Learning styles and difficulties

Everybody has his own style of learning.Some of us find it the best and easiest to learn by hearing information, some of us by seeing them. Proponents say that teachers should assess the learning styles of their students and adapt their classroom methods to best fit each student's learning style.

There are even special tests which help in identifying someone’s learning style.

There are 3 types of learning:

VISUAL LEARNING

Visual learning

Visual learning is a teaching and learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other information are associated with images, photos and techniques. Students who have this style of learning remember all the details visually.

Such learners:• prefer organize information through graphic media such as

charts, spider diagrams, flow charts, maps, illustrated text books, videos and graphs together with the other graphic devices that often accompany these media, such as arrows, circles, etc.

• see the teacher's body language and facial expression to fully understand the content of a lesson

• are good at spelling but forgets names• need quiet study time.• have to think awhile before understanding a speech or lecture.• are good with sign language.

ADVICES FOR VISUALS:

• try replacing symbols with words and vice versa• spend time looking through the information and try to rewrite

specific pages of information from memory• use flashcards• draw a map of events in history or draw scientific process• ask the teacher to diagram• Make lists, notes of everything

PROBLEMS OF VISUALS:

• they find it dificult to hear lectures• lack of words• Problems with writing• difficulty understanding that context must be communnicated

Auditory learning

Auditory learning is a learning style in which a person learns through listening. An auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of learning. Auditory learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to understand . They also use their listening and repeating skills to sort through the information that is sent to them.

Students who are a strong aural learners often:• like to talk in class• explain things well• take part in oral work on class• do well in foreign languages• understand grammatical patterns easily• remember things better through listening than reading• have strong memorization skills• recall in great detail what was said in a lesson or lecture• have strong musical skills • have a strong sense of rhythm and use rhythm and rhyme to help them learn

ADVICES FOR AUDITORS:• explain the information covered in the lesson to someone who

wasn't present in the lesson - this is a useful technique to use at home with 'willing listeners' eg. parents or siblings

• improve the quality of any notes taken in the lesson, because these notes may well have gaps in them - being able to study with someone else who can fill in the gaps may help with this

• once the notes are complete transfer the information into auditory forms such as MP3 files to listen to repeatedly

• practise presenting the information they have memorised to other people in the form of a presentation

• read notes out loud to themselves

PROBLEMS OF AUDITORS:• quickly reading• understand graphs and diagrams easily• stay quiet for long periods of time• access learning delivered exclusively in written form• consistently produce legible handwriting

Kinesthetic learning

Kinesthetic learning occurs as students engage a physical activity: learning by doing, exploring, discovering.

Students who have a strong kinesthetic learning style often:

• like to move around in the classroom• remember what they physically DO, they need to do something

to 'learn' it• are able to remember something perfectly after doing it only

once• enjoy activities that involve 'acting out' such as role play or

drama• need the help of physical objects, that they can handle, as aids

to sequencing and learning• enjoy subjects which inherently satisfy the need for 'hands on'

learning, such as science, computer technology etc.• perform well in sporting activities and activities such as dance• express their interest in an actvity enthusiastically and excitedly

- sometimes they can become over-excited

ADVICES FOR KINESTHETICS:• include as many 'real' examples as they can - getting them to

'relive' the kinesthetic parts of the learning can help them • associate specific case studies or examples with abstract concepts

they have to learn• include pictorial cues such as photographs and pictures in the

notes to provide more of a 'hook' for the information they need to memorize

• carry out the kinesthetic activity again at home: revise everything done in the classroom by recreating the situation

• practise writing the kinds of answers they will face in the examination - remember that the act of writing does seem to help information become clearer to kinesthetic learners

• talk over their learning with other students who learn in the same way, as a means of recalling all the important points

PROBLEMS OF KINESTHETICS:

• may not be able to sit still for long periods of time• have difficulty with learning that involves learning by rote or

sequencing• have poor handwriting• have difficulty with spelling

LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

Reading disorder (Dyslexia)

The most common learning disability. A reading disability can affect any part of the reading process, including difficulty with accurate or fluent word recognition, or both, word decoding, reading rate, prosody (oral reading with expression), and reading comprehension.

Writing disorder (Dysgraphia)

Impaired written language ability may include impairments in handwriting, spelling, organization of ideas, and composition.

Math disability (Dyscaluclia)

Math disability can cause such difficulties as learning math concepts (such as quantity, place value, and time), difficulty memorizing math facts, difficulty organizing numbers, and understanding how problems are organized on the page.

BIBLIOGRPHY• http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/visual.htm• http://www.classroom-management-success.org/visual-learning-

style.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles• http://www.tlumaczenia-angielski.info/metodyka/

learningstyles.htm• http://www.classroom-management-success.org/auditory-

learning.html• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesthetic_learning• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Learning_disability#Types_of_learning_disabilities• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_learning• http://www.classroom-management-success.org/kinesthetic-

learners.html

Thanks for your attention!