Learning Styles
What is Your Preferred Learning Style
Active (learn by doing)
or Reflective (learn by first thinking it over)
Sensing (better at learning facts)
or Intuitive (learn by discovering possibilities and relationships)
Visual (learn by pictures, diagrams or demonstrations)
or Verbal (learn by reading or listening to text)
Sequential (learn in logical sequences of linear steps)
or Global (learn material almost randomly and then suddenly see the big picture)
Richard Felder, a Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, and Linda Silverman, an educational psychologist, together formulated this model of learning styles, now referred to as the Felder-Silverman model. They identified these four dimensions of learning, suggesting that everyone is a special mix of both styles in each of these dimensions.
The question is: Do you know your preferential style of learning?
To find out, fill in the online Learning Styles Questionnaire, created by Richard Felder and Barbara Soloman. It is a 44-item questionnaire which, upon submission, will be machine-scored and the results returned to you immediately over the Web. The ‘X’ on the scale indicates your score in each style accompanied by an interpretation of its meaning.
Follow up by consulting: Strategies for Learning with Your Preferred Learning Style.
Incorporating Your Preferred Learning Style into Your Approach to Remedial Learning
FOR ALL LEARNERS: Repetition and practice are the keys to learning mathematics well. Read or listen to the documents several times, if necessary. Do the exercises and tests many times, relying less and less on the materials and more and more on your own understanding and memory each successive time. Once you think you really know it, try the ‘Mastery’ assignment and test. If you don’t ACE them, start over again at the juncture where you think you got off track. Nobody gets it all the first time around. Unrealistic expectations can lead to anxiety and that only makes the learning process longer and more difficult. Give yourself a chance. If the going gets really tough, take a break. Come back another day, but don’t forget to come back. Regular short sessions count for more, generally, than long sessions done only occasionally.
Active Learners (learn by doing): If you already have some prior knowledge of the topic and you only want to review it, begin with the ‘Practise’ component on the page. Then cycle back to the ‘Read’ or ‘Listen’ sections, as needed. Finally, ‘Test’ yourself. If the topic is new to you, you may want to take a look at the ‘Read’ and ‘Listen’ documents, but spend more time on the practice exercises and the self-tests trying to relate the questions to the techniques discussed in the tutorials.
More Reflective Learners (learn by first thinking it over): Start any topic by reading or listening to the tutorial materials. Think about it for awhile. Maybe go through parts of these documents several times to clarify some issues not fully understood. Then try the ‘Practise’ portion of the topic, recycling back to the tutorial ‘Read’ and ‘Listen’ sections when necessary. Finally, ‘Test’ yourself.
Sensing Learners (better at learning facts): First, take a brief look at the ‘Practise’ section of the topic to obtain an idea as to the types of questions which are important to the understanding of the concepts. Then, as you go through the ‘Read’ and ‘Listen’ tutorial documents, make a list of the important definitions, results, and procedures which seem to be pertinent to the questions on the practice exercises. Finally, ‘Test’ yourself.
More Intuitive Learners (learn by discovering possibilities and relationships): Gravitate your learning around any applications of the topic or study in depth the problems on the ‘Practise’ and ‘Test’ series of questions which require more than factual or procedural knowledge to answer correctly. However, don’t forget that memorization of facts and procedures does have its place in the learning process.
Visual Learners (learn by pictures, diagrams or demonstrations)
or Verbal Learners (learn by reading or listening to text): Whatever mix of visual or verbal learning style you prefer, the ‘Read’ and ‘Listen’ tutorial documents service both highly visual and highly verbal learners.
Sequential Learners (learn in logical sequences of linear steps): On any topic page, start on the leftmost top menu item which deals with that topic and work down its submenus from top to bottom. Then move to the next top menu item and work down its submenu items in the same fashion. In addition, ‘Test’ yourself on each of the menu and submenu pages, before moving on.
More Global Learners (learn material almost randomly and then suddenly see the big picture): Before going through any of the ‘Read’, ‘Listen’, ‘Practise’, and ‘Test’ documents, take a look at the topic ‘Nutshell’ document. It gives a top-down look at the important issues. Then proceed through the topic materials in any order you wish, working either linearly or cyclically.
Now go and prove to yourself that you are quite capable of learning how to think mathematically.
Last Updated by SAS October 07, 2026, 16:00:34
