I am very interested in this area right now. Working at late night hours to read all the relevant articles. May be, just may be, others interested to know too.
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The Visual-Spatial Learner:
An Introduction
An Introduction
Linda Kreger Silverman. Ph.D.
The visual-spatial learner model is based on the newest discoveries in brain research about the different functions of the hemispheres. The left hemisphere is sequential, analytical, and time-oriented. The right hemisphere perceives the whole, synthesizes, and apprehends movement in space. We only have two hemispheres, and we are doing an excellent job teaching one of them. We need only become more aware of how to reach the other, and we will have happier students, learning more effectively.
I’d like to share with you how the visual-spatial learner idea originated. Around 1980, I began to notice that some highly gifted children took the top off the IQ test with their phenomenal abilities to solve items presented to them visually or items requiring excellent abilities to visualize. These children were also adept at spatial tasks, such as orientation problems. Soon I discovered that not only were the highest scorers outperforming others on the visual-spatial tasks, but so were the lowest scorers.
The main difference between the two groups was that highly gifted children also excelled at the auditory-sequential items, whereas children who were brighter than their IQ scores had marked auditory and sequential weaknesses. It was from these clinical observations and my attempt to understand both the strengths and weaknesses that the concept of the "visual-spatial learner" was born.
Visual-spatial learners are individuals who think in pictures rather than in words. They have a different brain organization than auditory-sequential learners. They learn better visually than auditorally. They learn all-at-once, and when the light bulb goes on, the learning is permanent. They do not learn from repetition and drill. They are whole-part learners who need to see the big picture first before they learn the details. They are non-sequential, which means that they do not learn in the step-by-step manner in which most teachers teach. They arrive at correct solutions without taking steps, so "show your work" may be impossible for them. They may have difficulty with easy tasks, but show amazing ability with difficult, complex tasks. They are systems thinkers who can orchestrate large amounts of information from different domains, but they often miss the details. They tend to be organizationally impaired and unconscious about time. They are often gifted creatively, technologically, mathematically or emotionally.
You can tell you have one of these children by the endless amount of time they spend doing advanced puzzles, constructing with Legos, etc., completing mazes, counting everything, playing Tetris on the computer, playing chess, building with any materials at hand, designing scientific experiments, programming your computer, or taking everything in the house apart to see how it operates. They also are very creative, dramatic, artistic and musical.
Here are the basic distinctions between the visual-spatial and auditory-sequential learner:
AUDITORY-SEQUENTIAL | VISUAL-SPATIAL |
Thinks primarily in words | Thinks primarily in pictures |
Has auditory strengths | Has visual strengths |
Relates well to time | Relates well to space |
Is a step-by-step learner | Is a whole-part learner |
Learns by trial and error | Learns concepts all at once |
Progresses sequentially from easy to difficult material | Learns complex concepts easily; struggles with easy skills |
Is an analytical thinker | Is a good synthesizer |
Attends well to details | Sees the big picture; may miss details |
Follows oral directions well | Reads maps well |
Does well at arithmetic | Is better at math reasoning than computation |
Learns phonics easily | Learns whole words easily |
Can sound out spelling words | Must visualize words to spell them |
Can write quickly and neatly | Prefers keyboarding to writing |
Is well-organized | Creates unique methods of organization |
Can show steps of work easily | Arrives at correct solutions intuitively |
Excels at rote memorization | Learns best by seeing relationships |
Has good auditory short-term memory | Has good long-term visual memory |
May need some repetition to reinforce learning | Learns concepts permanently; is turned off by drill and repetition |
Learns well from instruction | Develops own methods of problem solving |
Learns in spite of emotional reactions | Is very sensitive to teachers’ attitudes |
Is comfortable with one right answer | Generates unusual solutions to problems |
Develops fairly evenly | Develops quite asynchronously |
Usually maintains high grades | May have very uneven grades |
Enjoys algebra and chemistry | Enjoys geometry and physics |
Learns languages in class | Masters other languages through immersion |
Is academically talented | Is creatively, mechanically, emotionally, or technologically gifted |
Is an early bloomer | Is a late bloomer |
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