal Learners

It is important to note that while understanding learning styles can be helpful, it is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Students may have preferences for certain learning styles, but they can also benefit from exposure to different methods. Flexibility and adaptability in teaching strategies can create a more inclusive and effective learning environment for all students.  Teachers can cater to the Multimodal learning style as follows:

• Recognize that students may have a combination of learning styles.
• Incorporate a variety of teaching methods to engage different senses and modalities.
• Offer choices for students to demonstrate their understanding through various mediums.
• Provide opportunities for collaborative projects and group work to cater to different learning preferences.

Tips on how to cater to different learning styles

As a teacher, it is important to understand the different learning styles of the students and how to cater to them. By doing so, one can enhance the student’s learning outcomes and engagement. Here are some tips on how to do that:

– Assess the students’ learning styles using surveys, quizzes, or observations.

– Use a variety of teaching methods and materials that appeal to different learning styles.

– Encourage students to use their preferred learning styles when studying or doing homework.

– Provide feedback and support that match the student’s learning styles.

– Respect the students’ individual differences and preferences.

– Be flexible and adaptable to the student’s needs and interests.

By understanding the different learning styles of students and how to cater to them, a teacher can create a more inclusive and effective learning environment for students. One can also help them develop their strengths and overcome their weaknesses as learners. By catering to different learning styles one can create a diverse and engaging learning experience that allows students to access and process information in ways that resonate with them. Remember that learning styles are not fixed or rigid; they can change over time and vary depending on the context and content. Therefore, it is important to keep an open mind and be willing to experiment with different strategies and techniques.

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4 Types of Learning Styles: How to Accommodate a Diverse Group of Students

By Callie Malvik on 08/17/2020

We all experience the world in unique ways, and with that comes variation in the ways we learn best. Understanding these different types of learning styles can drastically impact the way teachers handle their students, set up group projects and adapt individual learning. Without understanding and acknowledging these different ways of learning, teachers might end up with a handful of students lagging behind their classmates—in part because their unique learning style hasn’t been activated.

Part of your responsibility as an educator is to adjust your lessons to the unique group of students you are working with at any given time. The best teachers can cater to each student’s strengths, ensuring they are truly grasping the information.

So how do you meet the needs of different types of learners in your class? Join us as we outline the four types of learning styles and how teachers can practically apply this information in their classrooms.

Ways of learning: A closer look at 4 learning styles

Learning styles and preferences take on a variety of forms—and not all people fit neatly into one category. But generally speaking, these are the most common types of learners:

1. Visual learners

How to recognize visual learners in your class: Someone with a preference for visual learning is partial to seeing and observing things, including pictures, diagrams, written directions and more. This is also referred to as the “spatial” learning style. Students who learn through sight understand information better when it’s presented in a visual way. These are your doodling students, your list makers and your students who take notes.

How to cater to visual learners: The whiteboard or smartboard is your best friend when teaching these types of learners. Give students opportunities to draw pictures and diagrams on the board, or ask students to doodle examples based on the topic they’re learning. Teachers catering to visual learners should regularly make handouts and use presentations. Visual learners may also need more time to process material, as they observe the visual cues before them. So be sure to give students a little time and space to absorb the information.

2. Auditory learners

How to recognize auditory learners in your class: Auditory learners tend to learn better when the subject matter is reinforced by sound. These students would much rather listen to a lecture than read written notes, and they often use their own voices to reinforce new concepts and ideas. These types of learners prefer reading out loud to themselves. They aren’t afraid to speak up in class and are great at verbally explaining things. Additionally, they may be slower at reading and may often repeat things a teacher tells them.

How to cater to auditory learners: Since these students generally find it hard to stay quiet for long periods of time, get your auditory learners involved in the lecture by asking them to repeat new concepts back to you. Ask questions and let them answer. Invoke group discussions so your auditory and verbal processors can properly take in and understand the information they’re being presented with. Watching videos and using music or audiotapes are also helpful ways of learning for this group.

3. Kinesthetic learners

How to recognize kinesthetic learners in your class: Kinesthetic learners, sometimes called tactile learners, learn through experiencing or doing things. They like to get involved by acting out events or using their hands to touch and handle in order to understand concepts. These types of learners might struggle to sit still and often excel at sports or like to dance. They may need to take more frequent breaks when studying.

How to cater to kinesthetic learners: The best way teachers can help these students learn is by getting them moving. Instruct students to act out a certain scene from a book or a lesson you’re teaching. Also try encouraging these students by incorporating movement into lessons: pacing to help memorize, learning games that involve moving around the classroom or having students write on the whiteboard as part of an activity.

Once kinesthetic learners can physically sense what they’re studying, abstract ideas and difficult concepts become easier to understand.

