Learn Smart
VAK: Visual
Visual learners tend to:
• Learn through seeing
• Think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to
retain information
• Enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies
• Have visual skills which are demonstrated in puzzle
building, reading, writing, understanding charts and graphs,
a good sense of direction, sketching, painting, creating
visual metaphors and analogies (perhaps through the visual
arts), manipulating images, constructing, fixing, designing
practical objects, and interpreting visual images
Strategies
Encourage visual learners to:
• use graphics to reinforce learning.
• colour code to organise notes and possessions.
• use colour to highlight important points in text.
• take notes.
• illustrate ideas as a picture before writing them down.
• ask for written directions.
• use flow charts and diagrams for note taking.
• visualise spelling of words or facts to be memorised.
VAK: Auditory
Auditory learners tend to:
• Learn through listening
• Have highly developed auditory skills and are generally
good at speaking and presenting
• Think in words rather than pictures
• Learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking
things through and listening to what others have to say
• Have auditory skills demonstrated in listening,
speaking, writing, storytelling, explaining, teaching,
using humour, understanding the syntax and meaning
of words, remembering information, arguing their
point of view, and analysing language usage
Strategies
Encourage auditory learners to:
• read aloud.
• recite information to learn.
• use tunes or rhymes as mnemonic devices.
• read aloud and tape test questions or
directions.
• use verbal analogies and storytelling to
demonstrate their point.
VAK: Kinesthetic
Kinaesthetic learners tend to:
• Learn through moving, doing and touching
• Express themselves through movement
• Have good sense of balance and eye-hand coordination
• Remember and process information through interacting
with the space around them
• Find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become
distracted by their need for activity and exploration
• Have skills demonstrated in physical coordination, athletic
ability, hands on experimentation, using body language,
crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build,
dancing, and expressing emotions through the body.
Strategies
Encourage kinesthetic learners to:
• make models or role play to physically experience
learning.
• skim through reading material before reading it in
detail.
• annotate text and write questions while reading.
• translate information into diagrams or other visual
study tools.
• recite a list of items by counting on fingers.
• memorise or drill while moving e.g. when walking.
• listen to music while studying.
Howard Gardner’s Intelligences
People have different strengths
and intelligences
From the 8 primary intelligences, an individual
may excel in one, two or even three of these,
but nobody’s good at them all.
http://www.multipleintelligencetheory.co.uk/index.aspx
Howard Gardner’s Intelligences
• Verbal – Linguistic: well- developed verbal skills
and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and
rhythms of words
• Logical – Mathematical: ability to think
conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to
discern logical and numerical patterns
• Musical: ability to produce and appreciate
rhythm, pitch and timber
• Bodily – Kinesthetic: ability to control one’s body
movements and to handle objects skillfully
• Spatial – Visual: capacity to think in images
and pictures, to visualize accurately and
abstractly
• Intrapersonal: capacity to be self-aware and in
tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and
thinking processes
• Interpersonal: capacity to detect and respond
appropriately to the moods, motivations and
desires of others (People Smart)
• Naturalist: ability to recognize and categorize
plants, animals and other objects in nature
Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Journalist, Librarian, Commentator, Administrator,
Salesperson, Counsellor, Lawyer, Screenwriter,
Playwright, Poet, Advertising copywriter, Writer,
Public speaker, Magazine editor, Media consultant,
Web editor, TV or radio presenter, Language
translator or even a teacher.
Famous examples: Charles Dickens,
Abraham Lincoln, T.S. Eliot, Sir Winston Churchill.
Logical - Mathematical Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Accountant, Bookkeeper, Statistician, Sweet analyst,
Air traffic controller, Astronaut, Researcher,
Computer programmer, Webmaster, Computer
game designer, Data analyst, Engineer, Inventor,
Mortgage broker, Police detective, Scientist
(biologist, forensic, physicist, chemist, astronomer,
geologist, botanist etc), Banker, Negotiator or dealmaker, Insurance broker, Trouble-shooter or trades
person.
Famous examples: Albert Einstein, John Dewey.
Musical Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Musician, Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Music
teacher, Instrument maker, Orchestral performer or
conductor, Foley artist, Music critic, Instrument
tuner, Composer, DJ, Music producer/editor,
Video/film designer, Acoustic engineer, Entertainer,
Party-planner or a voice coach.
Famous examples: Mozart, Leonard Bernstein, Ray
Charles.
Bodily- Kinesthetic Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Mechanic, Craftsperson (i.e. sculptor), Coach,
Professional athlete or sports analyst, Acrobat,
Gymnast, Dancer or choreographer, Builder,
Hairdresser, Lifeguard, Magician, Masseuse, Stuntperson, Dentist, Surgeon, Actor, Adventurer (i.e.
rock climber or diver), Soldier, Fire-fighter, Driver,
Gardener, Landscaper or even a Chef!
Famous examples: Charlie Chaplin, Michael
Jordan.
Visual-Spatial Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Illustrator, Graphic-designer, Web designer, Artist,
Sculptor, Tour guide, Cartographer (map-maker),
Photographer, Film director/special effects editor,
Interior designer, Painter and decorator, Fashion
designer, Beauty consultant, Builder, Surveyor,
Sailor, Architect, Inventor, Cartoonist, Surgeon,
Pilot, Landscaper, Town-planner or an engineer.
Famous examples: Picasso, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Interpersonal Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Teacher , Actor, Therapist, Psychiatrist, Salesperson,
Manager, Interviewer, Team leader, HR (Human
Resources) professional, Politician, Criminologist, Police
officer, Administrator, Social worker, Doctor or Nurse,
Carer, Sociologist, Psychologist, Consultant, Counsellor,
Business owner, Travel agent, Hotel manager,
Waiter/waitress, Organiser, Advertising professional,
Home-care provider, Coach or mentor.
Famous examples: Gandhi, Ronald Reagan, Mother
Teresa, Oprah Winfrey.
Intrapersonal Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Actor, Artist, Small business owner/Self
employed person, Detective, Film director,
Counsellor, Social Worker, Philosopher, Theorist,
Inventor, Planner, Biographer, Researcher,
Psychologist, Personal trainer or writer.
Famous examples: Freud, Eleanor Roosevelt,
Plato.
Naturalistic Intelligence
Good match careers would be:
Landscaper, Gardener, Archaeologist, Farmer,
Conservationist, Biologist/marine biologist,
Animal Trainer/handler, Chef, Environmental
inspector, Fisherman, Photographer, Vet,
Zoo keeper or zoologist!
Famous examples: Charles Darwin, E.O. Wilson.
Left and Right Brain