Perhaps you want to ask yourself how you learn best. A little insight like this can help you thrive in your education. Read this article to learn how you can utilize different learning styles.
What are learning styles?
Learning styles are the way a student uses to learn the proposed contents. This is because each student is comfortable with a certain style and more difficult to learn from others. So, each person is unique in their way of learning!
Developed by researchers Neil Fleming and Colleen Mills, the Vark technique is an acronym in the English language that designates the four learning modes-Visual, Auditory, Read/Write and Kinesthetic.
Perhaps you have never heard of the Vark technique, but with the following explanations you will certainly be able to identify learning styles and thus help your child better.
Learning styles for better school performance
Have you ever stopped to think about how your child better absorbs the content of the subjects? That's right: there are different learning styles and each student best fits a certain profile. That is, the abilities to absorb information vary from one student to another. Luckily, there are many digital training resources for teachers to enhance teaching skills like Diksha App. This is the great and very effective platform for free online training with certificates.
The VARK Model
Therefore, there are people who absorb information better by reading, listening, experimenting or drawing diagrams. To understand a little more about this subject, we will discuss the concept of learning styles according to the Vark technique below. V For-Visual, A For-Audio or auditory, R For-Read/Writing, K For-Kinesthetic or Tactile is the full form of VARK Model.
So, keep reading this article and find out what are the main ways to learn new subjects and help your child to identify them for better school performance.
The basic learning styles you should know about
Students learn through various types of learning styles. As a teacher, we use different types of learning styles. Here is an outline-
1. Visual
This is a learning style in which the student learns through vision. It is the student who finds it easier to assimilate information when it is recorded in graphs, videos, images, diagrams, maps, symbols, and lists. Therefore, they are students who also like to learn through video lessons. It is essentially a graphic perception. And hierarchical perception of knowledge, whether in the classroom or in other multiple places of learning.
Generally, these people use expressions like “the way I see it…” This student can also be known as an “information designer”, since he naturally visualizes knowledge. What's up; have you noticed these characteristics in your child?
2. Hearing
It is that student who retains information better using sound media. An example of this is the lectures, since your thinking of him is structured through words. Hence, he is a great conversation memory. Your learning is better by listening to the teacher in the classroom, interviews, podcasts, repetitions or songs, that is, through the knowledge that is spoken and heard.
Normally, this type of student does not need to take notes in the classroom to retain the material and uses the strategy of verbal information for its retention. In addition, he has a habit of using expressions such as “from what I understand from what was said…”
A curiosity about the auditory learning style is that this student needs to experience with his voice the concepts to be learned. So, if your child, usually, repeats the information heard aloud, he probably fits the auditory style.
3. Read/Write
It is the modality that differs because it is linked to written content. Students who identify with this style are those who find it easy to deal with information expressed in the form of words. Ordinarily, they write down everything in the classroom and summarize the contents passed on by the teacher. Does your child do this? If so, he might be a strong candidate to have this style.
In addition, they are students who find it easy to express abstract knowledge in written language. They prefer to study through books, handouts, dictionaries, online texts, articles, research because these are the ways he finds to learn more easily. Most of them are people who also love to read.
4. Kinesthetic
This is a learning style in which the student learns by doing, hands on. When he experiences the proposed activities in practice, it is easier for him to understand and retain new information and knowledge.
Your sense of reality when you are learning is concrete, hence the need to experience knowledge in practice. These are students who need movement and interaction and, therefore, are usually writing down what they hear. Are these skills seen in your child?
How online questionnaires can help in learning
There are some online questionnaires that also help to identify the student's learning style. These tests guide the naming of features and scoring boundaries between the models. An example is the Vark Quiz. How about suggesting to your child to take the test to help him identify his learning style? Of course, it's important to keep in mind that tests can fail. Therefore, the most significant thing is to observe which forms help the most in the learning process and seek to invest in them.
The importance of school to absorb the content
It is significant that the school offer a variety of ways to pass on the content to ensure student learning. Therefore, seek to know more about the teaching-learning process adopted by the school and whether there is diversity in the way of teaching through the activities proposed during the school year.
For example, check for pedagogical proposals that include the use of music, dance, staging, games, extracurricular activities, science fairs, among other strategies that contribute to the teaching-learning process. After all, in this way, each student will be able to identify their learning style. This is because it is extremely significant to identify this personal skill, since this discovery can be decisive for the student to succeed or not in certain curricular subjects.
Did you see how indispensable it is to identify learning styles for the school development process? So, also learn about how to help your child be a high-performing student in school!
