In my own learning experiences I find that I combine all of the types of learning. Primarily I am a visual learner. I like to read, see diagrams/pictures and take notes to look at later. Secondly, I think I am a kinesthetic learner in that once I read/see I would like to try it! This helps me really know the material and retain the "important" parts. I know that I can memorize things by the "feel" of them--like my pin number! If I can't remember it in my head I can remember the finger movements! Thirdly I find that auditory learning works in some situations. For example if I want to remember where I parked the car I will say it out loud and I won't forget it!
So, the most effective method of learning for me is to read it/see it, try it and then review it out loud! The least effective is just for me to hear it or to try it without reading or seeing it first.
We can't teach each lesson focusing on ever learning style for a lot of reasons. First of all, most lessons are in the written form. Second, there isn't time to do every lesson 3 different ways. Thirdly, we don't know how each student learns. I believe that since most learners are a mix of all three learning styles we need to focus on teaching students how to learn no matter how the material is presented! They need to find out what works for them. I know at my school we often talk to students about this and give them ideas of how they can take a lesson and use different types of strategies to adapt the lesson to their personal learning style so they can learn and retain the material.
What is also effective is offering them different ways to be assessed. You can teach everyone the same way, but they can prove they have learned it by doing it to match their learning style. That is why I love Project Based Learning because they can demonstrate their knowledge in the way that best suits them.
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