Life is about learning, acquiring new knowledge through experiences and the education we receive from our parents, in school and then at university. In fact, we could say that we dedicate our entire childhood and adolescence to learning.
However, not all of us learn in the same way, since depending on the learning style that each of us uses, it is easier for us save concepts, analyze, relate data and, ultimately, learn. What learning style do you prefer?
Different learning styles
If you go back to your school days and look closely, you will surely remember that friend who could only study alone, another who, on the contrary, needed to meet in a group to learn or someone who, for example, needed help visuals with colors to remember and learn concepts
Well, as Keefe defines it, learning styles are “those cognitive, affective, and physiological traits that serve as indicators of how students perceive, interact, and respond to different learning environments ”.
We all have a learning style that is more effective for us and knowing it is important to make the learning process more enjoyable and simple. The success of a good education is understanding that not all of us learn in a single way, and that accepting and respecting this diversity in learning is the secret for knowledge really come to us.
The first 4 learning styles
There are several classifications of the types of learning elaborated by different authors. Alonso, Gallego and Honey (1995) defined the first 4 learning styles in their book "Learning and improvement styles" and they are divided based on personal characteristics. We will tell you about them below:
one. Assets
People with an active learning style are those who participate, improvise, encourage, and engage in learning experiences Their Mind is always open, so they don't mind learning new topics or tasks. In fact, it is something they like, so they are very enthusiastic when it comes to learning.
2. Theoretical
Those who use this type of learning are somewhat more rational people and their way of learning is by thinking sequentially.To assimilate the concepts well, they need to follow a path, one step at a time. They are critical, analytical, thinker, methodical, perfectionist and disciplined people. They like to synthesize the knowledge they receive and integrate it into coherent theories.
3. Reflexive
Those people who have a reflective learning style are analytical, observant, and thinking or meditative people. They like to think about an issue from all its angles and possible solutions, and take as much time as they need to do so before jumping to conclusions.
4. Pragmatists
The pragmatic learning style is for those people who acquire knowledge from the practical; They are more objective, realistic, concrete people and they like to test ideas so as not to leave open conclusions. The more concrete and useful the idea they are studying, the better.
Other ways of learning
As we mentioned, other authors included more learning styles in the classification and we could say that they are somewhat related to the types of intelligence that each one of us has to a greater or lesser extent.
5. Visual Learning
People who have a visual learning style are people who, as their name indicates, internalize much better the information they can acquire visuallythrough images, colors, diagrams and symbols; but instead, they are not very good with texts.
If this type of learning works better for you, it is easier for you to learn through educational videos, images that you can connect with ideas, symbols that you create while taking notes or any type of help visual.
6. Verbal learning
Also known as language learning, this type of learning is for those who prefer to read and write in order to learn. They find it easier to retain knowledge by reading texts and taking notes, actually a lot of notes.
7. Aural or auditory learning
These are the people who learn more easily through active listening They prefer debates, discussions and listening carefully to the teacher to absorb knowledge. They don't need to take notes or read long texts because they can more easily remember what they have heard.
8. Kinesthetic learning
They are people who need to feel learning through practice, interact with what they are learning and experience it in order to analyze and integrate new concepts; conversely, the types of learning that are more theoretical are not your thing.
9. Mathematical Logical Learning
More than context, people with this learning style need logical reasoning to be able to integrate what they are learning. They are more schematic and work better associating words.
10. Social or interpersonal learning
They are people who prefer to learn in groups, as they can share their opinions, ask questions, discuss and draw conclusions together, therefore that they feel more secure in their learning process.
eleven. Solitary or intrapersonal learning
It is the opposite case of the previous learning style, because in this case they prefer to study and integrate knowledge while alone, because it makes it easier for them concentration. They are generally thoughtful people who place a high value on introspection.
12. Multimodal Learning
There are also people who use different learning styles depending on the knowledge they are acquiring, so we can say that have a flexible learning system .