4. Reading/writing learners

How to recognize reading/writing learners in your class: According to the VARK Modalities theory developed by Fleming and Mills in 1992, reading/writing learners prefer to learn through written words. While there is some overlap with visual learning, these types of learners are drawn to expression through writing, reading articles or books, writing in diaries, looking up words in the dictionary and searching the internet for just about everything.

How to cater to reading/writing learners: Of the four learning styles, this is probably the easiest to cater to since much of the traditional educational system tends to center on writing essays, doing research and reading books. Be mindful about allowing plenty of time for these students to absorb information through the written word, and give them opportunities to get their ideas out on paper as well.

Embrace all types of learning

Understanding these different learning styles doesn’t end in the classroom. By equipping students with tools in their early years, teachers are empowering them for their futures. Pinpointing how a child learns best can dramatically affect their ability to connect with the topics you’re teaching, as well as how they participate with the rest of the class.

Now that you have some tactics in your back pocket to accommodate different ways of learning, you may be curious about classroom management strategies. Learn more in our article, “ Proven Classroom Management Tips for Preschool Teachers . ”

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally published in 2018. It has since been updated to include information relevant to 2020.

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Kinesthetic learning style: definition, characteristics & benefits in 2024, what is kinesthetic learning, how kinesthetic learners learn, characteristics of kinesthetic learning style, benefits of kinesthetic learning style, kinesthetic teaching tools.

• Kinesthetic Teaching Methods

Steps to Implementing Kinesthetic Learning Style In Your Classroom

Career options for kinesthetic learners, start teaching the kinesthetic style.

Kinesthetic learning, also known as tactile learning, is a learning style in which individuals learn best through physical activities such as touching, moving, or performing hands-on tasks. 

Kinesthetic learners are often described as hands-on learners who require active participation and physical engagement to understand and retain new information fully.

They enjoy hands-on activities such as building, crafting and creating things. They also tend to doodle a lot while listening.

Unlike other learning styles, such as auditory and reading/writing, where learners prefer to listen or read, kinesthetic learners prefer to learn by doing and experiencing.

Today, we’ll explain everything educators need to know about kinesthetic learning . We’ll cover everything from benefits to characteristics and demonstrate real examples of how you can implement it.

According to Cambridge  Dictionary , the word kinesthesia means knowing where the parts of your body are and how they are moving.

It describes the type of learning that emphasizes physical activity and hands-on experiences as the primary means of learning and understanding new information. 

For kinesthetic learners, simply reading or listening to information may not be enough to fully comprehend or retain it. Instead, they must engage in hands-on experiences .

For example, if you’re covering a topic on how to plant strawberries, you may read about it, watch instructional videos, and have group discussions. But, a kinesthetic learner will only understand and remember if you actually plant the strawberries.

Kinesthetic learning is one of four different learning styles in the VARK model .

The VARK model is a framework used to describe different learning styles. It was developed by Neil Fleming in the late 1980s, and it categorizes learners into four main categories based on their preferred learning method. 

The four learning styles in the VARK model are:

• Visual learners: Prefer to learn through visual aids such as diagrams, pictures, and videos.
• Auditory learners: Learn better through listening, either through lectures, discussions, or podcasts.
• Reading/Writing learners: Prefer to learn through written material, such as books and articles.
• Kinesthetic learners: Learn through hands-on activities and physical experiences.

As mentioned, kinesthetic learners learn through real-life experiences and physical activity. They tend to learn best by doing, touching, and manipulating objects.

Kinesthetic learners enjoy acting out scenarios, which helps them better understand the material and apply it to real-world situations.

Kinesthetic learning takes place in normal daily life too. For instance, imagine wanting to learn how to ride a bike. 

No amount of instructions will help as much as getting on the bike, falling a few times, and learning how to maneuver the whole process.

The table below shows the differences between a kinesthetic learner and a visual learner.

For kinesthetic learners, doing things and engaging in physical activity is critical for effective learning. It works better for them than seeing or listening.

By doing things, they can physically connect with the concept, which helps with memory retention.

They also get to receive immediate feedback on their actions. This feedback helps them adjust their actions where needed leading to better learning outcomes.

For young children, you can spot kinesthetic learning characteristics in several ways. For example, mimicking the actions of others, asking to touch things, tearing things apart, or fidgeting when asked to sit still for long periods.

The following are some common characteristics of kinesthetic learners:

• Good at visualizing how objects fit together and may excel in activities that require physical coordination, such as sports or dance.
• Very active and often prefer activities that involve movement, such as sports or dance.
• Good at multitasking and can perform physical tasks while simultaneously processing information.

By understanding their learning style and providing opportunities for active learning, you can help kinesthetic learners thrive and reach their full potential.

