Learning Styles

Leaners are not all the same and they process information in different ways. This is commonly referred to as learning styles and is often broken down by the ways that humans process information – This includes receiving information through auditory (hearing), visual (seeing) and kinesthetic (physically experiencing or emotionally sensing) means.

As a trainer, you need to be aware of your own learning style as well as the styles of your trainees.

Learners can be diverse, and many learn through a combination of these types, not just one.

Understanding the activities that appeal to each style will help you deliver training sessions that appeal to all types of learners.

Auditory Learners (Hearing)

These are the listeners, writers, storytellers, teachers. Here are some additional details about auditory learners:

They learn through sound as they often have highly developed listening skills
Many are good at speaking and presenting
Think about new concepts in words rather than imagery
Usually can easily understand the meaning of words
May enjoy analyzing language use
Can quickly recall conversations, jokes, and stories
May ‘think out loud’, by talking to themselves when reading, problem-solving, or making decisions
Understand emotional meaning and intent based on tonality of voice
Many enjoy arguing their point of view

Weaknesses

Many auditory learners have difficulty with reading and writing tasks. They’re subject to distraction because of their sensitivity to noise.

The learning experience can be challenging for this type of learner if they don’t have a way to record or repeat the verbal information.

Training the Auditory Learner

The most effective way to train an auditory learner is to tell them what they are going to learn, teach them, and tell them what they’ve learned. The more you repeat the information, the easier it’ll be for them to remember. Here are some additional tips for effectively training auditory learners:

Start new material with a brief explanation of what you’re about to cover. Conclude with a summary of what’s been covered
Question the learners to draw as much information from them as possible, and then, fill in the gaps with your own expertise
Include auditory activities, such as brainstorming, buzz groups, or even games like Jeopardy. Be sure to leave plenty of time to debrief activities. This allows them to make connections of what they learned and how it applies to their situation
Have the learners verbalize questions
Develop an internal dialogue between yourself and the learners

Visual Learners (Seeing)

These are the readers, writers, artists. Here are some additional details about visual learners:

Learn through sight
Good sense of direction
Visualize new content through patterns in their mind
Often talented at constructing, fixing, and designing practical things
Need to create pictures in their mind in order to retain information
Interpret the meaning of concepts by observing a person’s body language, facial expressions, gestures, and dress
Skilled at interpreting visual images
Enjoy looking at maps, graphs, charts, pictures, videos, and movies

Weaknesses

It may be difficult for visual learners to follow verbal instructions or directions. They also may have trouble following along without a presentation or workbook. Visual learners need something to stimulate their sight or they’ll quickly become disengaged.

They often have a strong sense of imagination and tend to daydream. As a trainer, you need to be able to keep their attention through a mix of activities and visual medium.

Training the Visual Learner

One of the keys to getting through to visual learners is to use visual content such as handouts, illustrations, and other visual aids in your training sessions.

Include outlines, concept maps, agendas, graphs, charts, and other visual aids for reading and taking notes
Use plenty of content in handouts to reread after the learning session
Leave white space in handouts for note-taking and have them draw pictures in the workbook if applicable
Invite questions to help them stay alert during lectures or other listening activities
Post flip charts to show what has been presented and what will come next
Emphasize key points to cue when to take notes
Eliminate potential distractions
Supplement textual information with illustrations as often as possible
Have the learners envision the topic or have them act out the subject matter

Kinesthetic Learners (physically experiencing or emotionally sensing)

Kinesthetic learners are “doers,” movers, touchers, and interactors. Here are some additional details about kinesthetic learners:

Learn through moving, doing, and touching
Express themselves through movement
Mentally stimulated by movement – their own and the movement of others
Have a good sense of balance and eye-hand coordination
Remember and process information through practical interactions
Often demonstrate good physical coordination, athletic ability, and hands-on experimentation
Adept with body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build, and dancing
Understand the meaning of things through touching, doing, and interacting
Prefer physical face-to-face interaction
When listening to lectures they may want to take notes for the sake of moving their hands
When reading, they like to scan the material first, and then zoom in on the details (get the big picture first)
They typically like to use color highlighters and take notes by drawing pictures, diagrams, or doodling

Weaknesses

Kinesthetic learners can find it hard to sit still for long periods of time. This means that they can become bored or fidgety during lectures and periods of inactivity. Since they learn by doing, these learners tend to lose concentration if there is little or no external movement.

Training the Kinesthetic Learner

One of the keys to keeping Kinesthetic learners engaged in your training sessions is to keep them moving. Of course, this isn’t as easy as it may sound and the extent that you can do this is very dependent on the subject matter that you’re teaching. For example, if you’re teaching a classroom-based course on chemical safety, it’ll be more difficult to retain a kinesthetic learner’s attention than if you’re conducting a forklift operator practical evaluation.

Still, there are things you can do in a classroom environment that can help maintain engagement. Here are some things to consider:

Play music, when appropriate, during activities or video presentations
Use colored markers to emphasize key points on flip charts or whiteboards
Give frequent breaks between lessons or sections
Provide highlighters, colored pens and/or pencils
Guide learners through a visualization of complex tasks
Have them transfer information from the text to another format by using a keyboard or tablet if available
And if possible, try to set up roles playing and group activities that require learners to actually get up and move around in the training space