Visual Learning Strategies: How to Play to Your Strengths
People with a visual learning style engage with the world around them first and foremost with their eyes. They pay attention to colours, lines, designs, patterns and spatial parameters. Elements of the traditional classroom suit them to a tee, such as the use of whiteboards, smartboards, educational videos and worksheets.
Visual learners are intimately aware of their spatial surroundings, and therefore tend to make great artists, architects and designers.
Visual Learning Style Definition
Indications that someone may have a visual learning style include:
- an ability to recall seemingly obscure faces and landmarks,
- books teeming with colours,
- sketches and annotations, and
- immaculately tidy and organised workspaces.
Studying to the Strengths of a Visual Learner
The most effective study strategies for a visual learning style will engage their sense of sight. Some of the best examples include:
- Colour coding. Those 4-colour biro pens and multi-packs of highlighters are your best friend. Organising different topics or ideas with different colours is an excellent way for visual learners to subconsciously form connections between content and commit it to memory.
- Mind maps. By reorganising content into mind maps, connections between different materials can be seen much more easily.
- Using videos. YouTube is a gold mine for visual learners! You can find a video on just about anything on these days, including educational animations and infographics. The visual dimension of videos can hammer a piece of information home much more quickly and effectively than a wordy textbook for learners that rely on using their eyes.
- Use graphics and diagrams. Visual learners remember things they see. Supplementing written material with graphics or diagrams will dramatically assist their ability to recall material.
- Organise your notes. It may sound like a no-brainer, but this is particularly important for visual learners. Remembering that visual cues are these individuals’ primary means of interacting with the world, an organised work space translates to an organised mind ready to learn.