VAK Learning (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic)

• Learners respond to story-telling
• Learners engage better during lecture discussion
• Learners often talk to themselves, and read out loud
• Learners may find it helpful to: tape lectures and listen later; listen to a podcast of a recorded lecture/programme; have discussions with other learners; tutor other students to reinforce learning; participate in group discussions

• Visual-linguistic
  • Learners like to learn by writing things down in their own words
• Visual-Spatial
  • Learners understand better with the use of mind maps, symbolic representations, and drawings to depict views on reality and history
  • Learners tend to remember faces and places by using their imagination, seldom getting lost in new surroundings

• Learners learn best by doing things such as taking a walk while they are studying information
• Learners do well in a hands-on environment
• Learners underline or highlight texts with different colours
• Learners respond to photographic images, movies, videos, and YouTube clips
• Learners enjoy role-play scenarios

Tips to identify learners’ preferred learning styles

1. Eye movement while thinking
   • Visual learners usually look upwards
   • Auditory learners usually look straight ahead
   • Kinesthetic learners usually look downwards
2. Vocabulary clues
   • Visual learners often use: I see (your point), I get the picture, In my view, From my perspective
   • Auditory learners often use: It sounds (OK, good, familiar, etc.), I hear you, I get the message, It rings a bell
   • Kinesthetic learners often use: It feels (good, right, OK, off, etc.), I can relate to that, I have a grasp
3. Ikea test (How do people approach assembling a new piece of furniture?)
   • Visual learners: Read the instructions before doing anything
   • Auditory learners: Have someone else read the instructions to them
   • Kinesthetic learners: Try to put the item together without reading the instructions
4. Mobile phone test (What do people do with a new mobile phone?)
   • Visual learners: Read the instructions before they try to do anything with the phone
   • Auditory learners: Ask someone to explain the use of the phone or read the instructions to them
   • Kinesthetic learners: Play around and experiment with the phone
5. Map reading (How do people use maps to find their way?)
   • Visual learners: Look at the whole map and then every road
   • Auditory learners: Read out every road to themselves
   • Kinesthetic learners: Follow the roads on the map with their fingers
6. Behavior-patterns during lessons
   • Visual learners: like reading and may seem to day dream during sessions with focus on verbal activities
   • Auditory learners: enjoy discussions and may whisper during reading
   • Kinesthetic learners: may have a habit of tapping their pencils, and fidgeting during lessons
7. Make learners fill out self-assessment quizzes to identify their learning styles (many available online, see Web Resources)

Activities and tools to support VAK Learning

Note for instructors: You have the opportunity to try out all kinds of activities to reach the preferred learning styles of all learners

Visual learners

• Use visuals and graphics to present and organize information (charts, graphs, post-it notes, posters, flash-cards, diagrams, illustrations, pictures, coloured pens and paper, mind-maps, spidergrams, et cetera)
• Provide lots of written materials, and give exercises that require writing and note taking
• Write key words on flip chart paper and ask learners to write responses
• Invite visual learners to be group recorders

Auditory learners

• Best way to teach an auditory learner is to say it; state the information
• Ask learners to describe specific information
• Provide discussion periods for learners
• Encourage questions
• Foster small group participation
• Use auditory activities (brainstorming, buzz groups, debriefing, reading out loud, oral revisions, stories, anecdotes, jokes, rhymes, jingles, rap, poems, songs, et cetera)

Kinesthetic learners

• Use activities that make learners move (games, group work, role-plays, switch places, partners, field trips, etc.)
• Give regular planned stretch breaks (brain breaks)
• Provide activities that make learners use their hands (move and organize post-its, highlight text, make models, use play dough, transfer text from one medium to an other, etc.)
• Play music during learning (if appropriate for your learning environment)
• Try to stimulate more than one sense
• Offer learners an opportunity to try things and experiment
• Use a lot of examples, case studies, ways of application ^[1]