Learning Styles

There are four basic modes of learning or learning styles.

1. Auditory: Some people learn primarily through what is heard or spoken. These students will retain what they hear read to them or through what is presented during lectures. They will benefit from the textbook being read aloud by a catechist or other students. Music and poetry are auditory.

 

2. Visual: Some people learn through what is seen. These students will remember, for example, what is written on the board, what they read in the book, and any visual information, such as artwork, flashcards, pictures, etc. Writing things down is helpful to visual learners. Paintings, sculptures, photographs and drawings are visual.

 

3. Tactile: Some people learn by means of “hands-on” activities. These students learn through writing out what they are to learn, tracing it with their fingers, by being able to touch the things that are associated with the lessons, anything that will be communicated through the sense of touch.

 

4. Kinesthetic: Some people learn through total bodily involvement. These students may need to physically move through the lesson by walking from one place to another in order to match questions with answers, pictures with concepts. Jumping onto the correct answer or throwing bean bags onto the right answer traced on the floor will reinforce this type of learning.

Most students will be able to assimilate information through more than one, or all, of these learning styles. Some students, however, will only be able to utilize one. It is unrealistic to expect a catechist to teach every lesson by incorporating all four learning styles, but a catechist can easily use more than one. It will benefit those students with special needs, while other students will enjoy the change of pace.