Home |  Student Help Center |  Career Portals

EducationforAdults.com Home »» Adult Education Help Center »» Guerrila Manual

Getting To Know Your Learning Style

**This content is excerpted from the Guerilla Manual for Adult College Students. To learn more about the book or author visit AdultStudents.com .

"And then here, with courses that you take where you have long memorization and midterms, then how do you prepare for that when you haven't done it for 20 years?"
Andrea W., 47, took courses in both a traditional 4-year college and a non-traditional school.

How do you learn?

The following Learning Styles Inventory can give you some valuable information about how you learn.

Knowing how you learn can help you study more efficiently, and should allow you to do better in classes and on tests. And it should save you time, by allowing you to focus quickly on the best way to learn a particular piece of information.

This inventory will take about 15 - 20 minutes to complete. After you've finished answering all of the questions, read the Description of Learning Style Preferences, then score your answers using the Scoring Sheet. Information on how to interpret your inventory scores follows that.

"My favorite kind of class is one that has discussion. You've got anywhere from 12 to 30 people in the room engaged enough in the topic to have debates, discussions, exchanges of ideas. I love that."
Patrick A. earned his Bachelor's degree in the Spring of 1998 and went on for his Master's.

Learning Styles Inventory

OBJECTIVE:

To identify your learning style by giving you a chance to answer a series of statements based on your general reaction to them. Once you answer the statements you'll be able to analyze those answers to learn more about how you learn.

DIRECTIONS:

Read each statement carefully and decide which number, from nine down to one, represents how you feel about that statement. Circle the number which you feel best suits you, i.e. - if the statement is most like you, circle the number 9. If it is like you but not enough to warrant a 9, circle the 7. If it is least like you, circle the number 1; if it is least like you but not enough to warrant a 1, circle the 3. On the rare occasion when you find the statement to be neither like you nor unlike you, circle the five. Answer each of the 45 statements which follow. Take all the time you need.

  Most Like Me   Least Like Me
1. When I make things while I am learning I remember what I am learning better. 9 7 5 3 1
2. Written assignments are easy for me. 9 7 5 3 1
3. I learn better if someone reads to me than if I read silently to myself. 9 7 5 3 1
4. I get more work done when I work alone. 9 7 5 3 1
5. I remember what I have read better than what I have heard. 9 7 5 3 1
6. When I answer questions, I can say the answer better than I can write it. 9 7 5 3 1
7. When I do math problems in my head, I say the numbers to myself. 9 7 5 3 1
8. If I need help in learning something, I am likely to ask one or more of my fellow learners or someone else for help. 9 7 5 3 1
9. I understand a math problem that is written better than one I hear. 9 7 5 3 1
10. I don't mind doing written assignments. 9 7 5 3 1
11. I find it harder to learn from printed materials than when I am told something. 9 7 5 3 1
12. I like to work by myself. 9 7 5 3 1
13. I would rather read a story than listen to it. 9 7 5 3 1
14. I would rather show and explain how a thing works than write about how it works. 9 7 5 3 1
15. Saying something over and over to remember it works better for me than writing it over and over. 9 7 5 3 1
16. I like to work in a group because I learn from the others. 9 7 5 3 1
17. When the instructors says a number, I really don't understand it until I see it written down. 9 7 5 3 1
18. Writing an item a number of times helps me learn it better. 9 7 5 3 1
19. I find it easier to remember what I have heard than what I have read. 9 7 5 3 1
20. I learn best when I study alone. 9 7 5 3 1
21. When I have a choice between listening or reading, I usually read. 9 7 5 3 1
22. I feel like I talk smarter than I write. 9 7 5 3 1
23. When I'm told the pages to refer to, I can remember them without writing them down. 9 7 5 3 1
24. I get more work done when I work with one or more other people. 9 7 5 3 1
25. Written math problems are easier for me to solve than spoken ones. 9 7 5 3 1
26. I like to do things with my hands, like simple repairs or manipulating things. 9 7 5 3 1
27. The things I write on paper sound better when I say them. 9 7 5 3 1
28. I learn/study best when there is no one around to talk or listen to. 9 7 5 3 1
29. I do well in learning situations where most of the information has to be read. 9 7 5 3 1
30. If learning assignments or homework were oral, I would find it easier to do. 9 7 5 3 1
31. When I have a written math problem to do, I say it to myself to understand it better. 9 7 5 3 1
32. I can learn more about a subject if I am with a small group of learners. 9 7 5 3 1
33. Seeing a number makes more sense to me than hearing a number. 9 7 5 3 1
34. I like to make things with my hands. 9 7 5 3 1
35. I like tests that ask me to complete a sentence or write down the answer. 9 7 5 3 1
36. I understand more from a group discussion than from reading about a subject. 9 7 5 3 1
37. I learn better by reading than by listening. 9 7 5 3 1
38. I would rather tell a story than write it. 9 7 5 3 1
39. I makes it easier to work out a math problem when I say the numbers to myself. 9 7 5 3 1
40. I like to study with other people. 9 7 5 3 1
41. It is easier for me to understand the price of something when it is written down than when it is told to me. 9 7 5 3 1
42. I understand what I have read better when I am involved in making something. 9 7 5 3 1
43. The things I write down on paper sound better than when I talk about them. 9 7 5 3 1
44. I do well on tests if they are about things I hear about. 9 7 5 3 1
45. I think better when I work alone than when I work with someone else. 9 7 5 3 1

