Research

Types of Learners

Types of learners and the need to identify

There are three different types of learners-visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Learners with a photographic memory are called visual learners as they create a picture in their mind of whatever they have to learn. The active listeners are the ones who learn through auditory mode of learning. They are good at memorizing and recalling things and learn better by listening. The kinesthetic learners are the ones who learn by doing and they are the most active of the lot.

Visual learners

These are the students who mostly stare at the teachers when they are teaching. Their notebooks are filled with flowcharts and maps and they enjoy learning through PowerPoint presentations and short video clips. They modify the lessons on their own by making flowcharts, mind maps, drawings on their notebooks and web charts in order to grasp the lecture being delivered in the class.

Auditory learners

They are the ones who are active listeners as they listen really carefully to what is being said during the lecture. They are easily distracted by the sounds, either inside or outside the classroom. These learners are best taught with the help of traditional teaching methods as they prefer the conventional way of learning.

Kinesthetic learners

These are the hyper active ones of the lot as they do not prefer sitting at one place for a longer period of time. They become very restless if they are not allowed to express their opinions in the class. There are certain students in this category who start to day dream during a lecture. Their preferred way of learning is through games and other activities. These kinds of learners can be easily found everywhere. There are still a lot of students who show the characteristics of both auditory and visual learners. But the kinesthetic learners are not the same and they seem disinterested most of the times, due to which they disturb the whole momentum of the lecture too.

The benefits of knowing the differences

A teacher must be able to identify the different types of learners in their class and should also adapt the lesson to facilitate the learning for each kind of learner. For this, a lecture should be introduced with the help of PowerPoint presentations along with photographs and video clips to make the visual learner interested. Then the lesson should be explained by summarizing the content shown through the audio visual aids and a question answer session is to be done at the end for the auditory learners to stay attentive. The students should also be asked to draw a picture or a flowchart related to the theme of the lesson for the kinesthetic learners. They should also be allowed to express their thoughts openly. The teacher should keep the class active by asking questions and interacting with the whole students to keep them engaged. Even the homework should be planned in a way that all kinds of learners would give their input in a way. Seating arrangement must be planned for each kind of student, with the visual learners to be best seated in the front row, kinesthetic learners somewhere they can move easily and the auditory learners where there is minimum disturbance.

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