Learning styles: the 12 different ways of learning that exist

Life is about learning acquire new knowledge through experiences and the education we receive from our parents, in school and later in college. In fact, we could say that we dedicate our entire childhood and adolescence to learning.

However, we do not all learn in the same way, since according to the learning style that we use each, it is easier for us to save concepts, analyze, relate data and, ultimately, learn. What learning style do you prefer?

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Different learning styles

If you go back to your school days and you notice, surely you will remember that friend who could only study alone, another who for him On the contrary, she needed to meet in a group to learn or one that, for example, she needed visual aids with colors to can remember the concepts and learn them.

Well, as Keefe defines it, learning styles are “those cognitive, affective and physiological traits that they 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 one way, and that accepting and respecting this diversity in learning is the secret for knowledge to truly 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 tell you about them below:

1. Assets

People with an active learning style are those who participate, improvise, encourage and engage in experiences to learn. Their minds are always open, so they don't mind learning new topics or tasks. In fact it is something that they like, so they are very enthusiastic when it comes to learning.

2. Theorists

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 by step. They are critical, analytical, thinking, methodical, perfectionist and disciplined people. They like to synthesize the knowledge they receive and integrate it into coherent theories.

3. Reflective

Those people who have a reflective learning style are analytical, observant, and thoughtful or meditative people. They like reflect on a topic from all angles and possible solutions, and they take the time they need to do so before jumping to conclusions.

4. Pragmatists

The pragmatic learning style is one of 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 you are studying, the better.

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• Not all methods work the same for everyone. | Unsplash

Other ways to learn

As we mentioned, other authors included more learning styles in the classification and we could say that are somewhat related to the types of intelligence that we have to a greater or lesser extent each of we.

5. Visual learning

People who have a visual learning style are people who, as the name implies, they internalize much better the information they can acquire visually through 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 the ideas, symbols that you create while taking notes or any kind of help visual.

6. Verbal learning

Also known by the name of language learning, this type of learning is for those who prefer to read and write to learn. It is easier for them to retain knowledge by reading texts and taking notes, actually a large number of notes.

7. Aural or auditory learning

It's about the people who learn more easily through active listening. They prefer debates, discussions and listening carefully to the teacher to absorb knowledge. They do not need to take notes or read long texts because they 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; on the contrary, 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 the logical reasoning to integrate what they are learning. They are more schematic and work better at associating words.

10. Social or interpersonal learning

They are people who prefer to learn in a groupThey can share their opinions, ask questions, debate and draw conclusions together, so they feel more secure in their learning process.

11. Solitary or intrapersonal learning

It is the opposite case of the previous learning style, because in this case prefer to study and integrate knowledge while alone, because it facilitates 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.

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