What Type of Learner Are You?

“I just don’t get it!” Have you ever heard that from a coworker, a child, or have you said it yourself when trying to learn a new concept of take in new information? Did you know that people have different learning styles, different ways of assimilating and processing information and concepts?

By knowing and understanding how you and those around you best learn and comprehend information, you can open doors, break down barriers, improve communication and connection, and set yourself and others on a path for success.

There are three main learning styles (or combination of the three) that we rely on to learn, auditory, visual, and tactile. Do you know your learning style? Let’s look at each one.

Auditory learners:

• If you are an auditory learner, you learn by hearing and listening.
• You understand and remember things you have heard.
• You store information by the way it sounds, and you have an easier time understanding spoken instructions than written ones.
• You often learn by reading out loud because you must hear it or speak it in order to know it.
• As an auditory learner, you probably hum or talk to yourself or others if you become bored. People may think you are not paying attention, even though you may be hearing and understanding everything being said.

Visual learners:

• If you are a visual learner, you learn by reading or seeing pictures.
• You understand and remember things by sight.
• You can picture what you are learning in your head, and you learn best by using methods that are primarily visual. You like to see what you are learning.
• As a visual learner, you are usually neat and clean.
• You often close your eyes to visualize or remember something, and you will find something to watch if you become bored.
• You may have difficulty with spoken directions and may be easily distracted by sounds.
• You are attracted to color and to spoken language (like stories) that is rich in imagery.

Tactile learners:

• If you are a tactile learner, you learn by touching and doing. You understand and remember things through physical movement.
• You are a “hands-on” learner who prefers to touch, move, build, or draw what you learn, and you tend to learn better when some type of physical activity is involved.
• You need to be active and take frequent breaks, you often speak with your hands and with gestures, and you may have difficulty sitting still.
• As a tactile learner, you like to take things apart and put things together, and you tend to find reasons to tinker or move around when you become bored. You may be very well coordinated and have good athletic ability.
• You can easily remember things that were done but may have difficulty remembering what you saw or heard in the process.
• You often communicate by touching, and you appreciate physically expressed forms of encouragement, such as a pat on the back.

If you don’t know your learning style, here are a few online learning style assessments that you can take.

http://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/

https://www.how-to-study.com/learning-style-assessment/

http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles.shtml

Check out my blog post next week for study/learning tips for each type of learning style.