Learning Styles

What is Auditory Training

Auditory training is a process that involves teaching the brain to listen. People without hearing impairments and auditory processing disorders learn how to listen naturally at a very young age and may not remember this process. During this type of training, people are provided with auditory stimuli and coaching that helps them learn to identify and distinguish sounds. Auditory training is usually supervised by an audiologist or speech-language pathologist.

People who are hard of hearing may choose to wear hearing aids or Cochlear implants to improve their hearing. These devices may be worn full time or part of the time, depending on the preference of the patient, and the patient can opt to continue using sign language and other communication techniques in addition to speaking. However, just inserting an implant or hearing aid is not enough. The device needs to be adjusted so that the patient can hear comfortably and the patient must learn how to interpret the sounds that enter the ear. This requires auditory training, with patients listening to music, spoken words, and other auditory stimuli.

When these devices are initially installed, it can be overwhelming. A flood of noise enters the ear and the brain has difficulty interpreting it. Over time, auditory training allows the patient to discriminate between different sounds and to attach meaning to sounds. For example, horns evolve from loud and obnoxious noises to warning signals that alert people to dangers. Without training, devices like hearing aids are not very useful for the patient.

People with auditory processing disorders can also benefit from auditory training. In an auditory processing disorder, hearing is functionally fine, but the brain has difficulty making sense of the information. A speech-language pathologist works with the patient to help him or her identify sounds, distinguish between them, and develop listening skills. Training of this nature can also be provided to people recovering from strokes and other injuries that impede auditory processing or damage the hearing.

Some people have suggested that auditory training can also be useful for patients with autism spectrum disorders and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. While not formally endorsed by professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, this treatment can be one option to consider. This type of training can help patients who are sensitized to auditory stimuli deal with the world around them and it may also improve communication skills and help patients feel more comfortable in noisy environments. It is important to note that treatments like auditory training are not cures, but rather approaches to management that can help people cope with their environment.

Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning style model

A common and widely-used model of learning style is Fleming’s (2001) Visual Auditory Kinesthetic (VAK) model. According to this model, most people possess a dominant or preferred learning style; however some people have a mixed and evenly balanced blend of the three styles:

The VAK learning style uses the three main sensory receivers: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic (movement) to determine the dominant learning style. It is sometimes known as VAKT (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, & Tactile). It is based on modalities—channels by which human expression can take place and is composed of a combination of perception and memory.

VAK is derived from the accelerated learning world and seems to be about the most popular model nowadays due to its simplicity. While the research has shown a connection with modalities and learning styles (University of Pennsylvania, 2009), the research has so far been unable to prove the using one's learning style provides the best means for learning a task or subject. This is probably because it is more of a preference, rather than a style.

1.    Visual learners

2.    Auditory learners

3.    Kinaesthetic learners

Visual learners tend to:

·       Learn through seeing

·       Think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information

·       Enjoy looking at maps, charts, pictures, videos, and movies

·       Have visual skills which are demonstrated in puzzle building, reading, writing, understanding charts and graphs, a good sense of direction, sketching, painting, creating visual metaphors and analogies (perhaps through the visual arts), manipulating images, constructing, fixing, designing practical objects, and interpreting visual images

 

Auditory learners tend to:

·       Learn through listening

·       Have highly developed auditory skills and are generally good at speaking and presenting

·       Think in words rather than pictures

·       Learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking things through and listening to what others have to say

·       Have auditory skills demonstrated in listening, speaking, writing, storytelling, explaining, teaching, using humour, understanding the syntax and meaning of words, remembering information, arguing their point of view, and analysing language usage

Kinaesthetic learners tend to:

·       Learn through moving, doing and touching

·       Express themselves through movement

·       Have good sense of balance and eye-hand coordination

·       Remember and process information through interacting with the space around them

·       Find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration

·       Have skills demonstrated in physical coordination, athletic ability, hands on experimentation, using body language, crafts, acting, miming, using their hands to create or build, dancing, and expressing emotions through the body.

The following are some techniques that you can use to help students develop, explore, and enhance their learning strengths. The more a student can learn through a combination of all the modalities—visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic - , the more embedded the learning will be.

Encourage visual learners to:

·       use graphics to reinforce learning.

·       colour code to organise notes and possessions.

·       use colour to highlight important points in text.

·       take notes.

·       illustrate ideas as a picture before writing them down.

·       ask for written directions.

·       use flow charts and diagrams for note taking.

·       visualise spelling of words or facts to be memorised.

Encourage auditory learners to:

·       read aloud.

·       recite information to learn.

·       use tunes or rhymes as mnemonic devices.

·       read aloud and tape test questions or directions.

·       use verbal analogies and storytelling to demonstrate their point.

Encourage kinaesthetic learners to:

·       Make models or role play to physically experience learning.

·       Skim through reading material before reading it in detail.

·       Annotate text and write questions while reading.

·       Translate information into diagrams or other visual study tools.

·       Recite a list of items by counting on fingers.

·       memorise or drill while moving e.g. when walking.

·       Listen to music while studying.