UMASS Exam Preparation Podcast Series Week 1: Your Learning Style Transcript
Transcript for the Podcast “Your Learning Style” by Anna Theis at The University of Manchester.
“Hello, I’m Anna Theis and I work at the University of Manchester at the Alan Gilbert Learning
Commons where I work closely with the Teaching and Learning team.
Today I’m going to talk to you about Learning Styles – I have delivered presentations on Learning
Styles in the past and it’s a topic I’m very interested in. I’m currently studying a Master’s degree and
I have looked at Learning Styles as part of my course.
It might be useful to have a pen and paper to hand to make notes as we go along.
Firstly, we will look at the question: What is a Learning Style? Then I’ll move on to talking about why
it is important to recognise your own Learning Style whilst at school or college. After that I’ll
outline some different Learning Styles and how you can adapt your revision techniques to each
style.
PAUSE
Ok, so we will begin with the question:
What is a Learning Style?
A Learning Style is the process or way a given individual prefers to learn. The core concept here is
that individuals differ in how they learn.
Everyone has a mix of learning styles. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of
learning, with far less use of the other styles. Others may find that they use different styles in
different circumstances. There is no right mix. Nor are your styles fixed.
The idea of individualized learning styles originated in the 1970s, and has greatly influenced
education.
Your own Learning Style is influenced by your genetic make-up, previous learning experiences, and
the culture and society you live in.
PAUSE
So, why is it important to recognise your own learning style at school or college?
Being aware of your Learning Style whilst you’re still in school or college will aid you in your future
learning at University. I recommend you get into the habit of learning to your preferred style now as
this will save you any panic when you get to university. At university there is an expectation that
you’ll already know “how to learn” – being able to learn independently is vital once you start
university and knowing your learning style will come in handy when you need to make notes in
lectures and seminars.
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Knowing your learning style will be really useful when you are revising for your exams, both now and
once you start university – I will be giving you some pointers on how to adapt your revision
techniques to specific learning styles.
I am going to now talk you through some different learning styles and suggest ways in which you can
revise according to these styles. This list of learning styles is by no means exhaustive but it will be an
overview to the different styles out there.
Listen out to see if you recognise yourself in any of these descriptions and this will help you
determine your own learning style.
PAUSE
Firstly we’ll look at Active and Reflective Learning Styles.
So, do you: prefer to do something to understand a concept?
Do you enjoy explaining ideas to others?
Do you learn while discussing a subject?
Do you begin speaking before know exactly what you are going to say?
And do you like working in a group?
In that case you are an active learner: you prefer to “try it out” to figure out how something works,
you aren’t always sure what you mean before you reach the end of a sentence. And you prefer to
interact to learn.
On the other hand:
Do you: Need some time between ideas to think about them?
Do you prefer to figure an idea out before presenting it to anyone?
And do you enjoy working alone?
In that case you are a reflective learner: you prefer to think through ideas before discussing them,
you want to understand your topic before presenting it, and you tend to gather data before you
discuss it.
Did you know… that both active and reflective learners struggle with lectures? Active learners like to
talk about the lecture material in order to understand it, and reflective learners feel that lectures
move on to quickly before they’ve had time to understand the material.
So do you think either of these styles applies to you?
If you think you are an active learner you may find the following revision techniques useful:
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Setting up study groups –working as part of a team, you should cover one topic each and
then try to teach the other members of your group your topic.
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Also, try talking through your ideas and your revision with somebody else – this doesn’t have
to be someone studying the same subject as you – it could be any family member or friend,
over the phone or in person.
If you think you are a reflective learner:
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Working as part of a group may also help you: before you meet, each member of the study
group should take one topic and prepare some information on it – once you have prepared
your section you can then share what you have learned with the other members of the
group. This gives you chance to reflect on your topic and prepare some material alone
before having to discuss it.
PAUSE
Now, we will look at Sensing and Intuitive learning styles.
Do you: Gather all available facts, solve problems with well-established methods, and tend to focus
on the details and get these exactly right? In this case you are a sensing learner which means you are
excellent at detailed work, you dislike courses with no “real world” connection, and you resent being
tested on material which hasn’t been explicitly covered.
Or… do you: Prefer to learn by discovering relationships and connections; do you dislike repetition
and struggle to memorise lists, facts and details. In this case you are an intuitive learner which
means you can easily make connections between two very different ideas, you often leap to new
methods, and you are comfortable with abstract ideas, and you can figure out an answer by
combining a few different ideas.
