What’s your learning style?
Are you a visual learner? An auditory learner? A kinesthetic learner?
In my work teaching visual thinking skills, the topic of learning styles comes up a lot, most recently in a conversation with JC Doornick on his podcast Makes Sense, a clip of which I’ve shared above.
In that clip you’ll hear me reference a study from researchers Josh Cuevas and Bryan Dawson, which I break down in more depth in this article: Learning Styles vs Dual Coding.
That study shows that everyone (no matter their perceived learning style) benefits from working visually.
That doesn’t mean you should ignore your learning preferences, it simply means that there are some techniques that simply work well, whether you enjoy them or not.
As an adult learner, I encourage you to take into account those strategies that have been proven to be useful, without neglecting your own preferences.
So if you enjoy taking in new information in an auditory format, then go for a walk and listen to a good podcast or audiobook.
But then at the end of that walk, grab your notebook, think back on what you just listened to, and sketch out some highlights in the form of a drawing or a diagram. For more support with that visual work, check out our library of courses.
There’s plenty of room for both best practices and personalized learning experiences.
Cheers,
-Doug