I attended the first lecture yesterday, I mean the formal lecture. We were discussing about learning styles, which some way will affect out teaching styles. Well, you might not be interested to learn about teaching and stuffs (as not all of you are in education field), but you might want to know how you learn. It's been more than 20 years (or less) for some body, yet they still couldn't 'catch' their learning style. Take a look at those questions and try to answer it.
When you spell a word, do you..
1. try to visualise it (does it look right?)
2. sound it out (does it sound right?)
3. write it down (does it feels right?)
When you are concentrating, do you..
1. get most distracted by untidiness
2. get most distracted by noises
3. get most distracted by movement, or physical disturbance
When you choose a favourite art form, do you..
1. prefer paintings
2. prefer music
3. prefer dance/sculpture
When you reward someone, do you tend to..
1. write praise on their work in a note
2. give them oral praise
3. give them a pat on the back
When you talk, do you..
1. talk quite fast, but keep idle conversation limited, use lots of images
2. talk fluently with an even pace,in a logical order and with few hesitations and enunciate clearly
3. use lots of hand movements, talk about actions and feelings and speak more slowly with longer pause
When you meet people, do you remember mostly..
1. how they looked or the surroundings around you (while meeting them)
2. what was said or their names
3. what you did with them or their emotions
When you see a movie or watch tv or read a novel, do you remember best..
1. what the scenes or what the people looked like
2. what was said - and how the music sounded
3. what happened or the character emotions
When you relax, do you generally prefer..
1. reading or watching tv
2. music
3. games, sports
When you try to interpret someone's mood, do you..
1. mainly note their facial expression
2. listen to their tone of voice
3. watch body movements
When you are recalling something, do you remember..
1. what you saw / people's faces / how things looked
2. what was said / people's names / jokes
3. what was done - what it felt like
When you are memorising something, do you prefer to memorise by..
1. writing something down
2. repeating words aloud
3. doing something repeatedly
When you are choosing clothes, do you..
1. choose almost exclusively by how they look, how they coordinate and by the colours
2. take a lot of notice of the brand name, what the clothes 'say' about you
3. choose mainly how they feel, the comfort, then texture
When you are angry, do you..
1. become silent and seethe
2. express it in an outburst
3. storm about, clench your fists, throw things
When you are inactive, do you..
1. look around, doodle, watch something
2. talk to yourself or others
3. fidget, walk about
When you express yourself, do you use phrases like..
1. I see/ I get the picture / Let's shed some light on this / I can picture it
2. That sounds right / I hear you / That rings a bell / Something tells me / It suddenly clicked / That's music to my ears
3. That feels right / I'm groping for an answer / I've got a grip on it / I need a concrete example
When you contact people on business, do you..
1. prefer face-to-face contact
2. rely on the telephone
3. talk it out while walking, eating, etc
When you are learning, do you..
1. prefer to read, to see the words, illustrations, diagrams, sketch it out
2. like to be told, attend lectures, talk it over
3. like to get involved, hands on, try it out, write notes
When you assemble new equipment, do you first..
1. look at the diagrams / read the instructions
2. ask someone to tell you what to do
3. work with the pieces
and then, you..
1. ask questions / talk to yourself as you assemble it and then do it
2. as them to show you and then try it
3. as questions and then look at the diagram/instructions
It might take you sometime to complete this quiz. But once you do, you will able to understand more about yourself, know how you do things and get the best way to learn! Now you've completed the questions, here the answer of the styles.
If most of your answers are..
number 1, then you are a visual learner - these people learn most effectively by visual channel. They often like reading and strong visual images (such as short clips). They would prefer colours in their notes - also prefer flow maps, charts, mind maps, pictures and diagrams. Often choose to write repeatedly to memorise something. Some of them also prefer to access information through written word.
number 2, then you are a auditory learner - these people learn most effectively through listening. They read and speak aloud and do not really write much (they stress out the important word to memorise). They prefer teacher explanations, group discussions and lectures.
number 3, then you are a kinaesthetic (physical) learner - these people learn the best when physically engaged in learning activities. They find it easier if they do something rather than just sit back and listen - e.g role play, simulations, practical experiments or model making.