Kinesthetic learners typically play with the material and need physical sensations to learn. This has several benefits for students.

Let’s explore the benefits of kinesthetic learning style.

Improved Comprehension

Inadequate teaching styles can prevent kinesthetic learners from learning as effectively as other students. 

For example, the lack of hands-on activities can make it harder for kinesthetic learners to engage with the material.

In another instance, kinesthetic learners may struggle with written assignments and tests because they prefer to learn through physical activity. If a teacher only emphasizes written work, kinesthetic learners may feel left behind.

If teachers do not recognize the importance of different learning styles , they may not provide opportunities for kinesthetic learners to learn effectively. This can lead to frustration and a lack of engagement in the classroom.

On the other hand, when kinesthetic learners are being taught in a way tailored to their learning method, the comprehension process can be very effective. This can lead to better academic performance and greater engagement with the learning process.

Supports Cognitive Development

Many studies suggest that thinking and movement are connected in our brains. Pairing cognitive activity with movement is an effective way to help kinesthetic learners stay focused and interested in the material they are learning.

Movement also helps kinesthetic learners understand concepts by providing a physical representation of the ideas they are trying to learn. For example, a kinesthetic learner will understand the concept of gravity better by acting out the force of gravity on their body.

By engaging their bodies and minds simultaneously, kinesthetic learners improve their retention, understanding, and creativity.

Better Social Skills

Kinesthetic learning often involves group work and collaboration, which helps students develop teamwork and communication skills.

Group role-playing, teamwork, and cooperation are important elements that help kinesthetic learners develop social skills.

Through working together to complete physical tasks, learners can practice listening to others, providing feedback, and problem-solving as a group.

Additionally, kinesthetic learning improves verbal communication skills. Through practicing activities with peers, learners get better at articulating their thoughts and ideas. 

Boosts Creative Thinking

Kinesthetic learning promotes divergent thinking. This is the ability to think creatively and generate multiple solutions to a problem. 

By engaging in physical activities, learners approach problems from different angles and explore multiple solutions.

Kinesthetic learning also encourages learners to experiment and try new things. By physically engaging with materials and manipulating them in different ways, learners explore and discover new ways of thinking and problem-solving.

For instance,  kinesthetic learners can participate in building projects, such as constructing models or structures to develop creativity and imagination.

Improves Muscle Memory

Kinesthetic learning helps improve muscle memory by engaging the learner's body in the learning process. 

Muscle memory is a type of procedural memory that involves the ability to repeat a physical task or movement without conscious thought. It’s developed through repeated practice.

Kinesthetic learning often involves using the whole body to perform physical tasks. This helps develop muscle memory by engaging multiple muscle groups and making the movement more natural and automatic.

Examples of kinesthetic learning activities that can improve muscle memory include

• Sports such as shooting a basketball or practicing dance routines and other physical activities.
• Performing arts, such as theater or dance, that involve repeated physical movements and actions.
• Fine motor skill development, such as drawing or playing musical instruments, that involve precise movements and hand-eye coordination.

There are many tools or activities that teachers can use to help kinesthetic learners understand and retain information.

We’ll now look at the kinesthetic learning activities and how they can be implemented in a classroom setting.

Animations are visual representations of movement and change created through a series of sequential images or frames. They can be created using hand-drawn images, computer-generated graphics, and stop-motion techniques.

Animations can tell stories, explain complex concepts, and demonstrate the movement of objects or the flow of a process.

For example, you can create a series of photographs of a physical object or scene, with slight changes between each photo. When the photos are played back in sequence, they create the illusion of movement.

You can use this kind of animation to explain concepts such as evaporation, movement of blood through the circulatory system, and more.

By using animation techniques, you can depict complex processes and concepts in a simplified and interactive way for the kinesthetic learner.

Stand-on Simulations

Stand-on simulations refer to a type of training or exercise where participants remain standing throughout the simulation instead of sitting or moving around.

In stand-on simulations, participants are asked to role-play different scenarios and make decisions under pressure while standing and moving around a simulated environment. 

This helps improve physical stamina, coordination, and decision-making skills, while also providing a more dynamic and engaging learning experience.

By engaging in stand-on simulations, kinesthetic learners can use their bodies and physical movements to better understand and internalize new information and skills.

In addition, stand-on simulations help kinesthetic learners develop problem-solving and decision-making skills by requiring them to react quickly and make decisions while in motion.

Micro-Learning Lessons

Microlearning is a teaching method that delivers content in short, bite-sized lessons designed to be consumed quickly and easily. 

Microlearning lessons are designed to be brief and concise, with most lessons ranging from a few minutes to 15 minutes or less. Here, teachers focus on one learning objective at a time.

