Learning Styles Survey

What is your preferred style of learning? Knowing your learning style can help you get higher grades in school or perform better at work. Take the inventory below. It will be scored online for you.

Answer each statement below with the most appropriate response. 

Treat each statement as a true/false statement.  (Example:  If the statement is very true about you, give the statement a 3; if it’s not at all true about you, give it a 1).


   3 -- Almost ALWAYS true about me
   2 -- SOMETIMES true about me
   1 -- Almost NEVER true about me

 


Press Tab to move to the next question
Press Shift Tab to return to the previous question.
01 When I make things for my studies, I remember what I have learned better.
02 I learn better if someone reads a book to me than if I read silently to myself.
03 I remember what I have read better than what I have heard.
04 I think better when I have the freedom to move around.
05 When I do math problems in my head, I say the numbers to myself.
06 I understand a math problem that is written better than one I hear.
07 I remember things I hear better than the things I read.
08 I would rather read a story than listen to it read.
09 I tend to solve problems through a more trial-and-error approach, rather than from a step-by-step method.
10 Saying the multiplication tables over and over helped me  remember them better than writing them over and over.
11 When the teacher says a math problem, I really don't understand it until I see it written down.
12 Writing a spelling word several times helps me remember it better.
13 I find it easier to remember what I have heard than what I have read.
14 When I have a choice between listening or reading, I usually read.
15 When I am told the pages of my homework, I can remember them without writing them down.
16 Before I follow directions for a project, it helps me to see someone else do it first.
17 Written math problems are easier for me to solve than spoken ones.
18 I like to do things with my hands, like simple repairs or crafts.
19 I do well in classes where most of the information has to be read.
20 When I have a written math problem to do, I say it to myself to understand it better.
21 Seeing written directions makes more sense to me than hearing the directions.
22 I like to make things with my hands.
23 I understand more from a class discussion than from reading about a subject.
24 I learn better by reading than by listening.
25 I am not skilled in giving verbal explanations or directions.
26 It makes it easier to work out a math problem when I say the numbers to myself.
27 Seeing the price of something written down is easier for me to understand than having someone tell me the price.
28 I understand what I have learned better when I am involved in making something for the assignment.
29 I do well on tests if the questions are about things I hear in class.
30 I do not become easily lost, even when I am in strange surroundings.
Click here to get results

 

My Personal Learning Style
Auditory
Tactile
Visual 

       |        |        |       |        |       |       |       |       |
Score        
       1        2        3       4        5       6       7       8       9

Learning Styles Preference Information

What does it mean?

There are several types of learning styles. Auditory learners learn best by hearing the material. Visual learners need to see the material to learn most effectively. Kinesthetic (or Tactile) learners are those who learn best by doing. Most individuals use a combination of all three styles. For example, if an individual is a strong visual learner, but also has good auditory (listening) skills, that person may want to use those secondary auditory skills to boost the visual skills for even better learning. The kinesthetic method of rewriting notes soon after a lecture will help reinforce material presented in class. The way an individual takes in new information, sorts, retains, retrieves, and reproduces it is heavily dependent on their style of learning. Knowing your learning style will help you develop coping strategies to compensate for your weaknesses and capitalize on your strengths.

VISUAL LEARNERS:

Need to see the teacher's body language and facial expression to fully understand the content of a lesson. They 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 the following: diagrams, illustrated textbooks, overhead transparencies, videos, flipcharts and handouts. During a lecture or classroom discussion, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to absorb the information.

Specifically, a dominant Visual learner:

  • Asks for verbal instructions to be repeated

  • Watches the speaker's facial expressions and body language

  • Likes to take notes to review later

  • Remembers best by writing things down several times or by drawing pictures and diagrams

  • Is a good speller

  • Turns the radio or T.V. up really loud

  • Gets lost with verbal directions

  • Prefers information to be presented visually (e.g. flipcharts or chalkboard)

  • Is skillful at making graphs, charts, and other visual displays

  • Can understand and follow directions on maps

  • Feels the best way to remember something is to picture it in his or her  head

  • Follows written instructions better than oral ones

  • Good at solving jigsaw puzzles

Visual Learner Strategies:

  • Use visual materials such as pictures, charts, maps, graphs, etc. when studying

  • Have a clear view of your teachers so you can see their body language and facial expression

  • Use color to highlight important points in text

  • Take detailed notes

  • Do frequent, quick visual reviews

  • Illustrate your ideas as a picture in a brainstorming mind map  before writing them down  (see example below)

  • Use multi-media (e.g. computers, videos, and filmstrips)

  • Study in a quiet place away from verbal disturbances

  • Read illustrated books

  • Visualize information as a picture to aid memorization

AUDITORY LEARNERS:

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 and speed. Written information may have little meaning until it is heard. These learners often benefit from reading a textbook aloud and
                            from using a tape recorder.

Specifically, a dominant Auditory learner:

  • Follows oral directions better than visual ones

  • Would rather listen to a lecture than read the material in a textbook

  • Understands better when reads aloud

  • Struggles to keep notebooks neat

  • Prefers to listen to the radio than to read a newspaper

  • Frequently sings, hums, or whistles to themselves

  • When presented with two similar sounds, can tell if sounds are the same or different

  • Requires explanations of diagrams, graphs, or maps

  • Enjoys talking to others

  • Talks to self

  • Uses musical jingles to learn things

  • Uses finger as a pointer when reading

  • Likes to tell jokes, stories and makes verbal analogies to demonstrate a point

Auditory Learner Strategies:

  • Sit in the classroom where you can hear well

  • Participate in class discussions/debates

  • Use a tape recorder during lectures in addition to taking notes

  • Review notes often by reading them aloud

  • Read text aloud

  • Create musical jingles to aid memorization

  • Create mnemonics (memory tricks to aid memorization). Example: The sentence "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles" is a memory aid for the planets in relation to the distance from the sun. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)

  • Discuss your ideas verbally

  • Dictate your thoughts into a tape recorder

  • Use verbal analogies and storytelling to demonstrate your point

  • Talk with other students about class material

TACTILE/KINESTHETIC LEARNERS:

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.

Specifically, a dominant Tactile/Kinesthetic learner:

  • Reaches out to touch things

  • Collects things

  • Talks fast using hands to communicate what they want to say

  • Constantly fidgets (e.g. taps pen, plays with keys in pocket)

  • Is good at sports

  • Takes things apart and puts things together

  • Prefers to stand while working

  • Likes to have music in the background while working

  • Enjoys working with hands and making things

  • Learns through movement and exploring the environment around them

  • May be considered hyperactive

  • Good at finding their way around

  • Prefers to do things rather than watching a demonstration or reading about it in a book

Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner Strategies:

  • Take frequent study breaks

  • Move around to learn new things (example: read or study while on an exercise bike)

  • Work in a standing position

  • Chew gum while studying

  • Use bright colors to highlight reading material

  • If you wish, listen to low music while you study

  • Skim through reading material to get a rough idea of what it is about before settling down to read it in detail

  • Write facts that must be learned several times. Keep a supply of scratch paper for this.

  • Make study sheets from your notes. Associate class material with real-world things or occurrences.

  • When appropriate, practice role playing

  • "Teach" the material to a friend