My Learning Style

The learning style instrument I used to determine my own learning style is one created by North Carolina State University. The name of the instrument is Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire. This questionnaire is used to determine how a person learns. By answering a few questions about the way you go about certain things, the questionnaire can determine the type of learning style you have in four different categories. The categories are Active/Reflective, Sensing/Intuitive, Visual/Verbal, and Sequential/Global. The URL for the questionnaire I used is http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html.

The results are given in a scale from 11 to 1 then 1 to 11 with one part of each category on either side. An X is placed above the number on the side that a person is most like. According to the website, the scale can tell you the following; If you score 1-3, you are fairly well balanced on the two dimensions of that scale. If you score 5-7, you have a moderate preference for one dimension. If you score 9-11, you have a very strong preference for one dimension and may have difficulty learning in an environment without it.

My scores for the different categories are 1 reflective, 1 sensing, 9 visual, and 3 sequential. I agree that I am fairly neutral when concerning Active/Reflective learning. I learn best by doing something but I also like to sit back and think about it first. I think I may be a more intuitive learner rather than sensing, but still fairly neutral as well. It is true that I am a strong visual learner. I focus more on what I am doing and what I see rather than what I hear. Sometimes I have to read something multiple times because I can not focus on the words. I also agree that I am slightly more sequential than global, but still contain a lot of both traits. Overall I think the questionnaire did a fair job of evaluating my learning styles.

To incorporate what I have learned from this questionnaire, I will need to make sure to focus on including verbal learning in my lessons. Since I am a highly visual learner I will most likely tend to sway that way. I will need to include verbal learning in my lessons for the students who are more verbal learners rather than visual. Since I am more neutral in the other categories, I don't have to focus or worry as much to include both dimensions. However, I will still need to make sure I include something from both dimensions in every category. The website includes descriptions of each dimension and how each learner can help themselves. When making lessons and teaching it would be good to keep these things in mind in order to reach every dimension of learning in a classroom.