21. People Have Different Learning Styles

My daughter had trouble learning math in school. My son, who is older, was pretty much a math whiz, and I can hold my own through algebra and geometry, so the fact that my 8-year-old daughter was struggling with basic concepts like subtraction was a mystery.

One day after school she was in my office. She was working on her math homework and was obviously struggling. She was trying to do the adding and subtracting with her fingers, as she always did, and all of a sudden a light bulb went on in my head—“Oh, maybe she’s a kinesthetic learner!” I happened to have sets of colored pens on a table in my office, so I started giving her addition and subtraction problems with the pens. I would literally hand her five blue pens and then two green pens and ask her how many pens she had all together. Or I’d give her ten pens of various colors, tell her to give me two green pens, and then ask her how many pens she had left. She was able to do the addition and subtraction as long as she could manipulate the pens.

Are Learning Styles Fact or Fiction?

I’m going out on a limb here, because the whole idea of learning styles is controversial. Some educators say the concept of learning styles is extremely valuable, and some cognitive scientists say that there isn’t any research to back it up. It’s true that there is not a lot of research for the idea, but my review of the literature and the controversy surrounding the claims has brought me to the conclusion that we haven’t figured out exactly what learning styles are and that we haven’t figured out how to research them. Future research may prove me wrong, but I’m going to say that there is something to the idea that people have preferred learning styles.

The VAK Model of Learning Styles

The learning-style model I think is most valuable is the Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic (VAK) model. The idea is that each individual has a learning mode that works best for them. Some people learn material best when it is presented in a visual form—for example, a drawing or diagram. Some people learn best when the material is presented by someone talking (auditory), and some people learn best when they literally do something with their body—for example, move around or manipulate objects. Everyone uses all three styles, but people often have a style that is best for them. For example, I suspected my daughter was a kinesthetic learner because she learned best by manipulating objects such as the pens or by counting on her fingers.

You Tend to Teach the Style You Are Most Comfortable With

One of the most powerful examples of learning styles I’ve ever witnessed was when I was taking David Meier’s Accelerated Learning workshop. In the workshop, Meier demonstrated the power of the VAK model with an exercise. He proceeded to teach a short section on parallel versus serial computer processing.

First he talked about the difference, then he showed a picture with an illustration, and then he broke the class in half. One half formed a line of dancers all kicking together (parallel processing), and the other half snaked through the room in a conga line (serial processing). My reaction was that this was all very interesting, but I had understood the concept back at step one when he talked about it. Then David asked the class, “How many of you understood the difference between parallel and serial processing when I just talked about it?” I raised my hand, with about one-third of the class. “How many of you didn’t understand until you saw the picture?” About half of the class raised their hands. “How many of you didn’t understand until you did the dance?” The rest of the class raised their hands.

It was a powerful lesson for me. My preferred learning style is auditory. Therefore I tend to put together my presentations with a heavy emphasis on the auditory—what I am saying. In order to make sure that I am communicating effectively with people who are visual and kinesthetic learners, I have to remember to add visual information, as well as exercises where people literally move.

Build Your Presentation for Multiple Learning Styles

In order to make sure that you are communicating clearly with visual, auditory, and kinesthetic members of your audience, you will have to stop, think, and plan.

What kind of learner are you? You will tend to design your presentation in ways that best fit the way you learn. Be aware of your learning style so you realize how you are skewing your presentation.

• If you are a visual learner, you will have lots of slides with diagrams and even words. For people in your audience who are not visual learners, this onslaught of slides will seem confusing, boring, or both.

• If you are an auditory learner, then you will tend to talk a lot and not use many slides. This may leave your visual learners lost and confused.

• If you are a kinesthetic learner, then you will build in lots of exercises and activities. Everyone appreciates some activities, but your visual and auditory learners will feel that they did a lot but did not retain the information.

Consider including some visual material, some talking, and some activities in order to address all three learning styles. If possible, find some friends or colleagues that have the learning styles you don’t, and test your ideas about how to address their learning styles to see if they are effective.