Knowledge
Personalizing Learning: Why Different Learning Styles Matter
The various learning styles in no way restrict how each learner must be motivated to learn
Imagine you’re teaching a lesson on the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. You’ll be giving a quiz on Monday, and you ask your students how they’ll be preparing. Some might say they’ll reread the text, then write down the answers to the review questions you’ve given them. Others might plan to watch a video on his life, then talk over what they learned with a study partner. Another could plan to take the timeline handout you provided, cut it up into sections, and practice putting those sections in the proper order.
In an effort to remember and comprehend the same material, each of these kids employs a distinct style of learning. Some love reading words; others prefer hearing and talking about them. Others need to see pictures and diagrams or use their hands to perform something. These are all different learning methods. Individual learning styles are influenced by one’s prior knowledge, current environment, and cognitive, emotional, and environmental factors. Or, to put it another way, everyone’s different.
Technically speaking, a person’s preferred method of assimilation, processing, comprehension, and retention of knowledge is referred to as their learning style. The various learning styles in no way restrict how each learner must be motivated to learn. Instead, knowing about these learning preferences might better equip teachers to connect with their students in a variety of ways.
While there are multiple models related to learning styles, the VARK model is among the most widely used since it sufficiently addresses learner diversity and needs.
The VARK model stands for:
● Visual
● Auditory
● Reading/Writing
● Kinesthetic
The main ideas of VARK have been outlined in Learning Styles Again: VARKing up the right tree!
● Students’ preferred learning modes have a significant influence on their behavior and learning.
● Students’ preferred learning modes should be matched with appropriate learning strategies.
● Information that is accessed through students’ use of their modality preferences shows an increase in their levels of comprehension, motivation, and metacognition.
Let’s look at how we, as instructors, may encourage students to learn in accordance with their chosen learning styles. Some of the tools in our kitty must include –
Visual Learning Strategies
● Utilize graphic organizers such as charts, graphs, and diagrams.
● Redraw your pages from memory.
● Replace important words with symbols or initials.
● Highlight important key terms in corresponding colors.
Aural Learning Strategies
● Record your summarized notes and listen to them on tape.
● Talk it out. Have a discussion with others to expand upon your understanding of a topic.
● Reread your notes and/or assignment out loud.
● Explain your notes to your peers/fellow “aural” learners.
Read/Write Learning Strategies
● Write, write, and rewrite your words and notes.
● Reword main ideas and principles to gain a deeper understanding.
● Organize diagrams, charts, and graphic organizers into statements.
Kinesthetic Learning Strategies
● Use real-life examples, applications, and case studies in your summary to help with abstract concepts.
● Redo lab experiments or projects.
● Utilize pictures and photographs that illustrate your idea.
In the 1970s, it became common knowledge that each person has a unique learning style. The idea that if we could all pinpoint our individual “perfect” learning style, we could then focus on it and achieve success every time, is appealing. Also, we would be able to help others’ learning needs in the most effective way if we were aware of their learning styles. It might change the way we teach and enable everyone to learn to their fullest capacity. The validity of learning styles, though, is a subject of much debate. Everybody employs each of the distinct learning styles at some point, according to certain studies that seem to have completely refuted the hypothesis. Opponents fear that categorizing a pupil as an “auditory learner” or a “visual learner” may lead them to limit their learning opportunities. That said, learning styles are accepted and used in most education programs. What we must remember is that there is no single foolproof “magic pill” answer to the metacognitive questions in the field of education.
Author – Neha Bahuguna, Army Public School Shankar Vihar, New Delhi
