What’s the Best Learning Style?
Throughout school and work, we’ve been told what our best learning style is to retain information. Now research has shown that we have learning preferences, which we all can benefit from. Here are ways to spot what works for you and what needs a little more practice.
What is VARK?
Many learning models break down the way people organize and store information into four main categories. Those are: Visually, Aurally (hearing), Reading, and Kinesthetically (through touch or doing.) People learn differently depending upon the subjects being taught. The learning style may vary depending upon the complexity of a topic also. So, what’s best?
New research has shown that students or workers learning more complex topics, need more than one method to learn. And retaining and repeating the processes learned is beneficial when multiple senses are used in the teaching process.
What’s Best for You?
Assessing your best method of learning can be easy with a simple test. Or, as we have seen during the pandemic, human beings adapt to their surroundings. Students, workers, and institutions modified learning, meetings, and processes to assist with the new normal. Many of those organizations never looked back either. But we also saw a decline in test scores in our younger students during the lack of in-person instruction.
So, we go back to what is the best learning style? The answer is “it depends.” It depends on the student, their resources, the sustainability of the teaching, etc.… Being adaptable to your environment and having the ability to learn multiple ways is the best for most people. Resilience and a growth mindset are traits that are important is any type of learning and in most situations.
Variations of Learning
Now we’re learning from our past experiences, there can be anywhere from 3–170 variations to these basic four styles above. Understanding how and when you learn best is really an efficient method for students or new workers learning a job. As we continue to embrace remote work and school, understanding your best learning style is the path to success.
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