We all learn differently according to our individual characteristics. Learn to identify the different learning styles of your students and the conditions that allow them to better develop their skills.
Since the eighties to date, a lot has been written about different learning styles and countless theoretical models have been created that seek to explain the differences in the way individuals learn.
In this article we will see broadly what is meant by types of learning and what are the most accepted models by current pedagogy. But, above all, some key questions and strategies to go from theory to practice and be able to identify in the classroom what is the preferred way of learning for each student.
Beyond knowing by heart the ways of learning according to the different recognized authors in this field, it is essential to develop a permanent intuition and openness to offer each student a learning environment in which they can make the most of their personal tools and motivation. .
What are learning styles?
For centuries, the traditional academic model privileged highly structured, theoretical teaching in which students were passive elements of the learning process: the teacher dictated and they took notes and memorized.
Students who did not adapt well to this model were considered to be simply less bright than others, and the diagnosis of IQ or intelligence based on this type of practice was accepted for many years as the only valid one.
However, in the second half of the last century, two phenomena began to attract the attention of pedagogues. On the one hand, those who got the best grades in school were not always the most successful when faced with real life, and, on the other, people with a very “questionable” academic record turned out to have excellent tools to progress, innovate and forge their own career.
This, in turn, made two things clear. Firstly, that the traditional teaching model and the evaluation based on it did not work for everyone nor was it completely reliable. And secondly, that people can develop knowledge and skills in very different contexts.
Various researchers got to work and it soon became clear that all people learn differently according to our individual characteristics. For example, how we use our senses, how we relate to new experiences, how we prefer to interact with the environment, etc.
These individual differences, which were expressed in the form of consistent patterns of response to certain stimuli, were called “learning styles”, and these in turn determine what are the most appropriate conditions for a student to develop knowledge and skills.
Most important styles of different models
Everything indicates that people do not have a single learning style throughout their lives or in different situations, but rather a unique combination of several of them and that they have to do with cognitive, emotional, early upbringing, and predisposition factors. biological, contextual, environmental, etc.
For example, Gardner’s so-called Multiple Intelligences (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, etc.), Kolb’s classic model (convergent, accommodating, assimilating and divergent) or that of Alonso, Gallego and Honey (active, reflective, pragmatic or theoretical ).
Next, we will see some of the most important styles of different models. It is essential that the teacher uses them only as a guide and not as pre-established templates to “label” the learning style of each student.
Active learning
It manifests itself as an impulse to experiment and come into direct contact with new experiences without the need to analyze them too much, without resistance to change or fear of challenges. For example, those in a laboratory are more interested in doing the experiment than in knowing the underlying theory.
In some situations students may have an active learning style, while in others they prefer to observe and reflect from a distance.
Reflective learning
This is a preference for observing a situation and absorbing as much information as possible about it before coming into contact with it or moving on to experimentation. Students with a reflective style perform better on tasks that can be analyzed in detail before drawing conclusions. They are also characterized by high creativity.
For example, kids with a reflective learning style first find out all the possible outcomes of an experiment with different variables before doing it.
Theoretical learning
This learning style is manifested with a high interest in understanding the “why” of things and in integrating facts into coherent, solid and as complete theories as possible. They tend to give priority to the data or information available in academic material, over direct observation of the facts.
These types of students tend to assume that the experiment will have the expected results and are rather concerned with understanding exactly what causes these results.
Pragmatic learning
Students with this learning style prefer to know the “why” of things, and are more motivated to achieve specific objectives than to integrate abstract theories. They generally need to verify information firsthand and can easily lose interest when there are no opportunities for direct experimentation or concrete goals.
Auditory learning
Some students learn better when they listen to information or when it is accompanied by sounds that they can associate with the concepts. For example, it is easier for them to absorb and retain the lesson if it is told by the teacher than if they read it in a book, and they remember sequences of sounds or songs better than images.
Visual learning
It is the counterpart of auditory learning. Students with this learning style may find it difficult to follow the flow of an oral lesson, but they retain and understand graphic texts and images with great ease.
Kinesthetic learning
The student learns and retains better when his body comes into direct contact with the experience and when he can link the information to a tangible element of his physical world. For example, they will have difficulty understanding the diagram of a hypotenuse, but will quickly understand the concept if the teacher allows them to find real hypotenuses in the classroom.
Verbal learning
Unlike visual learners, students who perform better with verbal language involved, whether oral or written, have great ease in connecting facts and abstract concepts as long as they have a linguistic base to which anchor them, regardless of whether they are listening or reading. They also retain much better when they write the lesson themselves.
Mathematical logical learning
While verbal learning is based on the structure of language, students with a more logical or mathematical style prefer to use diagrams, equations, and visual associations of abstract concepts, such as numbers and symbols.
Social or interpersonal learning
Refers to students who learn more and better in group or teamwork contexts. They share their conclusions with others and prefer to take other people’s points of view into account when learning or experimenting.
Intrapersonal learning
Some students prefer silence and solitude to concentrate better. That does not mean that they are antisocial or introverted, but that it is easier for them to learn and consolidate knowledge when there are no other people distracting them.
How to identify different learning styles?
Starting from the philosophy of inclusive education, it is essential that educational centers, course design, classrooms and other environments intended for teaching have tools and materials that can be adapted to all forms of learning. But how do you know exactly what each student needs on a daily basis?
Ideally, in secondary or upper secondary education, students already have some self-knowledge that allows them to identify for themselves and choose the ways in which they prefer to learn, but in the case of preschool or primary school students, have the following questions on hand. To personalize teaching it can be of great help:
- To what type of stimuli does the student respond with more enthusiasm and interest? to the images, to the music, to the games in which you must move?
- What objects or study materials in the classroom do you approach spontaneously? Drawing materials, stuffed animals, or building blocks?
- What do you do with the information or objects you have at hand? Using a flute to play a melody is not the same as using all the flutes in the room to build a tower.
- What type of games does the student prefer? Competitive, cooperative, individual or group games?
How do you orient yourself in time to carry out an activity? Do you first express the results you expect to obtain in the future, or do you draw on the knowledge you obtained in the past? Do you plan carefully or do you jump right into action?
Some questions or requests that we can ask directly to the student and that give us very valuable clues about the metaphors, tools, themes or stimuli they prefer are:
Show me a dog/cat/song/hero etc!
Given these open requirements, a student can choose to approach the concept in different ways. For example, barking or meowing like an animal, or looking for a physical representation of it; sing a song, or write the lyrics to one, even start dancing while humming. You can draw your favorite hero or put the coat on as a cape and pretend to fly around the room.
Help me invent a new game!
With what type of stimuli and concepts does the student prefer to start building the game? Is it a “mind game” where only the ingenuity of the participants is required? Is it a game of skill with your hands? Is it a complex role-play with supporting physical elements? Is it a graphic game? verbal? musical? From a single person, from two or more?
Show me what you’re going to do when you grow up!
Again, the student can draw an astronaut on a sheet of paper, perform choreography like a dancer, find a gown and represent himself as a doctor, build a building with blocks as if he were an architect, act out a phone call with his assistant as if you were a high-level executive, or simply talk in great detail to the professor about what a day in your life will be like when you become a great chef.
Tell me a story
This is an ideal question to identify not only learning styles, but also communication styles. Some students may tell their story orally, others may write it in their notebook, or draw it on sheets of paper. Some will use toys as puppets and others will agree with their classmates to represent the story as a play.