Even though you might absorb information more effectively by reading about a topic, your coworker might gain a better understanding by listening to lectures on the same subject. There are various ways people learn best and we all have our own method of taking in new information.
When you know your learning style, you can better understand the learning styles of those around you. This can make communication and working together more effective.
What Is a Learning Style?
The term “learning style” is used to describe how people take in new information, how they organize it, and how they store it.
Publishing industry focused on tests and guidebooks for different learning styles has resulted in over 70 different schemes. While there is a difference of opinion on how many styles there are, most people agree there are only four main learning styles.
Despite the fact that there are many different types of learning styles, the basic idea behind each one is that people have different and specific preferences for how they learn. We learn most effectively when the information is presented in a way that is aligned with our natural learning preferences.
Before we get into the types of learning styles, there’s one thing to know:
We all learn through repetition.
Repeating information multiple times helps us learn and remember it better, no matter our age. The question now is what kind of repetition works best. After all, we all learn and process information differently.
The types of learning styles come into play here, and we prefer one or two of them over the rest. When you read about the different learning styles, you may feel like you prefer a mixture of them.
That’s because most of us DO prefer a combination. One style will be more prominent than the others. The key is finding which one it is.
The Learning Styles Theory
The learning styles theory has been successful because it is easy to understand and use. We all know that people like to identify themselves and others by type. This helps us order the social environment and offers us a better way of understanding each other. This also means that learners should be treated as unique individuals and that their differences should be acknowledged instead of them being treated as numbers in a crowd.
The theory of learning styles is similar to the concept of metacognition, which is the process we use to think about our reasoning. There is a lot of evidence that metacognitive activities are effective in the learning environment. Educational psychology research indicates that student learning can be enhanced by different teaching approaches that take into account the cognitive abilities of independent learners.
Why Learning Styles Matter In The Workplace
It doesn’t matter what industry you work in or what position you have in your company, you have to work with your colleagues. Even if you work independently, you will still need to deal with clients. There are situations where it is important to know the difference between learning styles.
Here are some examples of where knowledge of different learning styles can be used:
- Employees that are aware of their learning styles (strengths and weaknesses) are often more productive at work since they focus on their strongest aspects.
- Managers that understand the various learning styles among their teams can help them communicate better with each other.
- Business owners that understand different styles of learning are better able to diversify their messages so they can expand their reach.
Having an understanding of the different learning styles within your team will allow you to offer training programs that will be of benefit to your employees and the organization.
A slideshow presentation might engage visual and auditory learners, but it might leave hands-on learners bored since they’d prefer training sessions that comprise activities and opportunities to practice.
Four Learning Styles In The Workplace
There is ongoing debate about how many different teaching styles and styles of learning exist, but we know that there are four styles in which students learn that can be found in the workplace. People usually use a mix of two or more individual learning styles, but one of the four styles typically dominates.
Each person has their own way of taking in new information. Different people have different learning strengths, which categorize them as different types of learners. Some of us read better than others. Others may process auditory information better.
1. Visual Learning
Someone who is a visual learner is good at understanding things that are presented to them in a visual way, such as maps and graphs.
If you learn best by seeing and visualizing things, you probably did well in geometry but had more difficulty with arithmetic and numbers. You may still have difficulty reading and writing even now.
Visual learners may take longer to develop academic skills, but they are very creative. They can also process what they see much faster than what they hear.
2. Verbal Learning
Verbal learning is learning that occurs through spoken language. Verbal learners excel in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. People who like to play with words are likely to get a thrill out of tongue twisters, word games, and puns.
They also thoroughly enjoy drama, writing, and speech classes. They will find it difficult to think outside the box if you give them maps or set them a challenge.
3. Auditory Learning
This learning style focuses on understanding the underlying sounds in speech, rather than just the words. People who think chronologically tend to excel at step-by-step methods. The people who will most likely watch Youtube videos in order to learn or do something are probably the ones who need to learn or do something the most.
They are also able to remember conversations and love debates and discussions. Chances are likely these people excel at anything oral.
People with this condition also tend to be very musical. They can discern notes, instruments, rhythms and tones. In other words, they will have a tough time understanding nonverbal communication. This also applies to charts, maps and graphs.
4. Physical Learning
People who are good at kinesthetic learning enjoy doing things that require them to use their hands. These are people who loved pottery or shop class. If you’re a physical learner, you’ll find that you prefer to use your body to learn.
