31/03/2016

Felder&Soloman:LearningStylesandStrategies

LEARNINGSTYLESANDSTRATEGIES
RichardM.Felder
HoechstCelaneseProfessorofChemicalEngineering
NorthCarolinaStateUniversity

BarbaraA.Soloman
CoordinatorofAdvising,FirstYearCollege
NorthCarolinaStateUniversity
ACTIVEANDREFLECTIVELEARNERS
Activelearnerstendtoretainandunderstandinformationbestby
doingsomethingactivewithitdiscussingorapplyingitor
explainingittoothers.Reflectivelearnersprefertothinkaboutit
quietlyfirst.
"Let'stryitoutandseehowitworks"isanactivelearner'sphrase
"Let'sthinkitthroughfirst"isthereflectivelearner'sresponse.
Activelearnerstendtolikegroupworkmorethanreflectivelearners,
whopreferworkingalone.
Sittingthroughlectureswithoutgettingtodoanythingphysicalbut
takenotesishardforbothlearningtypes,butparticularlyhardfor
activelearners.
Everybodyisactivesometimesandreflectivesometimes.Yourpreference
foronecategoryortheothermaybestrong,moderate,ormild.Abalance
ofthetwoisdesirable.Ifyoualwaysactbeforereflectingyoucanjump
intothingsprematurelyandgetintotrouble,whileifyouspendtoomuch
timereflectingyoumaynevergetanythingdone.
Howcanactivelearnershelpthemselves?
Ifyouareanactivelearnerinaclassthatallowslittleornoclasstimefor
discussionorproblemsolvingactivities,youshouldtrytocompensatefor
theselackswhenyoustudy.Studyinagroupinwhichthememberstake
turnsexplainingdifferenttopicstoeachother.Workwithotherstoguess
whatyouwillbeaskedonthenexttestandfigureouthowyouwill
answer.Youwillalwaysretaininformationbetterifyoufindwaystodo
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

1/6

31/03/2016

Felder&Soloman:LearningStylesandStrategies

somethingwithit.
Howcanreflectivelearnershelpthemselves?
Ifyouareareflectivelearnerinaclassthatallowslittleornoclasstime
forthinkingaboutnewinformation,youshouldtrytocompensateforthis
lackwhenyoustudy.Don'tsimplyreadormemorizethematerialstop
periodicallytoreviewwhatyouhavereadandtothinkofpossible
questionsorapplications.Youmightfindithelpfultowriteshort
summariesofreadingsorclassnotesinyourownwords.Doingsomay
takeextratimebutwillenableyoutoretainthematerialmoreeffectively.
SENSINGANDINTUITIVELEARNERS
Sensinglearnerstendtolikelearningfacts,intuitivelearnersoften
preferdiscoveringpossibilitiesandrelationships.
Sensorsoftenlikesolvingproblemsbywellestablishedmethodsand
dislikecomplicationsandsurprisesintuitorslikeinnovationand
dislikerepetition.Sensorsaremorelikelythanintuitorstoresent
beingtestedonmaterialthathasnotbeenexplicitlycoveredinclass.
Sensorstendtobepatientwithdetailsandgoodatmemorizingfacts
anddoinghandson(laboratory)workintuitorsmaybebetterat
graspingnewconceptsandareoftenmorecomfortablethansensors
withabstractionsandmathematicalformulations.
Sensorstendtobemorepracticalandcarefulthanintuitorsintuitors
tendtoworkfasterandtobemoreinnovativethansensors.
Sensorsdon'tlikecoursesthathavenoapparentconnectiontothereal
worldintuitorsdon'tlike"plugandchug"coursesthatinvolvealot
ofmemorizationandroutinecalculations.
Everybodyissensingsometimesandintuitivesometimes.Yourpreference
foroneortheothermaybestrong,moderate,ormild.Tobeeffectiveasa
learnerandproblemsolver,youneedtobeabletofunctionbothways.If
youoveremphasizeintuition,youmaymissimportantdetailsormake
carelessmistakesincalculationsorhandsonworkifyouoveremphasize
sensing,youmayrelytoomuchonmemorizationandfamiliarmethods
andnotconcentrateenoughonunderstandingandinnovativethinking.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

2/6

31/03/2016

Felder&Soloman:LearningStylesandStrategies

Howcansensinglearnershelpthemselves?
Sensorsrememberandunderstandinformationbestiftheycanseehowit
connectstotherealworld.Ifyouareinaclasswheremostofthematerial
isabstractandtheoretical,youmayhavedifficulty.Askyourinstructor
forspecificexamplesofconceptsandprocedures,andfindouthowthe
conceptsapplyinpractice.Iftheteacherdoesnotprovideenough
specifics,trytofindsomeinyourcoursetextorotherreferencesorby
brainstormingwithfriendsorclassmates.
Howcanintuitivelearnershelpthemselves?
Manycollegelectureclassesareaimedatintuitors.However,ifyouare
anintuitorandyouhappentobeinaclassthatdealsprimarilywith
memorizationandrotesubstitutioninformulas,youmayhavetrouble
withboredom.Askyourinstructorforinterpretationsortheoriesthatlink
thefacts,ortrytofindtheconnectionsyourself.Youmayalsobeproneto
carelessmistakesontestbecauseyouareimpatientwithdetailsanddon't
likerepetition(asincheckingyourcompletedsolutions).Taketimeto
readtheentirequestionbeforeyoustartansweringandbesuretocheck
yourresults
VISUALANDVERBALLEARNERS
Visuallearnersrememberbestwhattheyseepictures,diagrams,flow
charts,timelines,films,anddemonstrations.Verballearnersgetmoreout
ofwordswrittenandspokenexplanations.Everyonelearnsmorewhen
informationispresentedbothvisuallyandverbally.
Inmostcollegeclassesverylittlevisualinformationispresented:students
mainlylistentolecturesandreadmaterialwrittenonchalkboardsandin
textbooksandhandouts.Unfortunately,mostpeoplearevisuallearners,
whichmeansthatmoststudentsdonotgetnearlyasmuchastheywould
ifmorevisualpresentationwereusedinclass.Goodlearnersarecapable
ofprocessinginformationpresentedeithervisuallyorverbally.
Howcanvisuallearnershelpthemselves?
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

