Learning Well: Styles

When you set about the task of learning or teaching it's important to know about learning styles. While everyone in the world begins as an infant using imitation to mimic what they see around them, we all grow older and develop a preference for how we will take in and process information. There are three main types of learners: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Basically you like to see it, hear it, or do it to learn it.

Figure out what your learning style is (if you don't already know). You can take a quick assessment online here. Once you know your learning style you can select learning activities that will best suit you. If you are a visual learner, then you probably need to read books and watch videos. If you are an auditory learner then you probably do well listening to podcasts and other recordings. If you are a kinesthetic learner, you need to get your hands dirty working with the lesson.

How do you learn best? What strategies do you employ to cater to your learning style?

Learning Styles

We are currently in training to become certified English teachers. We're working temp jobs during the week and going to class on the weekend, so I hope I can keep putting out good stuff on this blog.

One thing that struck me is in our class discussion of learning styles. There are a lot of theories and many discussions about learning style, but one thing most people agree on is that people absorb information differently. One theory that I've seen the most is the visual, auditory and tactile learning styles.

If we are only preaching using the spoken word, we are doing a huge disservice to all of the members of the congregation who connect through the visual medium. It's almost like we are refusing to speak their language. It's important to bring the visual element in so that we are honoring the way that God has made people to understand their world.

Then I thought about the tactile (or kinesthetic) learning style. Where does our preaching give people a chance to touch, to taste, to smell, to move? We need to be aware of the fact that there are people in our church that just don't get it from sitting still and being quiet while someone talks to them. They need to be doing things, experiencing things.

Maybe we could bring in some clay for a sermon on the potter and the clay. Or how about hiding bread makers in the room set to start baking at the beginning of the service so that at the sermon on the bread of life, the smell of fresh baked bread is wafting through the crowd. What ways can you think of to engage people in the way they learn?

Presenting with Text

Not every presentation needs to have fancy pictures. Text alone, if well used, can make powerful points. To quote Mark Parker: "PowerPoint. The name says it all. Make it powerful. Make a point. Most presentations do neither." Thanks to Mark for the link to this presentation.

Presenting with text

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