Personal Learning Styles Paper

Abstract

Throughout life everyone learns. How we learn and whether we are able to retain and recall that information is the problematic part. This paper will discuss the ways that we all are diverse and the various ways we are most able to learn for long-term knowledge.

Most people know that everyone has different learning styles. The way we absorb, analyze, and retain information is what makes each individual unique. What is successful for one individual may not be the most optimal way of learning for someone else. Mr. Howard Gardner, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, suggested that there are eight different intelligences governing which learning style would be the most productive-based upon our own personalities.

The Pathways to Learning questionnaire, developed by Dr. Joyce Bishop (2002), asked students to rate a series of 48 questions with responses from "rarely" to "always" using a number scale. The numbers in each section were then tallied to provide a score for each of the eight intelligences: bodily-kinesthetic, verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial, logical-mathematical, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Based upon the numbers for each section, the highest ranking scores were to be indicative of our personalities and which learning style would be best suited for each individual student.

The bodily-kinesthetic intelligence is for people who have developed the skills of connecting mind and body. For this type of person, a "hands on" learning works best since their acute senses like to touch, feel, hold, and smell to assimilate information. While studying, this student may pace, tap fingers or feet, run his or her finger along the lines of text as he or she is reading, or make use of manipulatives to retain information.

While one person is pacing and moving while studying, someone else may be better able to learn in a quiet setting. The intrapersonal person is said to be self-aware, thinking before acting or speaking, and enjoy thinking things through mentally. Imagining experiments, the "what if such and such happened", are another tactic that this type of learner may use for optimal information retention.

Another type of intelligence is the verbal-linguistic. They are people who are usually very good with grammar and remember terms and definitions easily. The best ways for a verbal-linguistic person to study would be to outline chapters or teaching and reciting information out loud. Group study may be beneficial to this person as well.

Musical-rhythmic intelligence would apply to people who are sensitive to tonal qualities and understand the structure of music and rhythm. Learning with music in the background, or putting rhythms to words to make recalling information easier, would be a study technique very useful for this type of learner.

Have you ever looked at someone's notes that are all colored in, or highlighted, or there are charts and graphs in the margins? If so, those notes would likely belong to a visual-spatial type intelligence. In general, this person likes to draw, and can do so quite accurately when analyzing the relationship of objects either by using graphs or mapping the process in his or her mind.

A logical-mathematical intelligence person would organize material logically when taking notes, and would likely re-do them on the computer when they got home to keep them neat and organized. Reasoning inductively and deductively in everyday life would help them recognize abstract patterns and want to delve further into how things are connected and the ensuing relationships. In conjunction with the visual-spatial learner, the logical-mathematical learner utilizes charts and graphs to retain and recall information. Presenting the learned material to someone in a sequential fashion is also a useful tool in studying.

Group study sessions for an interpersonal intelligence learner would make the most of his or her communication skills since this type of person is open to different points of view and perspectives. The interpersonal student functions well in a group and would benefit from discussing information and teaching others.

Finally, the last intelligence is the naturalist. This is a type of person who generally understands nature's balance and would benefit from studying outside or taking a break from