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Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learning Styles

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Understanding How Team Members Learn

The fact that you're reading this article shows that you have an appetite for learning and improving your skills. But even if you're happy to scroll through words on a screen, is that the best learning style for you?

Would you get more out of it if we were to present this information visually or aurally, perhaps through an infographic or flow chart, or with a podcast or vlog?

What kind of learner are you?

In this article we'll look at the VAK Learning Styles model and explore the importance to you and your team of understanding people's different styles of learning.

What Is the VAK Learning Styles Model?

The VAK Learning Styles Model was developed by psychologists in the 1920s to classify the most common ways that people learn. According to the model, most of us prefer to learn in one of three ways: visual, auditory or kinesthetic (although, in practice, we generally "mix and match" these three styles).

Visual: a visually-dominant learner absorbs and retains information better when it is presented in, for example, pictures, diagrams and charts.

Auditory: an auditory-dominant learner prefers listening to what is being presented. He or she responds best to voices, for example, in a lecture or group discussion. Hearing his own voice repeating something back to a tutor or trainer is also helpful.

Kinesthetic: a kinesthetic-dominant learner prefers a physical experience. She likes a "hands-on" approach and responds well to being able to touch or feel an object or learning prop.

A variation on the acronym, developed by New Zealand-based teacher Neil D. Fleming, is VARK®, or visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic:

Reading/Writing: a reading- or writing-dominant learner uses repetition of words and writing. Clearly, there is an overlap with visual and auditory styles, as words and writing can be both, but, commonly, a person who prefers to learn this way remembers or organizes things best in his mind by taking down notes.

Understanding Learning Preferences

You'll probably already have a good sense of what your learning preference is, as this will have been present from your earliest days at school. For example, is your default response to a problem or challenge to sketch something out on a piece of paper (visual), talk about it (auditory), or build a model or tangible representation of the problem (kinesthetic)?

If you are still unsure of your learning style, you may be able to identify it by considering these scenarios:

Think about how you complain. When you complain about something, chances are your emotions are running high and you'll revert to the communication style you feel most comfortable with. Do you want to see the whites of someone's eyes (visual), harangue someone over the phone (auditory), hammer your fists on the table (kinesthetic), or fire off a curt email (reading/writing)?

Imagine yourself in an uncomfortable situation. If you were lost in a strange city at night, how would you find your way to your destination? Would you use a map (visual), ask someone for directions (auditory), or just keep walking until you worked out where you were (kinesthetic)?

What style of presentation do you prefer? Think back to the last presentation you attended. What was it that most stuck in your mind? Was it the charts or visual aids (visual), the words the presenter used (auditory), or any audience participation (kinesthetic)?

Strategies for Improving Learning

Formal training for your team is likely the responsibility of your organization's L&D department. But, as a manager, there may also be occasions when you have to deliver basic training or coaching sessions, brief your people, or do team-building exercises. Understanding the three VAK learning styles will help you do all these things more effectively.

Tip:

This article describes just one approach to learning styles. See our article, 4MAT, to explore other models and approaches, and see our other tools and resources here.

The simplicity and intuitive usefulness of the VAK model has contributed to its enduring popularity with teachers and trainers, but it's important to remember that your people will have a different mix of strengths and preferences. So, when you have to deliver training or a presentation, ensure that you include a mixture of aids and methods that will engage your team members, whatever their preferred learning style.

One criticism of the model is that, while it is pretty self-evident that we all learn and retain information in different ways, there is little hard evidence to show that, in general, you learn better if your training is tailored to one particular learning preference. As this Mind Tools post demonstrates, other factors also play their part, such as natural learning ability, technical skill level, interest in the subject, and the learning environment. Training needs to be flexible and responsive to circumstance and context, as well as to learning preference.

The table below offers some strategies you can employ to appeal to people's different learning styles:

These learners will respond to and use phrases such as:

I see what you mean.

I get the picture.

What's your view?

These learners will respond to and use phrases such as:

That rings a bell.

I hear what you're saying.

That sounds OK to me.

These learners will respond to and use phrases such as:

That feels right.

How does that grab you?

Let me try.

Engage visual learners by using diagrams, charts and pictures.

Engage auditory learners by stressing key words, and telling stories and anecdotes.

Engage kinesthetic learners by including physical activities and "hands-on" tasks.

We have numerous tools and resources to help you provide training sessions or prepare briefs for your team, which take into account the VAK learning styles.

Visual (and reading/writing) learners, as we have seen, respond to visual stimulus. They may find it easier to take notes if they use Mind Maps®. Mind Mapping breaks down complex subjects into manageable chunks, making it easier to digest and remember information. And they can be made even more effective with color and additional images.

The adage "a picture paints a thousand words" is especially true for visual learners, so find out how to use images effectively and creatively with our article, Creating Effective Presentation Visuals.

Auditory learners enjoy the back-and-forth of group discussion and verbal explanation, so it can be useful to include brainstorming, debates and storytelling in your training sessions.

Kinesthetic learners thrive on activity, so a good technique is to incorporate group work or role play into your learning. Getting team members out of the training room and into an environment where they can try things out, such as team-building exercises, can be helpful too.

Key Points

Understanding your own learning preferences, and those of your team, can help you develop more effective strategies for delivering learning and training at work, and embedding knowledge.

