Learning can be extremely difficult, because there are so many kinds of learning styles. As a teacher, it can also be hard to teach if you are not familiar with your students’ learning styles. There are several different types of learning styles: auditory, visual and kinesthetic; each with their own advantages, and teachers should accommodate each style rather than just one. For example, kinesthetic learners, such as auto mechanics or contractors, are very hands-on. These kinds of professions cannot just be taught through telling a class information and expecting them to comprehend it immediately.
As being hands-on learners, kinesthetic learners prefer to take things apart and put it back together to understand how something works. Because of this, being a kinesthetic student can make it difficult to absorb information and keep up at a ‘normal pace.’ Most classroom experiences are not tailored to be interactive and hands-on nor including school labs. Due to the fact that kinesthetic learners need to move to learn, kinesthetic learners tend to be hyper-active. Needing to tap, or wiggle, or maybe even squirm sometimes, they cannot focus on listening very well when their mind is telling them to move. Kinesthetic learners have an advantage to learning as well. Studies show kinesthetic learning helps build muscle memory quicker which boosts information retention (Child1st). According to Child 1st Publications, kinesthetic learners are often gifted in physical activities like running, swimming, and other sports. It greatly improves muscle memory, and incorporating movement into an academic learning environment would greatly benefit a kinesthetic learner.
Auditory learning is a different learning style in which a person learns through listening. If one prefers lecturing over reading or benefits more from in class discussion, his/her favored learning style is auditory. Auditory learning is the basic way of learning and teaching. Therefore, the auditory learner is more common than the kinesthetic learner because it is the universal way of teaching; and thus, it becomes a forced way of learning. People have a predisposition to be conditioned, so auditory learning is very common due to the circumstances that befall most classrooms across America. Auditory learners have an advantage to learning things a little easier because this kind of learner does not have to read or see to retain information. A few strengths of auditory learners are following directions well, understanding change of voice tones, and also being good at working out complex problems by speaking it aloud. Auditory learners are very unlikely to be in a situation where there is no auditory stimulus to learning, unlike kinesthetic learners.
The most common and popular learning style is visual learners. Thirty-three percent of students are visual learners and over 30% of non-visual learners prefer to learn visually. Visual learning is defined as when a learner needs to see information in order to retain it. Note-taking is a very useful skill with being a visual learner. They have mental cameras that snap an unforgettable picture of the concept to better comprehend than repeatedly being told. For example, if a difficult word is embedded in an image, they ‘snap’ a mental picture of the word, image and all, rather than trying to sound it out (ThoughtCo). The benefits of being a visual learner are a 29-42% increase in development of critical thinking skills. The ability to conceptualize visuals clearly and enhance hand-eye-mind connections to recall and comprehend information through supported learning is almost if not perfected by visual learners. This style of learning promotes and aids great memory skills that helps visual learners remember what they have been taught in class, which means they have a better chance of applying what they have learned to practical life.
Each of the learning styles that exist, with its own benefits and outlets, should be incorporated and accommodated in classrooms. Each student does not learn and retain information in the same way, so the style of teaching should not be restricted to one style. Also, accommodating the variety of learning styles will not only better prepare students for academics, but also expose them to different ways of retaining information, ultimately preparing them for the real world.