Micro-learning lessons can be delivered as experiments, videos, podcasts, infographics, or interactive quizzes, to make the learning experience more engaging and interactive.

By breaking down content into smaller chunks, learners can absorb information more easily and retain it for longer. 

Interactive Documents

Interactive documents are digital documents that allow users to engage with the content in a more interactive way. 

Unlike traditional static documents, such as PDFs or Word documents, interactive documents include multimedia elements such as images, videos, gifs and clickable links.

They allow users to navigate and explore the content more easily. Some common examples of interactive documents are:

• Interactive PDFs
• Online magazines and catalogs
• Interactive digital presentations such as polls and quizzes

Interactive documents provide a more engaging and interactive way to present information and assess learning outcomes. 

Role-Playing Exercise

Role playing is a teaching method that involves simulating real-life situations in which learners take on different roles or characters.

Role playing is an effective tool for kinesthetic learners , because it provides them with an opportunity to engage with the material in a more hands-on and interactive way.

For example, let's say you are teaching a lesson on conflict resolution. You could start by presenting a scenario, such as a disagreement between two friends.

To help your kinesthetic learners better understand and apply the material, you could ask them to take on different roles, such as the two friends and a mediator.

Your learners could then act out the scenario, practicing important conflict resolution skills such as effective communication, active listening, and problem-solving. 

After the role play, you could facilitate a discussion about what worked well, what could have been improved, and how the conflict could have been resolved more effectively

By using role playing in this way, you are providing your tactile learners with an opportunity to engage with real-life examples, which helps them understand better.

Kinesthetic Teaching Methods 

As a teacher, you should be able to determine which of your learners are kinesthetic. This way, you can employ teaching methods to improve their academic performance.

If you incorporate kinesthetic learning in your classroom, you’re not only benefiting your kinesthetic learners but also other students with different approaches to learning.

Let’s look at ways you can give a kinesthetic learning experience to your entire classroom.

Incorporating Kinesthetic-Friendly Activities in Your Lessons

Research has shown that the average attention span of an adult is between 10 to 20 minutes. For children and young learners, attention spans can be even shorter. 

Shorter lessons are a kinesthetic-friendly approach that helps learners stay engaged and focused throughout the lesson. You can introduce activities to help them develop various skills and abilities.

Shorter lessons help learners retain more information by allowing them to focus on a smaller amount of material at one time. This can be particularly important for kinesthetic learners who may struggle to stay focused on longer lessons.

Shorter lessons also provide more opportunities for learners to review and reflect on what they have learned. This helps to reinforce their understanding and promote deeper learning.

By incorporating kinesthetic-friendly activities in your classroom, you can help kinesthetic learners be more fully engaged and successful in their learning.

Implement Movement

For kinesthetic learners, body movement is an essential part of the learning process. It’s important to allow them to move in the classroom because movement helps kinesthetic learners improve their focus and attention by providing an outlet for excess energy.

Movement-based activities also encourage kinesthetic learners to express their creativity in new  and unique ways.

Remember , it’s important to incorporate movement into a classroom without negatively affecting classroom management.

Establish clear guidelines and expectations for movement in the classroom by:

• Amount of movement allowed during certain activities,
• Establishing rules for movement and noise levels, and 
• Providing alternative activities for students who struggle with movement-based learning.

Motivate Students to Create Their Own Notes

Encouraging your students to take notes helps them to understand better and retain information, as well as improve their organizational skills.

Taking notes helps kinesthetic learners reinforce what they’ve learned by allowing them to review the material at a later time. 

This also helps them to identify areas where they may need additional clarification or support.

You should encourage your students to take notes in several ways until they determine which style works best for them.

Take Your Class Outside

Taking your class outside provides opportunities for students to move around and engage with the environment in a more hands-on way.

Taking the class outside provides opportunities for them to engage with the environment through sight, sound, touch, and even smell, which enhances their learning experience.

Kinesthetic learners benefit from making real-world connections to the topic they are learning. Taking the class outside allows them to see it more tangibly and make connections to their own experiences.

If you're interested in incorporating kinesthetic activities in your teaching style, there are some steps that can make it easier for you.

1. Try Kinesthetic Learning 

The first step in implementing kinesthetic learning is by trying it yourself. This means you become a kinesthetic learner and try to learn things through getting physically involved.

You can start with trying to learn things at home. For example, you can try something you've never tried before, such as doing decor, baking a cake, or getting an indoor plant.

By doing it physically, you can come up with ways of implementing kinesthetic learning in a more effective manner.

2. Practice Demonstrations

Show is often more important than tell for a kinesthetic learner. They need you to create a hands-on experience in order to understand each topic.