You can use the VAK Learning Styles model to classify some of the most common ways people learn. VAK stands for visual, auditory and kinesthetic:

Visual: learners respond to images and graphics.

Auditory: learners prefer verbal presentations.

Kinesthetic: learners prefer a physical, hands-on approach.

A variation on this is VARK®, or visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic.

While understanding these preferences can give you a valuable insight into how to plan and deliver training and learning, people employ all three learning styles to some degree, so it is sensible to present material in a variety of formats.

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VAK Learning StylesUnderstanding How Team Members Learn

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Understanding How Team Members Learn The fact that you're reading this article shows that you have an appetite for learning and improving your skills. But even if you're happy to scroll through words on a screen, is that the best learning style for you?

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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.

Learners use all three modalities to receive and learn new information and experiences. However, according to the VAK or modality theory, one or two of these receiving styles is normally dominant. This dominant style defines the best way for a person to learn new information by filtering what is to be learned. This style may not always to be the same for some tasks. The learner may prefer one style of learning for one task, and a combination of others for a different task.

Classically, our learning style is forced upon us through life like this: In grades kindergarten to third, new information is presented to us kinesthetically; grades 4 to 8 are visually presented; while grades 9 to college and on into the business environment, information is presented to us mostly through auditory means, such as lectures.

According to the VAK theorists, we need to present information using all three styles. This allows all learners the opportunity to become involved, no matter what their preferred style may be.

While there is some evidence for modality specific strengths and weaknesses (Rourke, et al. 2002), what has has not been established is matching the instructional style to individual learning strength improves their learning abilities. For example, one study (Constantinidou and Baker, 2002), found that visual presentation through the use of pictures was advantageous for all adults, irrespective of a high or low learning-style preference for visual images. Indeed, it was especially advantageous for those with a strong preference for verbal processing.

Hints for Recognizing and Implementing the Three VAK Styles

Auditory learners often talk to themselves. They also may move their lips and read out loud. They may have difficulty with reading and writing tasks. They often do better talking to a colleague or a tape recorder and hearing what was said. To integrate this style into the learning environment:

Begin new material with a brief explanation of what is coming. Conclude with a summary of what has been covered. This is the old adage of "tell them what they are going to lean, teach them, and tell them what they have learned."

Use the Socratic method of lecturing by questioning learners to draw as much information from them as possible and then fill in the gaps with you own expertise.

Include auditory activities, such as brainstorming, buzz groups, or Jeopardy. Leave plenty of time to debrief activities. This allows them to make connections of what they leaned and how it applies to their situation.

Have the learners verbalize the questions.

Develop an internal dialogue between yourself and the learners.

Visual learners have two sub-channels- linguistic and spatial. Learners who are visual-linguistic like to learn through written language, such as reading and writing tasks. They remember what has been written down, even if they do not read it more than once. They like to write down directions and pay better attention to lectures if they watch them. Learners who are visual-spatial usually have difficulty with the written language and do better with charts, demonstrations, videos, and other visual materials. They easily visualize faces and places by using their imagination and seldom get lost in new surroundings. To integrate this style into the learning environment:

Use graphs, charts, illustrations, or other visual aids.

Include outlines, concept maps, agendas, handouts, etc. for reading and taking notes.

Include plenty of content in handouts to reread after the learning session.

Leave white space in handouts for note-taking.

Invite questions to help them stay alert in auditory environments.

Post flip charts to show what will come and what has been presented.

Emphasize key points to cue when to takes notes.

Eliminate potential distractions.

Supplement textual information with illustrations whenever possible.

Have them draw pictures in the margins.

Have the learners envision the topic or have them act out the subject matter.

Kinesthetic learners do best while touching and moving. It also has two sub-channels: kinesthetic (movement) and tactile (touch). They tend to lose concentration if there is little or no external stimulation or movement. When listening to lectures they may want to take notes for the sake of moving their hands. When reading, they like to scan the material first, and then focus in on the details (get the big picture first). They typically use color high lighters and take notes by drawing pictures, diagrams, or doodling. To integrate this style into the learning environment:

Use activities that get the learners up and moving.

Play music, when appropriate, during activities.

Use colored markers to emphasize key points on flip charts or white boards.

Give frequent stretch breaks (brain breaks).

Provide toys such as Koosh balls and Play-Dough to give them something to do with their hands.

To highlight a point, provide gum, candy, scents, etc. which provides a cross link of scent (aroma) to the topic at hand (scent can be a powerful cue).

Provide high lighters, colored pens and/or pencils.

Guide learners through a visualization of complex tasks.

Have them transfer information from the text to another medium such as a keyboard or a tablet.

VAK Survey

Free VAK Survey.

References

Constantinidou, F. and Baker, S. (2002). Stimulus modality and verbal learning performance in normal aging. Brain and Language, 82(3), 296-311.

Rourke, B., Ahmad S., Collins, D., Hayman-Abello, B., Hayman-Abello, S., and Warriner, E. (2002). Child clinical/pediatric neuropsychology: some recent advances. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 309Ð339.

University of Pennsylvania (2009). Visual Learners Convert Words To Pictures In The Brain And Vice Versa, Says Psychology Study. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 10, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090325091834.htm

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Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Learning Styles (VAK)

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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.