Which Type of Learner Are You ?

Understanding learning styles or types can be very helpful for those of us who are teachers. Switching our teaching styles to accommodate these different types of learning styles will benefit our students, and make our teaching much easier. Also understanding these learning styles may make it less frustrating as a student.

An important factor in understanding learning styles is understanding brain functioning. Both sides of the brain can reason, but by different strategies. and one side may be dominant. The left brain is considered analytic in approach while the right is described as holistic or global. A successive processor (left brain) prefers to learn in a step-by-step sequential format, beginning with details leading to a conceptual understanding of a skill. A simultaneous processor ( right brain) prefers to learn beginning with the general concept and then going on to specifics.

People think and learn in different ways. In any group there will always be evidence of different learning characteristics, but different cultural groups may emphasize one cognitive style over another. A. Hilliard describes "learning style" as the sum of the patterns of how individuals develop habitual ways of responding to experience and distinguishes learning styles by considering the holistic vs. the analytic learner.