DESCRIPTION OF LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES

The Learning Styles Inventory investigates three main areas involved in most learning projects. These three areas are:

  1. Personal Learning Style - This area is concerned with how you prefer to gather and learn information based on your own personal inclinations.

  2. Social Learning Style - This area is concerned with differentiating whether you like to learn individually, i.e., alone by yourself, or in groups with one or more other individuals.

  3. Reporting Learning Style - This area is concerned with how you best report, express or share what you have learned with others.

Each of the three main areas of learning style is subdivided into two or more learning style preferences. These learning style preferences are outlined below under their main area.

PERSONAL LEARNING STYLES PREFERENCES

  1. Visual Language - People who demonstrate this preference learn best by seeing words in books, on the blackboard, in handouts, on visuals or flipchart pads, in manuals, in workbooks, etc. They tend to write down words they hear in order to learn by seeing them on paper. They remember best, and use, information that they read.

  2. Visual Numerical - People who demonstrate this preference learn best by seeing numbers in order to work with them. They tend to remember and understand math facts if they have seen them. They don't seem to need much oral explanation.

  3. Auditory Language - People who demonstrate this preference learn best by hearing words spoken. They may vocalize or recite to themselves as they read, particularly when attempting to learn and understand new material. They learn, understand and remember facts they have learned by hearing.

  4. Auditory Numerical - People who demonstrate this preference learn best from hearing numbers and explanations. They may remember phone numbers, prices, car licenses, etc. with ease, simply by hearing them. They are successful with oral numbers, games and puzzles. They may do just about as well learning something without a manual, book or printed reference as with one, because written materials are not important to them. They probably resolve problems in their heads. They may say numbers to themselves as they read problems.

  5. Auditory-Visual-Kinesthetic Combination - People who demonstrate this preference learn best through experience. They need a combination of stimuli. The manipulation of material along with the accompanying sight and sounds (words and numbers seen or spoken) make a big difference to their learning. They may not seem to be able to understand assignments, or to be able to keep their minds on their work unless they are totally involved, which includes the physical-manipulative (kinesthetic) part of themselves too. They attempt to, or actually do, handle, touch and work with what they are learning.

SOCIAL LEARNING STYLES PREFERENCES

  1. Individual Learner - People who demonstrate this preference learn best and get more work done when they learn and work by themselves. They think best, and remember more, when they learn alone. They care more for their own opinions than for the ideas of others. Thinking, learning and remembering are considered solitary experiences.

  2. Group Learner - People who demonstrate this preference learn best with at least one other person present. They do not get much done studying alone. They value others' opinions and preferences. Group interaction increases their learning and later recognition of facts. Socializing is important to them.

REPORTING LEARNING STYLES PREFERENCES

  1. Oral Learning Reports - People who demonstrate this preference can easily tell what they know. They talk fluently and comfortably and seem to be able to say what they mean. They probably know more than their written reports/tests show. They are not shy about giving reports or talking to other people. Organizing and putting thoughts on paper, however, may be difficult for these types of people.

  2. Written Learning Reports - People who demonstrate this preference write reports, technical documents and answers to questions easily. They are uncomfortable giving answers orally. Their thoughts are better organized when written than when given orally.

