What is Meant by Learning Styles?

Your learning style is the way you prefer to learn.

It doesn't have anything to do with how intelligent you are or what skills you have learned. It has to do with how your brain works most efficiently to learn new information. This very concept is explained more fully within the Peak Performance programme itself.

Your learning style has been with you since you were born.

There's no such thing as a "good" learning style or a "bad" learning style. Success comes with many different learning styles. There is no "right" approach to learning. We all have our own particular way of learning new information. The important thing is to be aware of the nature of your learning style. If you are aware of how your brain best learns, you have a better chance of studying in a way that will pay off.


Your Learning Style and E-Learning

While there is no "good" or "bad" learning style, there can be a good or bad match between the way you best learn and the way a particular course is taught.

Suppose you are a Visual Learner enrolled in a traditional lecture course. You may feel that the instructor drones on for hours and you can't pay attention or stay interested in the class.

There's a mismatch here between your learning style and the instructional environment of the class.

The challenge which faces our e-learning “instructional designers” is to create course content and learning material which appeals to all learning styles, in particular the four main learning styles:

1. The visual/verbal learner
2. The visual/non verbal learner
3. The tactile/Kinesthetic learner
4. The interactive learner

We believe our e-leaning programmes have successfully overcome this challenge, creating content which is appropriate for all four of these primary learning styles.


An explanation of Learning Styles

It may help you to recognise which of the four learning styles is your primary learning style. The following descriptions are provided to help you assess your preferred learning style, and use this knowledge appropriately with our e-learning material.


The Visual/ Verbal Learning Style

You learn best when information is presented visually and in a written language format. In an e-learning format, you benefit from clear instructions and bullet points which list the essential points of a lesson. You often see information "in your mind's eye" when you are trying to remember something.

You tend to like to study by yourself in a quiet room, and therefore you are ideally suited to the e-learning style of delivery where you can learn in your own pace at your own time.


The Visual/ Nonverbal Learning Style

You learn best when information is presented visually and in a picture or design format. Our e-learning format makes extensive use of visual aids such as pictures, animations, videos, and charts. When trying to remember something, you can often visualize a picture of it in your mind. You may have an artistic side that enjoys activities having to do with visual art and design.

You tend to like to work in a quiet room and may not like to work in study groups. Once again our e-learning format is ideally suited to this learning style allowing you to study in the quiet and privacy of your own time.


The Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learning Style

You learn best when physically engaged and absorbed in an lesson.
In an e-learning programme it is important that you are presented with a number of questions and exercises to allow you “make it fit” i.e. Make the learning fit your own circumstances.

Each of our e-learning lessons has a number of exercises and questions to allow you to utilise this learning style and “make it fit”.


The Interactive Learning Style

You learn best when you are able to communicate and interact with other people. You can often "hear" the way someone told you the information, or the way you previously repeated it out loud.

You learn best when interacting with others in information and opinion exchange.

Our e-learning programmes accommodate this learning style by the use of an interactive ‘chat room” where you can discuss topics of interest with other course delegates and the course authors.


Find Out About Your Own Learning Style....

If you would like a better understanding of your own learning style SIMPLY CLICK HERE to take an interactive quiz designed by NC State University.