Learning Styles Assignment

There are four different types of learners, visual, kinesthetic, aural, and reading/ writing. An Aural learner is someone who learns by listening. A visual learner is someone who learns by seeing something being done. A Kinesthetic learner, however, is different from a visual and kinesthetic learner because they learn by actively participating and using their hands. People who are considered reading/writing learners are ones who can read information and rewrite it to learn class material.
After completing the online learning styles inventory quiz I was given the score of 10 points for aural learning and 5 points in Visual, Kinesthetic, and Read/Write. This was actually quite a surprise for me. I believed myself to be mainly a dominant Visual learner. In most of my high school courses I only had to see what I needed to do and then do it but after closer inspection I found that I prefer to listen to teachers give lectures. I found that I get distracted very easily from watching a professor’s hand gestures when trying to listen to a lecture. When I’m listening to someone give directions I tend to look at the ground so I can fully understand what they are trying to tell me.
I believed myself to be mainly a visual learner because to memorize things I usually draw pictures or mnemonics to help myself remember what it was I was studying. The read/write learning didn’t surprise me since I have memorized things previously by writing and rewriting. I was a read/write learned when it came time to learn vocabulary words for my classes. I was also surprised that I scored points for being a kinesthetic learner. There are no instances that I can remember of being a ‘hands on’ learner.
I believe that knowing I am mainly an aural learner will help my study habits. I know that I will do better if I attend tutorials or discussions where I can talk over new information that was given to me. The VARK learning styles website also told me that I will do best if I take notes out of the book and then listen during the class. I think this will be the most helpful tip mainly because I do not tend to take notes on the readings assigned and then I cannot write fast enough to remember everything the teacher said during class, causing me to forget information easily. I thought that the learning styles inventory was very insightful and I will be using the study tips they gave me for my future learning.

To my audience,

Let me begin my letter by introducing myself. My name is Madeline Ramsey and I am from Boulder Colorado. I enjoy Horseback riding and snowboarding. I have played softball, basketball, and have run track and cross country. I have two siblings, one sister and one brother. My sister Stephanie is five years older than me and at the moment she is attending Colorado University at Boulder and majoring in economics. My brother Scott lives in San Mateo California with his wife and child.

In high school I was a student in the International Baccalaureate Program, or I.B. for short. In the IB English I took we spent time reading international books and writing timed papers. This class was perhaps one of my favorite high school courses. It was set up to be a Socratic course so daily discussions about the readings occurred. Although writing was a strong focus within the course, there was very little one-on-one discussion with how to better one’s personal writing. Grades given on writing assignments were never explained. After a semester of extreme anxiety and multiple bouts of illness I made the decision to end my time in the program and instead participate in the school’s AP programs.

My A.P. Literature class was one of the worst English courses that I’ve ever been enrolled in. I was only ever given one writing assignment which was assigned as a group project. The class consisted of reading books and then watching the movie based upon the book. The class also involved vocabulary tests every six weeks on words that were presented by other students to the class. This class was a severe disappointment to me. As far as writing goes, I enjoy to write more creatively so I have limited constraints. I have written lab reports and research papers before but they were never that interesting to me. I would have to say research papers are my least favorite paper to write. Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. I prefer to read fiction and occasionally fantasy books.

Madeline Ramsey