This means you have to be very skilled at physically demonstrating concepts that your students must learn,

3. Walk or Stand During Classes

When a teacher is standing up and moving around, it helps maintain the attention and engagement of students.

Standing up also makes you more visible to the students, which makes it easier to follow along with the lesson and see any visual aids or demonstrations that you’re using.

If you’ve always taught while seated, you can practice at home first and become better and more confident before implementing it in your classroom.

4. Be Open to Mistakes and Do Better

When trying something new, mistakes are bound to happen, either by the teacher or students. Do not give up if there are some hiccups.

The best way to approach this is by being open-minded and having a dialogue with your students from time to time to learn what’s working and what’s not so you can adjust accordingly.

Motivating our students to learn with kinesthetic learning prepares them for a bright future with careers such as:

• Physician: Medical training often includes opportunities for hands-on experience, such as clinical rotations, internships, and residency programs, which can be ideal for tactile learners. .
• Automotive mechanic: An automotive mechanic's work involves a great deal of hands-on work with tools and equipment. This work requires a strong mechanical aptitude and good problem-solving skills, which are traits that many tactile learners possess.
• Sports coach: Many successful coaches are kinesthetic learners with a natural ability to demonstrate techniques and communicate effectively through physical movement.

Kinesthetic learning helps students retain information, improves classroom engagement, and promotes physical activity, improving their health and well-being.

It’s important for teachers to learn their students’ learning preferences to create lesson plans and teaching strategies that cater to the individual needs of each student.

If you’d like to start teaching the kinesthetic style, take a look at SimpleK12 for free professional teacher development courses . 

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Differentiated Instruction Strategies: Tiered Assignments

Janelle cox.

• September 23, 2014

Many teachers use differentiated instruction strategies  as a way to reach all learners and accommodate each student’s learning style. One very helpful tactic to employ differentiated instruction is called tiered assignments—a technique often used within flexible groups.

Much like flexible grouping—or differentiated instruction as a whole, really—tiered assignments do not lock students into ability boxes. Instead, particular student clusters are assigned specific tasks within each group according to their readiness and comprehension without making them feel completely compartmentalized away from peers at different achievement levels.

There are six main ways to structure tiered assignments: challenge level, complexity, outcome, process, product, or resources. It is your job, based upon the specific learning tasks you’re focused on, to determine the best approach. Here we will take a brief look at these techniques.

Ways to Structure Tiered Assignments

Challenge level.

Tiering can be based on challenge level where student groups will tackle different assignments. Teachers can use Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide to help them develop tasks of structure or questions at various levels. For example:

• Group 1:  Students who need content reinforcement or practice will complete one activity that helps  build  understanding.
• Group 2:  Students who have a firm understanding will complete another activity that  extends  what they already know.

When you tier assignments by complexity, you are addressing the needs of students who are at different levels using the same assignment. The trick here is to vary the focus of the assignment based upon whether each group is ready for more advanced work or simply trying to wrap their head around the concept for the first time. You can direct your students to create a poster on a specific issue—recycling and environmental care, for instance—but one group will focus on a singular perspective, while the other will consider several points of view and present an argument for or against each angle.

Tiering assignments by differentiated outcome is vaguely similar to complexity—all of your students will use the same materials, but depending on their readiness levels will actually have a different outcome. It may sound strange at first, but this strategy is quite beneficial to help advanced students work on more progressive applications of their student learning.

This differentiated instruction strategy is exactly what it sounds like—student groups will use different processes to achieve similar outcomes based upon readiness.

Tiered assignments can also be differentiated based on product. Teachers can use the Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences to form groups that will hone particular skills for particular learning styles . For example, one group would be bodily/kinesthetic, and their task is to create and act out a skit. Another group would be visual/spatial, and their task would be to illustrate.

Tiering resources means that you are matching project materials to student groups based on readiness or instructional need. One flexible group may use a magazine while another may use a traditional textbook. As a tip, you should assign resources based on knowledge and readiness, but also consider the group’s reading level and comprehension.

How to Make Tiering Invisible to Students

From time to time, students may question why they are working on different assignments, using varied materials, or coming to dissimilar outcomes altogether. This could be a blow to your classroom morale if you’re not tactful in making your tiers invisible.

Make it a point to tell students that each group is using different materials or completing different activities so they can share what they learned with the class. Be neutral when grouping students, use numbers or colors for group names, and be equally enthusiastic while explaining assignments to each cluster.

Also, it’s important to make each tiered assignment equally interesting, engaging, and fair in terms of student expectations. The more flexible groups and materials you use, the more students will accept that this is the norm.

