Facilitate adult learners' individualised learning/Activities/Discover your Learning Style

What sort of learner are you? You have already learned many things in your life, so you may already have an idea of how you learn.

Do you, for example, like to write things down when you learn them, and highlight important facts?
 * You may then be a visual learner.

Do you like to discuss what you learn, and perhaps record key ideas?
 * You may be an aural learner.

Do you enjoy reading about information in books, handouts and journals?
 * You may then be a reading and writing learner.

Do you enjoy learning through doing things, and practising your skills?
 * This might mean that you are a kinaesthetic learner.

In this unit, you are going to use a system called VARK to learn a little bit more about how you as an individual learn. Adapted from Richard Felder. Follow this link to the learning Styles questionnaire and find out if you have a learning preference (V, A, R or K). You may also watch this video to hear about V, A & K learning preferences.

V - VISUAL LEARNERS
If you have a strong preference for Visual (V) learning you should use some or all of the following:

Intake
To take in the information try... To make a learnable package ...
 * underlining
 * different colours
 * highlighters
 * symbols
 * flow charts
 * charts
 * graphs
 * pictures, videos, slides, posters...
 * different spatial arrangements on the page
 * white space
 * textbooks with diagrams, pictures
 * lecturers who use pictorial language and gestures
 * SWOT (Study without tears!)
 * convert your lecture 'notes' into a learnable package by reducing them (3:1) into page pictures.
 * use all the techniques above to do this.
 * reconstruct the images in different ways.
 * redraw your pages from memory.
 * replace words with symbols or initials.
 * look at your pages.

Output
To perform well in the examination ...
 * recall the 'pictures' made by your pages.
 * draw things - use diagrams.
 * write exam answers.
 * practise turning your visuals back into words.

A - AURAL LEARNERS
If you have a strong preference for Aural methods (A = hearing) you should use some or all of the following:

Intake
To take in the information ... To make a learnable package...
 * attend lectures.
 * attend tutorials.
 * discuss topics with other students.
 * discuss topics with your lecturers.
 * explain new ideas to other people.
 * use a tape recorder.
 * remember the interesting examples, jokes, stories...
 * describe the overheads, pictures and other visuals to someone who was not there.
 * leave spaces in your lecture notes for later recall and 'filling'.
 * convert your lecture 'notes' into a learnable package by reducing them (3:1).
 * put your summarised notes onto tapes and listen to them.
 * ask others to 'hear' your understanding of a topic.
 * read your summarised notes aloud.
 * explain your notes to another 'aural' person.
 * SWOT (Study without tears!)

Output
To perform well in the examination ...
 * talk with the examiner.
 * listen to your voices and write them down.
 * spend time in quiet places recalling the ideas.
 * practise writing answers to old exam questions.
 * speak your answers.

R & W - READING AND WRITING LEARNERS
If you have a strong preference for Reading and Writing (R & W) you should use some or all of the following:

Intake
To take in the information ... To make a learnable package ...
 * lists
 * headings
 * dictionaries
 * glossaries
 * definitions
 * handouts
 * textbooks
 * readings - library
 * lecture notes (verbatim)
 * lecturers who use notes well and have lots of information in sentences and notes essays
 * manuals (computing and laboratory)
 * SWOT (Study without tears!)
 * convert your lecture notes into a learnable package by reducing them (3:1).
 * write out the words again and again.
 * read your notes silently again and again.
 * rewrite the ideas and principles into other words.
 * organise any diagrams, graphs, etc into statements, eg "the trend is..."
 * imagine your lists arranged into multichoice questions and distinguish each from each.

Output
To perform well in the examination ...
 * write exam answers.
 * practise with multiple choice questions.
 * write paragraphs, beginnings, endings.
 * write your lists (a,b,c,d; 1,2,3,4...)
 * arrange your words into hierarchies and points.

K - KINESTHETIC LEARNERS
If you have a strong preference for Kinesthetic (doing) learning you should use some or all of the following:

Intake
To take in the information ... To make a learnable package ...
 * all your senses - sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing...
 * laboratories
 * field trips
 * field tours
 * examples of principles
 * lecturers who give real-life examples
 * applications
 * hands-on approaches (computing)
 * trial and error
 * collections of rock types, shells, grasses...
 * exhibits, samples, photographs...
 * recipes - solutions to problems, previous exam papers
 * SWOT (Study without tears!)
 * convert your lecture 'notes' into a learnable package by reducing them (3:1).
 * your lecture notes may be poor because the topics were not 'concrete' or 'relevant'.
 * you will remember the 'real' things that happened.
 * put plenty of examples into your summary. use case studies and applications to help with principles *and abstract concepts.
 * talk about your notes with another "k" person.
 * use pictures and photographs that illustrate an idea.
 * go back to the laboratory or your lab manual.
 * recall the experiments, recall the field trip...

Output
To perform well in the examination ...
 * write practice answers, paragraphs...
 * role play the exam situation in your own room.
 * Profile of a kinesthetic learner ...

MULTIMODAL STRATIGIES
If you have multiple preferences, you are in the majority as somewhere between fifty and seventy percent of any population seems to fit into that group.
 * Multiple preferences are interesting and quite varied. For example, you may have two strong preferences V and A or R and K, or you may have three strong preferences such as VAR or ARK. Some people have no particular strong preferences and their scores are almost even for all four modes. For example, one student had scores of V=9, A=9, R=9, and K=9. She said that she adapted to the mode being used or requested. If the teacher or supervisor preferred a written mode, she switched into that mode for her responses and for her learning.
 * So multiple preferences give you choices of two or three or four modes to use for your interaction with others.
 * If you have two dominant or equal preferences, please read the study strategies that apply to your two choices.
 * If you have three preferences, read the three lists that apply and similarly for those with four. You will need to read two or three or four lists of strategies.
 * One interesting piece of information that people with multimodal preferences have told us is that it is necessary for them to use more than one strategy for learning and communicating. They feel insecure with only one. Alternatively, those with a single preference often "get it" by using the set of strategies that align with their single preference.
 * We are noticing some differences among those who are multimodal, especially those who have chosen fewer than 20 options and those who have chosen more. If you have chosen fewer than 20 of the options in the questionnaire, you may prefer to see your highest score as your main preference - almost like a single preference. You are probably more decisive than those who have chosen 20+ options.

Fleming, N. (2001). Teaching and Learning Styles. Christchurch: The Digital Print and Copy Centre

What strategies will I use?
Now that you have a better idea of what your learning style is, be sure to try out some of the recommended techniques. These should not only make your learning more efficient, but also more stimulating. Good luck!