Learning Styles
The Spectrum
Learners on the Spectrum
25% of children are auditory/sequential dominant
12% of children prefer auditory/sequential
- Think in words
- Like steps or sequences
- Can work with symbols such as letters, words, and numbers
- Work well with details
- Are highly verbal and can talk about their work
- Do well in school and on standardized tests
- Benefit from repetition and drill
- They might struggle to see the big picture or how elements in the whole affect each other
- Access to gestalt function is limited when under stress
Traditional teaching methods are generally successful for this group
33% of children are visual/spatial dominant
30% of children access both hemispheres but prefer a visual/spatial learning approach
- Think in pictures
- Need the big picture before they can process details within the global whole
- Make connections within the global whole
- Make their own steps for solving a problem
- Intuitive solutions but may not be able to verbalize their thinking or their process
- Need visuals (images, graphs, graphic organizers, maps) to take in information
- Need hands-on experience to solve problems
- Learn kinesthetically through movement
- Access to logic functions is limited when they are under stress
Traditional teaching methods are not usually successful for this group
To summarize, while 37% of children prefer or strongly prefer auditory/sequential approaches, 63% of children prefer or need visual/spatial approaches.
“Each hemisphere of the cerebrum develops and processes information in a specific way. …the logic hemisphere (usually the left) deals with details, the parts and processes of language, and linear patterns. By contrast, the gestalt (usually the right hemisphere) – meaning whole processing or global as compared to linear – deals with images, rhythm, emotion, and intuition.”
Carla Hannaford, PhD. Neurophysiologist and educator. Smart Moves, page 78.
“Both hemispheres contain all functions until specialization starts to occur. This specialization develops at a different rate in each individual. However, on average the gestalt hemisphere exhibits a growth spurt of dendrites between ages four and seven and the logic hemisphere between seven and nine years. Under normal circumstances, complete hemispheric specialization is in place between nine and twelve years of age. The more that both hemispheres and all lobes are activated by use, the more dendritic connections form and extend across the corpus callosum and myelinate. The more myelination, the faster the processing between both hemispheres and the rest of the brain.”
Dr. Hannaford, Smart Moves, page 79.