what are your thoughts on "learning style" - visual vs auditory vs tactile, etc?

[lmh2402]

more and more i'm thinking that DS seems to rely heavily on auditory learning.

i've never spent any time thinking about learning styles before, but for some reason in the last couple of days a few things he has done have really made me think, "gee...this kid really seems to learn/absorb best by hearing." (this seems particularly strange to me, given that we've been told that maybe his extreme sensitivity to large/loud groups could be attributed to auditory processing disorder...though, that has never been mentioned by a doctor).

anyway, this may be a stupid question - but do you think public schools, in general, are geared to teach equally to any/all styles of learners?

[rlu]

I'm seeing some variation in the classroom. For example for spelling there is both writing the word and the teacher has the children read spelling words outloud. Math is done verbally and on paper. I think more could be done but there are things you can do with a few kids that would be somewhat chaotic with 25.

For the most part DS seems to "get" math but for his spelling we practice several ways - he writes them multiple times, we spell them outloud for him (think spelling bee style), and for the tricky words he and I recite them as we walk to school (a letter a step). This morning we bounced up and down while spelling "whistle".

eta: I learn by writing things down, DH by hearing things, DS we're still determining but he has good recall on things he hears and the bouncing approach to spelling seems to help (or maybe that still hearing since I say it with him)

[wendibird22]

Funny that you post this because one of my scholar friends was just writing about the "learning style myth." A few quotes include:

“Although the literature on learning styles is enormous, very few studies have even used an experimental methodology capable of testing the validity of learning styles applied to education. Moreover, of those that did use an appropriate method, several found results that flatly contradict the popular meshing hypothesis” (Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, & Bjork, 2008, p. 105).

"More critically, although it is easy to find studies suggesting that students differ in their preferred learning style, it is difficult to find studies showing that teaching to individual learning styles actually makes in difference in student learning outcomes” (Alferink, 2007, p. 49).

The research goes on to discuss that while we all may have a preferred learning style there's no support that our preferred style is any more effective than the others and also reports that our prior learning experiences and environments may impact our preference.


I personally don't know what my style is or whether I believe in the styles, but the discussion in the research is interesting.

[daisymommy]

Every child is different, and yes, absolutely they all lean more towards one modality or another.
It is a proven fact that *most* young children (not saying all)--learn best with a hands on, tactile, "doing" approach. You see preschool and kindergarten focusing on this. But then they switch to what is easier for the masses after that, and go straight with auditory and sometimes visual learning approaches in the later grades. But not all children learn best this way (my son definitely doesn't), so no, it doesn't work for everyone. I wish it were more balanced in public schools.

[vludmilla]

Originally Posted by wendibird22

Funny that you post this because one of my scholar friends was just writing about the "learning style myth." A few quotes include:



The research goes on to discuss that while we all may have a preferred learning style there's no support that our preferred style is any more effective than the others and also reports that our prior learning experiences and environments may impact our preference.


I personally don't know what my style is or whether I believe in the styles, but the discussion in the research is interesting.

A big This has been common knowledge to most in advanced/doctoral studies in education and psychology for some time but it just seems so intuitive to people that I think many persist in believing in learning styles. There are learning styles inventories designed to help you figure out what kind of learner you are and it is really just bunk. We all learn best when learning methodologies are varied. The best teachers are the ones who move around the room sometimes, use inflection and avoid monotone voicing, use media appropriately...in other words, good teaching is using the different "styles" or modalities to teach.

[lmh2402]

thanks, guys

i wasn't suggesting that i thought my DS would need/benefit from only one specific kind of teaching

i've really not spent any time considering learning styles before

my question is really driven by some recent observations causing me to wonder, "huh...i wonder how this would play out in public school."

anyway, thanks for the feedback

[StantonHyde]

I disagree. I tutored for the USC Athletic Department when I was in grad school. I ran study hall for football, basketball, and baseball players--predominantly male. These guys were auditory learners. Now many of them didn't get a really good, focused jr high or high school education--they were too busy playing ball. But they excelled on the playing field where all information is relayed to you verbally. And then you implement it with your body. Visual/written language is not generally used as a learning tool in sports. I really had to teach differently with this group than I did as a TA in my liberal arts college.

I am a strong visual learner so it is very hard for me to learn new sports or to take group lessons because I usually do better in 1:1 when I can ask the instructor for examples I understand. I forget most things I hear, but if I write it down, I am good.

[niccig]

I know I'm better with things visually. I write/draw things and it's easier for me to memorize.

That said, I borrowed a few "how to study" books when I went back to school and and it seemed that using more than one method is best to cement the learning. So write it, but say it out loud. I also read that moving while saying the information helps even more. So I have DS jump or do jumping jacks for his spelling words.

[vludmilla]

Originally Posted by StantonHyde

I disagree. I tutored for the USC Athletic Department when I was in grad school. I ran study hall for football, basketball, and baseball players--predominantly male. These guys were auditory learners. Now many of them didn't get a really good, focused jr high or high school education--they were too busy playing ball. But they excelled on the playing field where all information is relayed to you verbally. And then you implement it with your body. Visual/written language is not generally used as a learning tool in sports. I really had to teach differently with this group than I did as a TA in my liberal arts college.

I am a strong visual learner so it is very hard for me to learn new sports or to take group lessons because I usually do better in 1:1 when I can ask the instructor for examples I understand. I forget most things I hear, but if I write it down, I am good.

There is a tendency to trust our anectdotal experiences but I trust research over my own inclinations, experiences, and intuition. There are many problems with learning styles research but one of them is operationalizing the terms. What is an auditory learner? Or a visual learner? Would those USC football players who you believed were auditory learners do well sitting in a lecture hall listening to a professor for 90 minutes? Those football players may have excelled on the field with verbal information because they were invested in the activity and depending on your definition, it could be considered kinesthetic learning because they were moving around a lot and incorporating auditory information about things that they needed to physically enact with their bodies.

[vludmilla]

Originally Posted by lmh2402

anyway, this may be a stupid question - but do you think public schools, in general, are geared to teach equally to any/all styles of learners?

Sorry if I came on strong and went OT in my other post. In answer to this question, I think that good teachers vary their teaching so that it is not all through one modality. I observe lots of teachers in my school using auditory, hands on (kinesthetic), visual, etcetera approaches. A lot of teaching involves auditory processing but good teachers use a lot of visuals and even some manipulatives. I think there is a much greater emphasis on this in the last ten years in teacher preparation programs.