Getting Ready to Learn

Learning Styles Inventory

TEACHING AND LEARNING CENTER

Answer the questions to the best of your ability. Mark a YES or NO response.

1.	I prefer watching a video to reading.	YES	NO
2.	When I sing along with my CDs or the radio, I know the words to the songs.	YES	NO
3.	I have athletic ability.	YES	NO
4.	I can picture the setting of a story I am reading.	YES	NO
5.	I study better with music in the background.	YES	NO
6.	I enjoy hands-on learning.	YES	NO
7.	I’d rather play sports than watch someone play them.	YES	NO
8.	Reading aloud helps me remember.	YES	NO
9.	I prefer watching someone perform a skill or a task before I actually try it.	YES	NO
10.	I color-coordinate my clothes.	YES	NO
11.	I’m good at rhyming and rapping.	YES	NO
12.	Use phrases like: “I’ve got a handle on it,” “I’m up against the wall,” or “I have a feeling that . . .”	YES	NO
13.	I need to look at something several times before I understand it.	YES	NO
14.	I prefer having instructors give oral directions than written ones.	YES	NO
15.	I have difficulty being still for long periods of time.	YES	NO
16.	I use phrases like “I see what you’re saying,” “That looks good,” or “That’s clear to me.”	YES	NO
17.	I’m good at figuring out how something works.	YES	NO
18.	I can understand a taped lecture.	YES	NO
19.	It’s easy for me to replay scenes from movies in my head.	YES	NO
20.	I enjoy studying foreign languages.	YES	NO
21.	I would rather conduct my own science experiment than watch someone else do it.	YES	NO
22.	I would rather paint a house than a picture.	YES	NO
23.	I enjoy studying in groups.	YES	NO
24.	I prefer to have written directions to someone’s home.	YES	NO
25.	I can look at an object and remember it when I close my eyes.	YES	NO
26.	I have musical ability.	YES	NO
27.	When I study new vocabulary, writing the words several times helps me learn.	YES	NO
28.	I can imagine myself doing something before I actually do it.	YES	NO
29.	I use phrases like “That rings a bell,” “I hear you,” or “That sounds good.”	YES	NO
30.	I enjoy building things and working with tools.	YES	NO

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Scoring My Inventory

Tally your responses by adding up only the YES answers. Put the number of the question in the appropriate box. For example, if you answered questions number 9 with a yes, write 9 in the VISUAL box. If you answered number 11 with a yes, write number 11 in the AUDITORY box. If you answered number 7 with a yes, write 7 in the KINESTHETIC box. Add up the number of questions in each box and write a total for each one. This will determine your preferred learning style. Don’t worry if a dominant mode doesn’t emerge. You’re a versatile learner! Use the knowledge you gain to create excellent study tools, the ones that are right for you. Chart your answers below.

Visual Style:	Questions 1, 4, 9, 10, 13, 16, 19, 24, 25, 28
Auditory Style:	Questions 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, 26, 29
Kinesthetic Style:	Questions 3, 6, 7, 12, 15, 17, 21, 22, 27, 30
Visual	Auditory	Kinesthetic
1,9,10,16,19,24,25,	2,5,8,11,14,18,20,23,26,	15,17,21,27
	29
Total:104	Total:156	Total:80

The highest score indicates your preferred learning style. If you have a high score in more than one area, you’re using additional modalities. Remember that there are no wrong answers to this inventory. Everyone is an individual and has her own style of learning.

Characteristics of Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Modes

• Visual learners need to see information. If your preferred style is visual, you have strong visualization skills and can remember objects, shapes, and pictures. You learn by reading, and by watching films, videos, and demonstrations. You can see pictures in your mind.

• Auditory learners need to hear information. If your preferred style is auditory, you have a “good ear” and can hear differences in tones and rhythm. Reading out loud will be beneficial. You can remember what you hear in a lecture.

• Kinesthetic learners need to be physically active and doing things. If your preferred style is kinesthetic, you are a hands-on learner. You have good coordination and learn by doing. You generally have an active approach to learning.

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Using Multi-Sensory Learning

Now that you know your learning style(s), you have an idea of the important role your senses play in the learning process. The best strategy is to combine modalities whenever possible. Incorporate visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learning into your study plan. Using combinations will strengthen your ability to retain information. Be creative. Add your own ideas. Here are some strategies:

Visual learners:

• Create mind maps, flow charts, and diagrams using bright colors. Put them where you can view them frequently.

• Practice building your visual memory.

• Rewrite your notes using different colors.

Auditory learners:

• After you read a page in your textbook, summarize the information out loud in your own words.

• Tape your instructor’s lecture, and if you are a commuter, listen to the tape on the way home, either in your car, or on the bus or subway.

• Discuss the material that you have been learning with a friend or study group.

Kinesthetic learners

• Use your hands. Cut up charts and diagrams. Create flash cards and move them around with large, sweeping movements.

• Walk and talk the information. Recite as you move.

• Type on a computer keyboard. You are using your muscle memory.

Developing Your Style: Combining Visual, Auditory, & Kinesthetic Modes

Additional ways you can use multi-sensory learning:

• Use background music (no lyrics to distract you) when you study. Choose a piece of music for a particular subject. Every time you study that subject, play the music. You are creating an association for your subconscious mind. You may be surprised to discover how much of the information you remember when you play the music by itself. You are combining Visual and Auditory modes.

• Use rap or rhyme to memorize information. To add Kinesthetic to this Auditory mode, walk, dance, or clap when you sing.

• If you are athletically inclined, dribble a basketball while you recite information. You are combining Auditory and Kinesthetic modes.

• Study with a partner or in a group. Discuss the information. Hold up flash cards diagrams, hierarchies, and mind maps to test each other. This combines Visual and Auditory modes.

• Put yourself in the picture. You can do this with a subject like history; participate in a battle or a significant meeting such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Ask yourself how you feel. This combines Visual and Kinesthetic modes.

• Make up your own strategies. Incorporate multi-sensory learning into your studies.

Additional Strategies:

• If you are learning a new vocabulary word or math formula, write it in the air using large, sweeping movements. Close your eyes and see it in your mind’s eye. Say the words out loud. You are combining V, A, and K modes.

• Use the sense of smell. One student created olfactory (smell) associations by using scented pencils for studying. He used a grape pencil for one subject and a chocolate one for another. When taking an exam, he used the appropriate pencil to help him recall information. He combined V and K and added an additional sensory mode.

• Use 5- by 7-inch flash cards to self-quiz. Use different and bright colors for each side. Lay them on a desk or table. Move them around and put them in different places as you study, or create a game with them. Place them into different categories in a hierarchical fashion such as “don’t know,” “review,” and “need to study more.”

• Create your own auditory notes using a tape recorder.

My Personal Learning Style Plan:

1. Create mind maps, flow charts, and diagrams using bright colors. Put them where i can view them frequently.
2. Use background music (no lyrics to distract me) when i study. Choose a piece of music for a particular subject. Every time you study that subject, play the music. I am creating an association for my subconscious mind.  I am combining Visual and Auditory modes.
3. Discuss the material that I have been learning with a friend or study group.
4. If I'm learning a new vocabulary word or math formula, i will write it in the air using large, sweeping movements. Close eyes and see it in my mind’s eye. Say the words out loud. I am combining V, A, and K modes.
5. After I read a page in my textbook, I summarize the information out loud in my own words.