Modalities of Learning

People learn in many ways. In my university education, I was taught people learn through  

Auditory or listening

Visual or watching things

Kinesthetic or moving your body

Tactile or hands-on learning of making something or experimenting. 

and a combination of each 

These may be a little outdated now, but this is what I was taught 10 years ago, and when I was a student in middle and high school. 

In my culture, we believe there are 4 ways of learning: 

Spiritual like love or courage

Through your own experiences 

By reading

Or by other people telling you

For the first few years of teaching, I constantly thought about how to make myself aware of each child's learning preference, and how can I possibly cater to all of their preferences. I sometimes did surveys to see how the student would learn better, but dealing with the data and matching it with the student became overwhelming for me. Also, the students did not seem to know the real answer, and when asked why they wrote their answer; they would reply I didn't know what to put, so I just marked one. 

 Later though I realized, I don't need to cater to each one in this way. Instead, I make sure that each type of learning is embedded in each unit. All of my units have reading and writing aspects; as well as looking at pictures and videos for visual learning; a small lecture for auditory learning; and a hands-on activity for kinesthetic/tactile learners. I also have various fidget toys students can use for this last group as well. Sometimes just playing with something in their hands can help their brain process the information they are learning. I also occasionally have students go home and ask the people they live with, or friends, or people on social media various questions, and see what other people know or believe.  

By incorporating all aspects into each unit, I will be able to have each student gain a little understanding through their non-preferred learning method and gain the most understanding through their preferred learning method. 

Only about 20%-30% of students are auditory learners, but many teachers spend more than 50% of the class lecturing and giving directions, even when on activity days. This is one aspect of why so many students are constantly confused and have low grades, which leads to apathy. Without understanding what is happening, students will stop trying. 

However, if you decide to incorporate these aspects of learning into your class, make sure that you do have all aspects. Missing any aspect will lead to several students not understanding the intended learning.