Section 2-1: VAK Surveys
Remember what VAK stands for? Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning. These are the learning styles that most people think of right off the bat when they talk about learning styles.
To review,
- Visual Learners like to take in information through their eyes. They prefer reading, looking at pictures, using graphics, diagrams and maps, and so forth.
- Auditory Learners prefer to hear things. They like to listen to lectures, use music and mnemonics to jog their memory, talk and discuss as they learn, and think out loud.
- Kinesthetic Learners respond best to hands-on, movement-based activities. They like to assemble, make projects, manipulate, and move about.
You many already have a good idea about what category suits you best. Think about the things that make you comfortable. See if you can guess your VAK style before you even take a survey!
After you've given it some thought, try the surveys below. Pay special attention to a few things. Do the survey results match each other? Do they match what you thought about yourself? Which survey seems the most instructive to you? How can you use this information to help youself learn?
You've tried the surveys and found out whether you are a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner, but that information is completely useless unless you find a way to put it to work. Go get a piece of paper right now. Make three sections on your paper. Take a look at the following study techniques and sort them by learning style. When you get them all done, click the 'Feedback button' to see how you scored.
- conducting an experiment
- listening to a lecture
- playing a card game
- looking at a map
- reading an explanation
- reciting the correct answers out loud
(c) 2010 Sandy Fleming