This means finding the heart of what you loved doing in school and using that to guide your future path. This means finding what you were passionate about in school and using that to guide your future path. You may have also enjoyed playing sports or practicing other art forms like painting or woodworking. You excel at and enjoy anything that involves learning through physical manipulation.
Though this doesn’t just apply to direct physical activities. A physical learner may also find that they learn well when both reading on any subject and moving their body at the same time.
Complimentary Learning Styles
There are four primary learning styles that people tend to fall into, but there are also four other styles that supplement these main ones. More often than not, learners combine their main learning styles with one of the following styles:
Logical Learning
Learners who are good at math and logic puzzles, and not to be confused with visual learners. Numerical and abstract visual information is where they excel.
They are also able to understand cause and effect relationships. This is because their thinking process is linear.
Another trait is their need to quantify everything. These people love to group information, creating specific lists, agendas or itineraries.
They also love playing strategy games and making quick calculations in their heads.
Social Learning
Learners who are classified as interpersonal are skilled in communication and collaboration. While they may not be the best in a classroom setting, they excel when talking to other people.
These people are excited for group conversations or group projects. They are good at coming up with ideas and discussing them.
They can read people well, understanding their emotions, facial expressions, and how they relate to others. They are also likely to be the first people to point out the root causes of communication issues.
Intrapersonal Learning
People who prefer learning alone are the opposite of people who prefer interpersonal learning. The following people love self-study and working alone. Intrapersonal learners are usually very in touch with themselves. This means that they have a good understanding of who they are, their feelings, and their own abilities.
This type of learning style means you love learning something new every day, typically on your own. You also have skills that you are born with in managing yourself and taking the time to reflect on yourself.
Naturalistic Learning
The final learning style is naturalistic. They are people who see the world in terms of how it relates to nature. This allows them to understand how different animals adapt to their environment. They use scientific reasoning to understand living creatures, which allows them to see how different animals adapt to their environment.
Few people are likely to identify with this learning style because of the aforementioned reasons. People who are good at this kind of learning tend to become farmers, naturalists, or scientists.
These are the people who love everything with nature. People who tend to live in rural areas appreciate nature more than those who live in cities.
How to Know Which One(s) Suit You Better
What kind of a learner are you?
We learn through a combination of these learning styles. Since it is difficult to pinpoint which of the four learning styles we use, it is likely that our learning is a fusion of two or more styles.
The VARK model is one method of determining your learning style.
VARK Model
It is meant to increase understanding of how people learn and to offer some explanations for why some learning tasks are difficult. The VARK model was developed by Neil Fleming and David Baume in order to increase understanding of how people learn and offer some explanations for why some learning tasks are difficult. It takes the eight types of learning styles above and condenses them into four categories:
- Visual – those who learn from sight.
- Auditory – those who learn from hearing.
- Reading/writing – those who learn from reading and writing.
- Kinesthetic – those who learn from doing and moving.
The acroynm VARK comes from the first letter of each of the four learning styles: Visual, Aural, Read/write, and Kinaesthetic.
The purpose of this model is twofold: to facilitate discussion among stakeholders about how students learn, and to help students develop a greater understanding of their own learning process.
Many of us struggle in school because the current educational system is focusing on a one-size-fits-all model.
Although we’re adults now, we still act in the same ways we did when we were in school. Even though we aren’t learning about algebra or science, we might be learning new things about our job or industry. Having the ability to remember things that you have learned is useful in a lot of scenarios.
It can be frustrating when we are in a classroom setting and don’t understand anything.
We may not understand what is happening because we are either listening to a speech or reading a book.
This is where VARK comes back in. To quote Fleming and Baume:
It is a practical tool that can be used at the individual, group and whole-class level” VARK is designed to be a starting point for teachers and students to discuss learning. It is a practical tool that can be used with individuals, groups, or an entire class. Brainstorming different ways to teach can help create a more well-rounded curriculum.
This is what’s known as metacognition. It allows you to understand how you learn and develop an understanding of yourself.
Because of metacognition, we can learn about the different types of learning styles that we use. More importantly, what style we prefer over others.
Ask These Questions
The idea is to answer a few questions. Since our learning is a combination of styles, you’ll find yourself leaning to one side over the other with these questions:
- 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?
This can help you focus your learning and provide some other practical tips to improve your learning experience.
Final Thoughts
The brain consists of different parts that work together. The way we learn affects which parts of the brain are used. Since this is a fact, it would be a good idea to try out other methods of learning.
There is no one dominant or superior method, each method has its merits. You will find out what style works best for you by being flexible and trying different methods.
