Each person has habits when it comes to learning and taking in important information. These habits can actually be an indication of that person’s ideal learning style. There are three main learning styles: auditory, visual and kinaesthetic.
Auditory learners generally absorb information substantially better if it is presented via audio, such as a live lecture, discussion or audiobook/podcast and have a tendency to struggle understanding information in a written format, such as in a text book or journal.
Visual learners take in information via physical cues, such as body language and expression. Further, they tend to have a better understanding of the information if presented in a visual format, such as diagrams, charts or illustrations (TAFE Queensland, 2015).
Kinaesthetic learners (sometimes called ‘tactile learners’) work physically – movement around a classroom, creating models and being very hands on. They sometimes will struggle to sit still when studying and get distracted easily.
To make it further, these styles have a tendency to overlap each other, as shown in the diagram below:
The biggest thing I struggled with throughout my schooling career: sitting and reading endlessly. Why? I am a visual learner (hence the big, colourful diagram).
Studying as a visual learner can be somewhat difficult – textbooks and online resources aren’t big on pretty pictures! Over the years, I have learnt how to overcome these difficulties via a multitude of activities. The biggest help for myself I have found so far is finding images related to the topic I am studying, via Google Images, Maps or something of the like.
As an example, in a previous unit I was struggling to understand the layout of a court room, and the role each attendant plays. So, I looked up a diagram of the court, with labels and information about each role – I found a great one here, based on proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia.
I also like to imagine I am talking to someone, explaining what I am trying to write or read about to them. I find this tends to overcome the writer’s block that comes with staring blankly at an assessment piece.
A few other methods of visual learning I have found helpful are:
- Documentaries,
- Colour coding and organisation of notes;
- YouTube videos;
- Graphs, charts and illustrations; and
- Maps and diagrams.
Essentially, being a visual learner is about thinking in pictures, and taking hard to understand information and illustrating (either mentally or literally) a map of how the information looks.
References:
Federal Court of Australia (n.d.), Attending Court, viewed 23 July 2019, https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/going-to-court/i-am-a-party/court-processes/in-the-courtroom
Owlcation (30 June 2017), Is It a Learning Disability or a Learning Style?, viewed 23 July 2019, https://owlcation.com/academia/Is-It-a-Learning-Disability-or-a-Learning-Style
TAFE Queensland (2015), Learning Styles, viewed 22 July 2019, https://connect.tafeqld.edu.au/d2l/le/content/192493/viewContent/11007688/View
Total word count (excl. references): 414
EmJT: A Look into Law 
Emma, your post this week is very easy to follow as it is well articulated, flows nicely, and has a logical structure to it. I liked how the key information on each learning style was worded simply yet descriptively.
I noticed that we have different learning styles. Your inclusion of the Venn diagram reflects on your learning style of ‘visual’. Appealing to my bimodal learning style (read/write and kinesthetic) are:
1. the bullet point list you have used to communicate some of the tools you personally appreciate as a visual learner (R); and,
2. the practical example you have used of locating a suitable visual resource so that you could better understand the roles and functions of people in a court room (K).
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Hi Alicia, thanks for your feedback.
It’s interesting to see how we each view and understand the same information quite differently. I feel that I am also somewhat bimodal when it comes to learning (visual and kinaestetically), however visual learning is my strong suit.
I look forward to reading your work!
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