Learning Styles

Understanding your learning preference

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Use the right communication medium for your audience.

© iStockphoto/dlewis33

Have you ever tried to learn something fairly simple, yet failed to grasp the key ideas? Or tried to teach people and found that some were overwhelmed or confused by something quite basic?
If so, you may have experienced a clash of learning styles: Your learning preferences and those of your instructor or audience may not have been aligned. When this occurs, not only is it frustrating for everyone, the communication process breaks down and learning fails.
Once you know your own natural learning preference, you can work on expanding the way you learn, so that you can learn in other ways, not just in your preferred style.
And, by understanding learning styles, you can learn to create an environment in which everyone can learn from you, not just those who use your preferred style.

Felder and Silverman's Index of Learning Styles

One of the most widely used models of learning styles is the Index of Learning Styles developed by Richard Felder and Linda Silverman in the late 1980s. According to this model (which Felder revised in 2002) there are four dimensions of learning styles. Think of these dimensions as a continuum with one learning preference on the far left and the other on the far right.

Figure 1: Learning Styles Index

Sensory

Intuitive

Sensory learners prefer concrete, practical, and procedural information. They look for the facts.

Intuitive learners prefer conceptual, innovative, and theoretical information. They look for the meaning.

Visual

Verbal

Visual learners prefer graphs, pictures, and diagrams. They look for visual representations of information.

Verbal learners prefer to hear or read information. They look for explanations with words.

Active

Reflective

Active learners prefer to manipulate objects, do physical experiments, and learn by trying. They enjoy working in groups to figure out problems.

Reflective learners prefer to think things through, to evaluate options, and learn by analysis. They enjoy figuring out a problem on their own.

Sequential

Global

Sequential learners prefer to have information presented linearly and in an orderly manner. They put together the details in order to understand the big picture emerges.

Global learners prefer a holistic and systematic approach. They see the big picture first and then fill in the details.

Once you know where your preferences lie on each of these dimensions, you can begin to stretch beyond those preferences and develop a more balanced approach to learning. Not only will you improve your learning effectiveness, you will open yourself up to many different ways of perceiving the world.
Balance is key. You don't want to get too far on any one side of the learning dimensions. When you do that you limit your ability to take in new information and make sense of it quickly, accurately, and effectively.