LEARNING STYLES INVENTORY SCORING SHEET

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Transfer the specific number you circled for each statement in the inventory to the line beside the same statement number below.
  2. Once all blank lines have a number on them, total these numbers for each of the nine style preferences.
  3. Then using the Description of Learning Styles Preferences information and the information below on Interpreting Your Learning Styles Inventory Scores, try to work out a preliminary understanding of how you learn best.

PERSONAL LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES
1. Visual Language
Statement #
5           
13           
21           
29           
37           

Total           

4. Auditory Numerical
Statement #
7           
15           
23           
31           
39           

Total           

2. Visual Numerical
Statement #
9           
17           
25           
33           
41           

Total           

5. Auditory-Visual Kinesthetic Combination
Statement #
1           
18           
26           
34           
42           

Total           

3. Auditory Language
Statement #
3           
11           
19           
36           
44           

Total           

 
SOCIAL LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES
6. Individual Learner
Statement #
4           
12           
20           
28           
45           

Total           

7. Group Learner
Statement #
8           
16           
24           
32           
40           

Total           

REPORTING LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES
8. Expressiveness Oral
Statement #
6           
14           
22           
30           
38           

Total           

9. Expressiveness Written
Statement #
2           
10           
27           
35           
43           

Total           

INTERPRETING YOUR LEARNING STYLES INVENTORY SCORES

The learning styles inventory can be divided into three main styles areas:

  1. Personal learning styles - preferences 1 to 5 on the scoring sheet.
  2. Social learning styles - preferences 6 and 7 on the scoring sheet.
  3. Reporting learning styles - preferences 8 and 9 on the scoring sheet.

In assessing your style of learning based on this inventory, you should look for your highest score in each of the three main areas. Each of these areas gives you varying information about your personal learning styles. Using this information may prove helpful in trying to adapt learning environments to best suit your personal learning style.

You should find some score variation between various learning style preferences. The highest scoring item is obviously the dominant or major learning style preference you have for the area you are considering. If two or three other scores are close to your highest scoring preference, interpret this to mean that you are comfortable using more than one particular learning pattern, and therefore have greater variety in the various approaches to learning that you can use.

Scores in any of the nine preference areas can range from a high of 45, indicating a style in which you find learning very easy, to a low of 5, indicating a style in which you will have extreme difficulty learning anything.

Scores 36 and Above

Scores in this range represent your Dominant learning style(s). Given a learning situation where you can use your own natural learning pattern(s), you will use this/these styles.

Scores Between 26 and 35

Scores in this range represent your Major learning style(s) preference(s), indicating learning modes in which you should find yourself very comfortable using in learning new things, even if they are not a "natural" style for you.

Scores Between 16 and 25

Scores in this range represent your Minor learning style(s) preference(s). You can learn using these minor styles, but they will be your second choice if you have a chance to use a Major preference. You can use these minor learning styles alone, but you are more likely to use them in combination with your major preference(s).

Scores Between 5 and 15

Scores in this range represent learning preferences of Negligible Usefulness to you in trying to learn new things. Trying to learn using these style preferences should make learning difficult and uncomfortable for you personally.

Once you've determined your major style preferences, you may want to review the description of those learning style preferences. This should help clear up and focus your understanding of just what is involved in the main learning style preferences you have identified about yourself.

Knowing more about your personal learning style preferences should help you:

  1. Understand yourself better
  2. Organize and plan personal learning endeavors better
  3. Adjust learning situations where you are a participant under the direction of another person such as an instructor.

NOTE: Maybe you'd like to compare your learning style preferences to mine. Here are my scores:

  1. Visual Language: 37
  2. Visual Numerical 35
  3. Auditory Language 21
  4. Auditory Numerical 25
  5. Auditory-Visual-Kinesthetic Comb. 39
  6. Individual Learner 39
  7. Group Learner 25
  8. Expressiveness - Oral 11
  9. Expressiveness - Written 41

This Learning Styles Inventory has been adapted slightly from Knaak, W. C. (1983). Learning styles: Applications in vocational education. (Information series No. 254). Columbus, OH: The National Center for Research in Vocational Education. This is ERIC Document # ED 229 573. Entering Learning Styles Inventory into an internet search engine will give you dozens of similar questionnaires, and many of these will be considerably shorter.

"(she was) my ideal teacher. There was always encouragement, interaction, always asking the right questions to make the students feel smart. She's the first one who made me think, gee, maybe I can do this."
Ann H. reflecting on one of her first teachers in the community college she attended. Ann went on for her Master's Degree.

To learn more you can order the complete book online by Clicking Here