Both Sensing and Intuitive learners struggle with certain tasks: sensing learners can struggle to move
on from gathering facts to understand the entire concept and intuitive learners sometimes have
gaps in their understanding.
Past papers can help both Sensing and Intuitive learners learn – Sensing learners will find it useful to
practice completing a task to a specified time limit; and intuitive learners will realise where the gaps
in their knowledge are when completing a past paper so they can go back and revise these bits.
If you are a Sensing learner you may find the following revision techniques useful:
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As you tend to spend too much time gathering all the available facts devise a revision
timetable or revision plan to make sure that you don’t spend too much time on one topic.
As you don’t like being tested on material that hasn’t been explicitly covered make sure you
do some further reading beyond your notes to make sure you aren’t caught out by anything.
On the other hand, Intuitive learners don’t like memorising facts and details – unfortunately for
exams it is often necessary to memorise facts – so I would suggest making memorising facts and
dates fun – come up with a game, or make up a song in order to do this.
You could also use timelines or mind maps to help you memorise facts and dates – visualising the
information may make it easier for you to learn and remember it.
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PAUSE
Now we will look at Visual and Verbal learning styles.
Most of us are at least a little bit visual and verbal.
Visual learners remember information as an image such as a picture, a diagram, flow chart or
timeline. You may find it useful to colour code or highlight your work. You may be a good map
reader and enjoy drawing.
Verbal learners enjoy both the written and spoken word. You may like word games and the
meanings of words and you also enjoy both listening to and participating in debates, discussions and
enjoy public speaking.
If you are a visual learner you may find the following revision techniques useful:
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Colour coding your notes in order to make connections.
Using mind maps and timelines to visualise information and connect your knowledge to
pictures.
If you are a verbal learner you may find it useful to:
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Work in a study group so you can talk through your ideas – you may also want to have a
debate within your group in order to learn.
And listen to podcasts and videos on your revision topic.
PAUSE
Finally, I’ll outline sequential and global learning styles.
Sequential learners tend to use a step by step approach when learning something new; they have to
understand each step before moving onto the next. You may find it difficult to move on until you’ve
fully understood each step. You are able to take someone through the process with you and show
them how you reached your conclusions.
On the other hand, Global learners can often struggle to understand a new topic for what feels like
ages and then they will suddenly just “get it”. You are happy to move on to the next bit when you
are feeling a bit confused because you know that the answer may become apparent later. You can
explain your conclusion but you may find that the steps you took to get there are a bit vague.
In terms of revision, as sequential learners find a step by step approach useful these learners could
use timelines when revising.
If you’re struggling with a topic you are revising make sure you move on to another topic and come
back to whatever you were finding difficult later – it may make more sense after a break from it!
As a sequential learner, you are good at talking someone through the steps of a process so you may
find it useful to try and teach someone the topic you are revising.
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If you think you are a global learner it is important to remember that in exams the examiner will like
to see your plan or working out to show how you have reached your final answer. You can get into
the habit of doing this when revising by completing practice papers – even if you just complete a
plan when doing practice papers instead of answering the whole question this will be useful to you
as a global learner.
PAUSE
So in this podcast we have determined that a Learning Style is the way a given individual prefers to
learn – remember everyone is different! You may have found that you fit into more than one of the
learning styles covered in the podcast – don’t worry that is completely normal!
To summarise… in this podcast we have looked at the following types of Learning Styles:
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Active – people who prefer to ‘do’ something in order to understand a concept
Reflective – people who like to go away and think their ideas through.
Sensing – people who like to gather facts and solve problems with well-established methods
Intuitive – people who find it easy to make connections between different ideas.
Visual – people prefer to remember information as an image
Verbal – people who like the written and spoken word and enjoy discussing ideas
Sequential – people who find it easy to use a step by step approach to learning
Global – people who may struggle to understand and explain steps but can understand the
whole topic quite easily.
It is important to remember that no matter what style or styles you think you fit into there are
always effective ways in which you can learn. There is also plenty of help available when you get to
university to help you determine what style you are and give you tips and advice on how to
approach your learning such as the My Learning Essentials workshops
Jennie Blake will be delivering the next podcast on learning styles where she will talk to you about
how different learning styles are catered for at university and the support available at the University
of Manchester.
Good luck in your exams and hopefully we’ll be seeing you at the University of Manchester soon!”
For more information on Learning Styles, see the next podcast by Jennie Blake or check the UMASS
blog - http://umassmanchester.wordpress.com/
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