Tiering assignments is a fair way to differentiate learning. It allows teachers to meet the needs of all students while using varying levels of tasks. It’s a concept that can be infused into homework assignments, small groups, or even learning centers. If done properly, it can be a very effective method to differentiate learning because it challenges all students.

• #DifferentiatedInstruction , #TieredAssignments

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• Teaching Tips

17 Learning Strategies to Implement In Your Classroom

Learning strategies are a critical element in ensuring students grasp course concepts and are especially important in blended and online learning environments

Danielle Leboff

Learning strategies are methods used by instructors to initiate students into effective learning by using a variety of engaging learning techniques, activities and practices. These methods are all derived from years of meticulous research into how people learn best.

In any lesson plan, instructors can incorporate multiple learning strategies. By catering to different learning styles and varying your approach, you can better engage students while helping them master new concepts.

Top Hat’s 2021 Online Teaching Toolkit gives you easy-to-use teaching templates, active learning strategies and more to engage your students in an online or hybrid learning environment. Get free access today.

Why are learning strategies important?

Learning strategies are an essential component of creating an effective learning experience. They can help learners develop proficiency in various subject matter areas and develop new skill sets. They also help learners develop confidence in their own knowledge, proficiency and learning abilities.

The following describes some common strategies for achieving various learning outcomes, along with practical examples you can incorporate directly into your learning environment.

Think-pair-share

This active learning exercise is designed to activate any prior knowledge a student may have on a subject by having them share their thoughts and beliefs with their fellow learners.

A think-pair-share exercise is structured to help students first organize their thoughts, then share these with a partner followed by the broader class.

• Think : Students take a moment to contemplate the new concept or idea on their own. They can also write down their thoughts to help develop their note-taking skills.
• Pair : Students break off into pairs to share their thoughts and beliefs on the topic with another learner.
• Share : Students then share their takeaways from this conversation with one or more successively larger groups, up to and including the whole class.

Putting think-pair-share into action

To execute think-pair-share in your class, define the exercise for the group and display the prompts you’d like to pose for discussion. Once students have completed the exercise, you can then facilitate a larger class discussion.

Make a point of listening to student responses before offering your own ideas. You can also pose probing questions while encouraging other students to offer their own responses and reactions to each other’s ideas.

Tests and quizzes

There are several ways instructors can use tests and quizzes as effective strategies for learning.

Individual plus group quizzes : Have learners complete independent quizzes for grading. Following this, place learners into small groups and give them the same quiz as a form of cooperative learning. This time, allow the groups to discuss their answers and come up with an answer for each question. Then, grade the group as a whole on their collective performance.

Not every student likes group assignments, since this may raise concerns about their individual grades. To avoid penalizing more diligent learners, take an average of each student’s two scores if the group score is higher than their individual score. If the student’s individual score is higher than the group score, let that individual score stand as the average. This process encourages students to be accountable for their own learning while helping develop their test-taking and collaboration skills.

Tests and quizzes with distractors : Distractors are common preconceptions or misconceptions about a topic. Have students answer various questions and, then, discuss their answers with a fellow student. After this discussion, have each student answer the same question again and see if their answers are any different. To close off the activity, initiate a group discussion about why the correct answer is actually the correct one. This acts as a form of metacognition by encouraging students to think about their own learning.

Retrieval practice

The process of bringing information to mind, or retrieval practice, is an effective strategy in boosting learning. In these exercises, students put away all learning materials and answer questions or discuss a topic purely based on their own recall of the information. Students can then refer to learning to evaluate how accurately they conveyed the information. Retrieval practice exercises also work well using the think-pair-share format.

Elaboration

In elaboration, students demonstrate the depth of their knowledge of a given topic by describing and explaining as much as they know about it, including as many relevant details as they can call to mind. This strategy extends the concept of rote memorization by encouraging students to draw connections within the content and between the content and other knowledge they already possess.

Interleaving

Interleaving is the process by which students mix multiple subjects or topics while they study. This allows students the opportunity to practice different modes of thinking and problem-solving as opposed to ‘blocked practice,’ which involves studying one topic thoroughly before moving on to the next.

Interleaving has been shown to improve test scores in a number of studies. As a best practice, it is important to use interleaving for related topics. For example, interleaving works well when switching between different algebra problems but is not nearly as effective when switching between radically different subject matter areas, such as literature and math equations.

Muddiest point

This form of assessment helps educators understand which elements of their course pose difficulties that may impede student progress and performance.

In this exercise, instructors ask students to note the “muddiest points” of the lesson, or the most confusing or difficult to grasp. Have students rate their degree of understanding and capture where the difficulty lies.

While the exercise shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, it has additional benefits beyond helping the instructor understand where the obstacles are for students. It also helps students more effectively analyze their own learning and to zero in on the exact issue that may be holding them back.

