Information about learning styles and Multiple Intelligence (MI) is
helpful for everyone especially for people with learning disabilities and Attention
Deficit Disorder. Knowing your learning style will help you develop coping strategies to
compensate for your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths. This page provides an
explanation of what learning styles and multiple intelligence are all about, an
interactive assessment of your learning style/MI, and practical tips to make your learning
style work for you.
For ease of use, the page has been divided into six categories:
Learning
Styles Explained
Please Pick a topic:
What are learning Styles?
What are the types of
learning styles?
Visual Learners
Auditory Learners
Kinesthetic Learners
What are learning styles?
Learning styles are simply different approaches or ways
of learning.
What are the types
of learning styles?
Visual Learners:
learn through seeing...
.
These learners need to see the teacher's body language and facial
expression to fully understand the content of a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting at the
front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions (e.g. people's heads). They may think
in pictures and learn best from visual displays including: diagrams, illustrated text
books, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and hand-outs. During a lecture
or classroom discussion, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the
information.
Auditory Learners:
learn through listening...
They learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things
through and listening to what others have to say. Auditory learners interpret the
underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other
nuances. Written information may have little meaning until it is heard. These learners
often benefit from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder.
Tactile/Kinesthetic
Learners:
learn through , moving, doing and touching...
Tactile/Kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach,
actively exploring the physical world around them. They may find it hard to sit still for
long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.
Multiple
Intelligence Explained
What is Multiple
Intelligence?
What are the types
of Multiple Intelligence?
Visual/Spatial Intelligence
Verbal/Linguistic
Intelligence
Logical/Mathematical
Intelligence
Bodily/Kinesthetic
Intelligence
Musical/Rhythmic
Intelligence
Interpersonal Intelligence
Intrapersonal Intelligence
What is
Multiple Intelligence?
Conceived by Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences are seven
different ways to demonstrate intellectual ability.
What are the types of Multiple Intelligence?
Visual/Spatial
Intelligence
ability to perceive the visual. These learners tend to
think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information. They enjoy
looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies.
Their skills include:
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, interpreting visual images.
Possible career interests:
navigators, sculptors, visual artists, inventors, architects,
interior designers, mechanics, engineers
Verbal/Linguistic
Intelligence
ability to use words and language. These learners have
highly developed auditory skills and are generally elegant speakers. They think in words
rather than pictures.
Their skills include:
listening, speaking, writing, story telling, explaining, teaching,
using humor, understanding the syntax and meaning of words, remembering information,
convincing someone of their point of view, analyzing language usage.
Possible career interests:
Poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, translator
Logical/Mathematical
Intelligence
ability to use reason, logic and numbers. These learners
think conceptually in logical and numerical patterns making connections between pieces of
information. Always curious about the world around them, these learner ask lots of
questions and like to do experiments.
Their skills include:
problem solving, classifying and categorizing information, working
with abstract concepts to figure out the relationship of each to the other, handling long
chains of reason to make local progressions, doing controlled experiments,
questioning and wondering about natural events, performing complex mathematical
calculations, working with geometric shapes
Possible career paths:
Scientists, engineers, computer programmers, researchers,
accountants, mathematicians
Bodily/Kinesthetic
Intelligence
ability to control body movements and handle objects skillfully.
These learners express themselves through movement. They have a good
sense of balance and eye-hand co-ordination. (e.g. ball play, balancing beams). Through
interacting with the space around them, they are able to remember and process information.
Their skills include:
dancing, physical co-ordination, sports, hands on experimentation,
using body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build,
expressing emotions through the body
Possible career paths:
Athletes, physical education teachers, dancers, actors,
firefighters, artisans
Musical/Rhythmic
Intelligence
ability to produce and appreciate music. These musically
inclined learners think in sounds, rhythms and patterns. They immediately respond to music
either appreciating or criticizing what they hear. Many of these learners are extremely
sensitive to environmental sounds (e.g. crickets, bells, dripping taps).
Their skills include:
singing, whistling, playing musical instruments, recognizing tonal
patterns, composing music, remembering melodies, understanding the structure and rhythm of
music
Possible career paths:
musician, disc jockey, singer, composer
Interpersonal
Intelligence
ability to relate and understand others. These learners try
to see things from other people's point of view in order to understand how they think and
feel. They often have an uncanny ability to sense feelings, intentions and motivations.
They are great organizers, although they sometimes resort to manipulation. Generally they
try to maintain peace in group settings and encourage co-operation.They use both verbal
(e.g. speaking) and non-verbal language (e.g. eye contact, body language) to open
communication channels with others.
Their skills include:
seeing things from other perspectives (dual-perspective), listening,
using empathy, understanding other people's moods and feelings, counseling, co-operating
with groups, noticing people's moods, motivations and intentions, communicating both
verbally and non-verbally, building trust, peaceful conflict resolution, establishing
positive relations with other people.
Possible Career Paths:
Counselor, salesperson, politician, business person
Intrapersonal Intelligence
ability to self-reflect and be aware of one's inner state of
being. These learners try to understand their inner feelings, dreams, relationships
with others, and strengths and weaknesses.
Their Skills include:
Recognizing their own strengths and weaknesses, reflecting and
analyzing themselves, awareness of their inner feelings, desires and dreams, evaluating
their thinking patterns, reasoning with themselves, understanding their role in
relationship to others
Possible Career Paths:
Researchers, theorists, philosophers