Which Learning Style Works For You?

It wouldn’t come as a shock for most teachers to hear that the way students learn things differs from child to child. Some may absorb more from a hands-on experiment while others only need to see a diagram. These divergent ways of understanding a concept are called learning styles, and they’re both useful in the classroom and controversial.

Learn more about what defines a learning style, which one fits you best, and how to use them in teaching.

What are Learning Styles?

Learning styles are simply the method of instructions that a person best learns information. There are four main learning styles that are generally agreed upon: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. The grouping of these four categories is referred to as VARK in education theory. There are many other theories about dozens of learning styles and their uses in the classroom as well.

Students with visual learning styles absorb information best through visual tools such as images, maps, or diagrams. These students may benefit from graphic organizers to relay typically text-heavy information into a visual format. Online education resource notes that using visual aids for other media–highlighting text in different colors or using symbols to replace ideas–can help visual learners.

Someone with a strong visual learning style may have difficulty with subjects taught in other formats. For example, a visual learner may struggle with a lecture oraudio lesson where there is no visual material at all. This is where teaching tools such as a blank graphic organizer can be useful to help a student transform one teaching style into the learning style they best understand.

Other VARK learning styles have similar benefits and flaws in the classroom as visual learning does. Auditory learners do well with lectures, audio instructions, and can likely benefit from audiobooks. Text may be difficult for auditory learners, but reading outloud to one’s self may help and is an example of an easy way to implement a new learning style to overcome this common classroom issue.

Reading and writing learning styles, sometimes called “verbal,” benefit most from writing notes or reading material. Outlines, charts, and other visual word maps may help reading/writing learners during visual or audio presentations.

Kinesthetic, sometimes called “tactile,” learners prefer the use of 3D aids and hands-on learning. Teach.com notes the benefits of problem solving puzzles to help for kinesthetic learners understand new concepts. Experiments are especially good teaching tools for kinesthetic learners.

Although many educators use the VARK learning styles in their lesson plans, others argue that there is no role for the theory in the classroom. There is no evidence that “matching activities to one’s learning style improves learning” and that the popularity of the approach despite a lack of research is “disturbing.” However, focusing on learning styles may be beneficial because it provides a more effective means of teaching a particular subject than another VARK category.