Peer instruction

Also known as ‘reciprocal teaching,’ this structured teaching practice asks students to reflect on new concepts they may be confused about and then share their responses to those prompts with a small group. Each group then derives a consensus response to share collectively with the rest of the class.

Peer instruction offers a number of benefits, including:

• Increasing a student’s problem-solving skills and conceptual understanding abilities
• Deepening student understanding of a topic and encouraging greater knowledge retention
• Bolstering student engagement and raising student course satisfaction

Not only does this exercise call upon students to explain their thinking, it asks them to defend it against alternative arguments and modes. This helps reveal for students as much about how they think and process information as it does about the information itself.

Differentiated instruction

Not all students learn the same way. Differentiated instruction recognizes and accommodates for this by tailoring the learning process to individual needs. This is accomplished by altering the content, process, product or the learning environment itself.

With differentiated instruction, instructors consider the different learning styles of their students before devising their teaching strategies. That way, they can incorporate multiple modalities to allow all students to succeed equally in learning the material.

Some other ways to implement differentiated learning include:

• Grouping students together for assignments by shared topics, interests, learning abilities or styles
• Using formative assessment tools to assess individual student learning styles and progress and then adjusting lesson plans accordingly
• Using classroom management tools to create safe and supportive learning environments for all students

Gamification

Sometimes turning a lesson into a game can better engage students in learning and comprehending the material. Gamification essentially incorporates reward-based activities and teaching tools into the lesson plan. Examples of gamification include:

• Earning points for finishing tasks
• Competing against peers toward a goal
• Playing games that teach particular academic skills

Project-based learning

Through project-based learning, students work together on a project over an extended period, generally between one week and an entire semester. The project ideally involves solving a real-world problem or addressing a complex question. The finished product is a public presentation or product they can present to a live audience.

Problem-based learning

Problem-based learning involves incorporating real-world situations as a vehicle to help students apply course concepts in a practical application. This helps make learning more relevant by connecting concepts to the world outside the classroom and can add variety to the learning process itself.

Formative assessments

Formative assessments are designed to monitor learning and provide feedback on each student’s progress on an ongoing basis. The steady stream of feedback allows instructors to refine and improve their teaching strategies to keep the class on track. At the same time, students can practice their test-taking skills, improve information recall while honing in on their areas of strength and weakness.

Formative assessments are typically considered “low stakes.” The primary goal is not a letter grade but generating feedback for the instructor and the student. Examples of formative assessments include:

• Self-assessments
• Entry and exit slips
• Low-stakes polls and quizzes
• Exercises incorporating art or other visual representations of learning content
• Misconception and errors
• Interview assessments

Summative assessments

Instructors use summative assessments to evaluate how thoroughly students learned an area of study. Summative assessments usually come upon the completion of an instructional unit and compare student knowledge and achievement against a previously determined set of benchmarks.

Considered “high stakes,” summative assessments are commonly used to determine a student’s subsequent course work and educational progress. Examples of summative assessments include:

• Final projects
• Term papers
• Midterm, final or standardized exams
• Performance or recital

Educators may sometimes use summative assessments in a formative manner to guide student activities and efforts throughout their coursework.

Quick write

In this exercise, pose a prompt to the group to respond to in writing. Only allow five minutes for this exercise, so students can quickly reflect on their initial thoughts on a subject.

Uses and benefits of a quick write include helping to:

• Determine whether students completed their assigned homework
• Prime students to think about topics to be introduced or developed in the upcoming lesson
• Give students the chance to access previous knowledge they may have on a subject
• Instructors can opt to grade the quick write or simply collect it as a means of confirming attendance.

Pose a question to be answered or explained, and then take an anonymous poll to see how many students favor particular answers or explanations to the question.

Afterward, initiate a group discussion of the question and the poll’s results to see why students voted the way they did. Following the discussion, take the same poll again to gauge whether any students changed their answers and, if so, to what extent and why.

Hearing why students chose a particular explanation or answer helps the instructor understand how students think about that topic. It also helps them determine if additional explanation or clarification may be required before moving on in the lesson plan.

Turn and talk

In this exercise, instructors pose a question to the group, then instruct students to choose a partner to discuss their thoughts on the question with. This can create a comfortable atmosphere for sharing ideas before bringing ideas before the whole group.

Make sure the questions students are asked to discuss are clear and that the understanding of each participant is there in order to contribute to the conversation both as a speaker and listener.

This exercise is performed in small groups in which students read a preselected passage of course material. Students in each group divide up the material so that each member reads a portion of it silently and then shares what they’ve learned with the rest of the group.