3/6

31/03/2016

Felder&Soloman:LearningStylesandStrategies

Ifyouareavisuallearner,trytofinddiagrams,sketches,schematics,
photographs,flowcharts,oranyothervisualrepresentationofcourse
materialthatispredominantlyverbal.Askyourinstructor,consult
referencebooks,andseeifanyvideotapesorCDROMdisplaysofthe
coursematerialareavailable.Prepareaconceptmapbylistingkeypoints,
enclosingtheminboxesorcircles,anddrawinglineswitharrowsbetween
conceptstoshowconnections.Colorcodeyournoteswithahighlighterso
thateverythingrelatingtoonetopicisthesamecolor.
Howcanverballearnershelpthemselves?
Writesummariesoroutlinesofcoursematerialinyourownwords.
Workingingroupscanbeparticularlyeffective:yougainunderstanding
ofmaterialbyhearingclassmates'explanationsandyoulearnevenmore
whenyoudotheexplaining.
SEQUENTIALANDGLOBALLEARNERS
Sequentiallearnerstendtogainunderstandinginlinearsteps,with
eachstepfollowinglogicallyfromthepreviousone.Globallearners
tendtolearninlargejumps,absorbingmaterialalmostrandomly
withoutseeingconnections,andthensuddenly"gettingit."
Sequentiallearnerstendtofollowlogicalstepwisepathsinfinding
solutionsgloballearnersmaybeabletosolvecomplexproblems
quicklyorputthingstogetherinnovelwaysoncetheyhavegrasped
thebigpicture,buttheymayhavedifficultyexplaininghowtheydid
it.
Manypeoplewhoreadthisdescriptionmayconcludeincorrectlythatthey
areglobal,sinceeveryonehasexperiencedbewildermentfollowedbya
suddenflashofunderstanding.Whatmakesyouglobalornotiswhat
happensbeforethelightbulbgoeson.Sequentiallearnersmaynotfully
understandthematerialbuttheycanneverthelessdosomethingwithit
(likesolvethehomeworkproblemsorpassthetest)sincethepiecesthey
haveabsorbedarelogicallyconnected.Stronglygloballearnerswholack
goodsequentialthinkingabilities,ontheotherhand,mayhaveserious
difficultiesuntiltheyhavethebigpicture.Evenaftertheyhaveit,they
maybefuzzyaboutthedetailsofthesubject,whilesequentiallearners
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

4/6

31/03/2016

Felder&Soloman:LearningStylesandStrategies

mayknowalotaboutspecificaspectsofasubjectbutmayhavetrouble
relatingthemtodifferentaspectsofthesamesubjectortodifferent
subjects.
Howcansequentiallearnershelpthemselves?
Mostcollegecoursesaretaughtinasequentialmanner.However,ifyou
areasequentiallearnerandyouhaveaninstructorwhojumpsaround
fromtopictotopicorskipssteps,youmayhavedifficultyfollowingand
remembering.Asktheinstructortofillintheskippedsteps,orfillthemin
yourselfbyconsultingreferences.Whenyouarestudying,takethetimeto
outlinethelecturematerialforyourselfinlogicalorder.Inthelongrun
doingsowillsaveyoutime.Youmightalsotrytostrengthenyourglobal
thinkingskillsbyrelatingeachnewtopicyoustudytothingsyoualready
know.Themoreyoucandoso,thedeeperyourunderstandingofthetopic
islikelytobe.
Howcangloballearnershelpthemselves?
Ifyouareagloballearner,itcanbehelpfulforyoutorealizethatyou
needthebigpictureofasubjectbeforeyoucanmasterdetails.Ifyour
instructorplungesdirectlyintonewtopicswithoutbotheringtoexplain
howtheyrelatetowhatyoualreadyknow,itcancauseproblemsforyou.
Fortunately,therearestepsyoucantakethatmayhelpyougetthebig
picturemorerapidly.Beforeyoubegintostudythefirstsectionofa
chapterinatext,skimthroughtheentirechaptertogetanoverview.
Doingsomaybetimeconsuminginitiallybutitmaysaveyoufromgoing
overandoverindividualpartslater.Insteadofspendingashorttimeon
everysubjecteverynight,youmightfinditmoreproductivetoimmerse
yourselfinindividualsubjectsforlargeblocks.Trytorelatethesubjectto
thingsyoualreadyknow,eitherbyaskingtheinstructortohelpyousee
connectionsorbyconsultingreferences.Aboveall,don'tlosefaithin
yourselfyouwilleventuallyunderstandthenewmaterial,andonceyou
doyourunderstandingofhowitconnectstoothertopicsanddisciplines
mayenableyoutoapplyitinwaysthatmostsequentialthinkerswould
neverdreamof.

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

5/6

31/03/2016

Felder&Soloman:LearningStylesandStrategies

Clickhereformoreinformationaboutthelearningstylesmodeland
implicationsoflearningstylesforinstructorsandstudents.
ClickheretoreturntoRichardFelder'shomepage.

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSdir/styles.htm

6/6