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Learning Styles
Cognitive Preference Inventory

Select the option, V, Vr, A, or K that best relates to you most of the time.
You may choose more than one option.
Your first reaction is usually the best.

Total your responses:

Visual _________ (prefer to take in information by seeing)

Vreading _________ (prefer to take in information by reading, writing)

Auditory _______ (prefer to take in information by listening, talking)

Kinesthetic _____ (prefer to take in information by doing, practicing)

The highest score represents your greatest strength.
If scores are tied, or close you may have strengths in several areas and can 'play' with different strategies to see what works best for different types of learning.

**Please note the order of your preferences and the strategies you have chosen that work for you.

Knowing our area(s) of greatest strength gives us a starting point.
For example, if you have a visual preference, find a picture, diagram or chart; for Vreading preference try to begin by reading material or instructions; You will then be more successful in listening / discussing (auditory) and applying ( kinesthetic) new learning

Franklynn Chernin © 1998, 2008

Learning Styles: Cognitive Preferences
Read the descriptions below. You will identify with parts of all three.

People with Visual Preferences:

• Like to arrange their space and their work; remember what they see rather than what they hear, forget to relay verbal messages
• Need to see the 'whole picture' before they have a clear idea
• Respond to colour, art, mapping; may know what to say but have difficulty coming up with the right words
• Like to have a plan, good organizers, would rather show you than tell you
• Usually don’t mind outside noise, doodle during phone conversations, classes, meetings
• Are often good spellers, usually need to have verbal instructions repeated

People People with Visual Reading Preferences:

• Enjoy reading and would rather read than be read to
• Often reread (silently), rewrite notes, ideas
• Like handouts, prefer information in words as opposed to charts, diagrams
• Like to use dictionaries, manuals, texts

People with Auditory Preferences:

• Talk to themselves; like to talk through a problem; read aloud; often move their lips and pronounce the words as they read; often repeat words to hear them
• Often good speakers; speak in rhythmic patterns; remember what they hear
• Don’t visualize well; can spell better out loud; respond to patterns of sound, speech, music
• Find writing difficult; are talkative, love discussion


People with Kinesthetic Preferences:

• Need to move a lot; can’t sit still for long periods; like to experiment and practice
• Like to touch and be physically involved with materials; memorize by walking and seeing
• May have messy handwriting; use a finger as a pointer when reading; gesture a lot
• Respond to movement, gestures, dance; want to act things out
• Have difficulty remembering a place unless they’ve actually been there

Which is the most like you? Is the result the same as the Inventory you completed?

You decide your greatest area of strength _____________________

2nd _____________________

3rd _____________________

4th _____________________

“Knowing that there are differences goes a long way toward explaining things like why we have problems understanding and communicating with some people and not with others, and why we handle some situations more easily than others.”

From, Quantum Learning, Bobbi De Porter, with Mike Hernachi

Learning Styles: Leading With Your Strength

Identifying and understanding the order of your style preferences will help in planning and implementing your personal learning strategies. You will be able to identify and lead with your strengths, understand your reactions, and be more observant and tolerant of others’ needs.

Understanding your cognitive preferences means that you can ask for information and seek opportunities that will ensure optimum mastery / learning

For a Visual Preference you like to see what you are learning:
Look for charts, diagrams, pictures; use highlighters; replace words with symbols; utilize videos, computer resources; do a demonstration rather than a speech

For a Visual Reading Preference you like to read and write about what you are learning:
Ask for handouts, readings; utilize manuals, written instructions; rewrite notes, terms multiple times; take complete lecture notes; turn pictures, diagrams into words

For an Auditory Preference you like to hear and talk about what you are learning:
attend lectures, ask for discussion time; form a study group; use rhyming to help you remember things; collect data through interviews and questionnaires, wherever possible

For a Kinesthetic Preference you like to do and touch what you are learning:
ask for breaks and opportunities to move physically; use games and role plays for learning and for presentations

We utilize all four modalities, but our preferences affect the order in which we best take in information and enhance our learning and mastery.

2 strategies that work for me:

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

1 new strategy I will try today:

_____________________________________________

Franklynn Chernin, Coordinator Student Success

Revised: September 22, 2009