Some questions participants can use as points of focus include:

• What’s the big idea here?
• What do you believe it means, and why does it matter?
• How can someone apply this idea to help understand a larger topic?
• What part(s) of the reading do you agree and/or disagree with?
• What questions does the reading raise for you?

Instructors can implement jigsaws in a number of ways. In an ‘expert and cooperative group’ format, assign different groups different pieces of the material to read individually and discuss. Each group then becomes the expert group on that portion of the material. Following this, groups are redivided so that each new cooperative group contains one or two representatives from each of the previous expert groups. Each cooperative group then reviews the material with the expert representative. The jigsaw method is a great way to get students up to speed quickly on material while honing their critical thinking and communication skills.

Learning strategies help you better engage students in active learning by using a variety of activities such as reading, writing, discussion or problem-solving. Easy to execute, these activities promote analysis, synthesis, and the evaluation of class content. Equally important, they provide students with opportunities for feedback on how well they understand course material, ensuring they are making meaningful progress toward achieving course objectives.

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• Learning Styles Assignment

Upon completion of the learning style inventory exercises, I gained awareness of the learning styles that will continue to be discussed throughout the duration of this course. Being introduced to the different types of learning styles are of vital importance to me as a student, as it helps me discover ways in which I learn. The purpose of this exercise is to help us identify ourselves in accordance to when we feel successful at learning, and by that, what techniques we use and how we apply them to learn to the best of our ability.

We were instructed to fill out various interrelated ideas on how people learn, and based on our personal opinions; rate them on a scale of one through four, with four being the strongest answer. We then would total up our answers, in each of the following categories: Concrete Experience (Feeling), Reflective Observation (Watching), Abstract Conceptualization (Thinking), and Active Experimentation (Doing) and represent our total numbers with drawing four connecting lines to create a formation of a “kite. In every aspect of the grid within the learning style graph, the illustration of my ‘kite’ hit all the designation mints to create a perfect four-sided kite. The numbers in which my lines connected to were all almost, or hit right at the peak of each side of the grid. This essentially meaner that for each learning style criteria, my totals scored high and were ranked a vast majority of fours. The outcome of this activity, in reference to the textbook, is just a “snapshot” that gives me a picture of who I am today.

Don’t waste your time! Order your assignment!

The results are not to dictate our habits in the sense of our ability to learn, but rather recognizing how we currently learn and how we can open up space for improvement. In the criteria of Concrete Experience, learning with the help of our feelings, my results accumulated to an overall score of forty-three, the highest number one can score on the grid. This learning style requires a preference of learning things that are of importance, or relevant to our lives. This usually coins from strong feelings we share towards certain topics or ideas.

For instance, I would be more open-minded to learning about global issues than solving math problems. I agree with my results within this criterion, as I eel as if I take more interest in course material that I can connect to with on a personal level of learning. The second learning style of Reflective Observation, criteria which involves watching others learns course material and being able to reflect on it as our own. My results accumulated to an overall score of forty-four, yet again the highest number one can score on the grid.

This learning style requires preparation and being able to accordingly plan things out, as if it is a ‘blueprint’ design. For instance, observing first how others solve difficult math problems in order o figure out solutions, then planning accordingly how to solve it on your own. I agree with my results within this criterion, as I feel as if especially in courses that involve proficiency in math skills, in order for me to overcome difficulty, I need to observe how others solve it first.

The third learning style of Abstract Conceptualization is learning using our thinking and inquiry skills. My results accumulated to an overall score of forty-four, the third highest number one can score on the grid This learning style requires an interest in grasping ideas, facts and figure information. For instance, taking interest in absorbing as many concepts and information in per say, when introduced to new topics, I tend to research and brainstorm all relevant information to better understand the topic.

The last learning style of Active Experimentation is learning through action and doing. My results accumulated to an overall score of forty-six, the highest number one can score on the grid. This learning style requires a preference in practicing what you learn through applying ideas and using trial and error to find solutions. For instance, applying the trial and error teeth in hands-on-activities such as completing a science lab to test out to see what works and what does not.

I do not agree nor disagree with my results within this criterion, I am neutral about my score, solely because I do apply trial and error methods in all my work; however I do not feel as if this is my strongest way of learning in comparison to the other three. In conclusion, completing this activity as an introduction to this Business Strategies 100 course of the new school year productively supports Professor Cleanser’s idea of helping us “become a master dent. As students, we all learn in different ways, from whether we prefer reading from a hard copy textbook or collecting information from an electronic version, to how we process information easier whether it is through observation or thinking on our own. This activity reminded us of our strengths and weaker points in how we learn, and left us thinking of ways in which we can “score higher” in certain categories. I see this exercise as more than Just a cumulative assignment, and will apply and think about these basic learning styles throughout the rest of my academic

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