People learn in many different ways. For examples some people prefer to remember facts as a set of lists whilst others like to set them out in diagrams and are sometimes called ‘visual learners’ or more accurately, visual spatial learners.

There has been a lot of research into learning styles or multiple intelligences which try to explain why people have different interests and career paths.

Initial research by Howard Gardener at Harvard University identified 7 learning styles or multiple intelligences but some researchers have added an eighth category – naturalist and all eight are explained at the Literacy Works website.

How do visual learning techniques help students?

This is explained on the Fife Education website  with more detail in reference to concept mapping software. 

All children need praise and the younger they are they the more explicit it needs to be. Children derive a great deal of satisfaction and encouragement from seeing their work displayed either within the classroom or to a wider audience.

• Teachers have to provide appropriate challenges and the opportunity to develop the skills with which to meet these challenges.
• Teachers have to make it safe to take risks.
• Learning involves making sense of new information, skills and concepts in the light of prior knowledge and understanding.
• What a pupil does in cooperation with others today, the pupil will learn to do alone tomorrow.
• The teacher's role is to encourage positive attitudes and use positive language.
• Establishing and maintaining good relationships is likely to result in increased levels of self-confidence, self-esteem and self-efficacy.

Learning and Teaching should consider:

• Differentiation (Differentiation for pupils in S3 upwards)
• Different Learning Styles
• Independent Learning
• Group Work
• Paired Learning/Peer Support
• Thinking Skills
• Recent Reseach
• Questionning