Memo

To: Dr. Bill Saunders

From: William P. Graham

Date: 03/22/17

Subject: Identifying My Learning Style

In this memo I address the evolution of my learning style from middle school to college and create a

hypothesis of what my learning style actually is. I then give details of three separate experiments that I

conducted to test that hypothesis and presented the results in numerical values. Finally I review the results

and what their meaning is, ways I can improve as a student, and questions that this process leaves me

with.

The earliest memories that I have of discovering my learning style are from middle school, grades 6

through 8. I vividly remember sitting in a world history class listening to my teacher lecture on, and not

being able to recall much from the class afterwards. This class was difficult for me at first not because I

was incapable of understanding the subject, but because of this new teaching style. Prior to that history

class I had always been taught through demonstrations or through hand-outs, giving me something to look

at. Recollecting on these moments now I can say this is when I first discovered that I was not an auditory

learner, I need something to look at or work with to connect concepts to. I adapted to the lecture style of

teaching back then by taking good notes, and that helped me get through a lot of high school classes that

were the same style. I did not have any more issues regarding my learning style until recently, recently

being in ENGR 1201 here at Charlotte. Much of the class I did just fine in but the concept of electricity

never really stuck with me. I could do the simple electrical problems that were asked on test or

homework, but today I could not give you definitions of current or resistance. This reassured my

assumption that I did not want to be an Electrical Engineer, and made me question my learning style. I

determined I struggle with really understanding electricity because I cant visualize it. I dont know a way
around this though, this is an issue that that gives me room to evolve my learning style further in the

future. Another point mentioning about my learning style is how helpful labs are for me. Before coming

to Charlotte I never had a lab to go along with a class, but I got that opportunity with PHYS 2101. The lab

may be a bit behind the class but after working through a lab concepts become so much clearer for me.

Being able to work hands-on with a topic gives it a sense of urgency and makes it more memorable.

To reinforce the assumption that I am a visual/ tactile learner I performed three different experiments to

test that hypothesis. The first was simply another questionnaire like we completed in class, but this one

was longer and seemed to be more detailed. It was strange at times with statements such as I can

always tell directions like north and south no matter where I am that I wasnt sure which

learning style they related to, but also included some very straight forward statements. My results

for this test were 47% visual, 33% tactile, and 20% auditory. The second experiment I did while

learning about work and energy, and the relationship they have in physics. I quizzed myself at

three separate occasions during this learning process the first being after listening to the lecture

given by my professor, the second after watching some videos and reviewing my notes, and a

third after doing the lab. The quiz that I used had five questions all testing that I knew the very

basics of the subject. After taking the third one, and grading all three, I found that my grade on

the first one was 3/5 and my grades on the last two were 5/5. The third and final experiment that

I conducted was a sort of memory test. I had my roommate select five different objects and

assign a color to each of them. I had him do this three times for each of the learning styles. I had

him read all the combinations out loud to me, write all them down and show them to me, and

finally I drew and colored them in. I then tried to recall as many of the combinations that I could

and recite them. After the first test I was only able to recite 2/5 completely right, the second 4/5,

and the third 4/5. The results of these three different experiments have a pretty defined meaning.

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After completing all three of these experiments and doing some analysis of the results I have come to the

conclusion that I am a visual/tactile learner, supporting my assumption. Additionally, I think I can say the

visual and tactile learning styles go hand in hand for me. There was little difference between the results of

the quizzes that I took in experiments two and three between tactile and visual learning styles. Being able

to see how something works is just about as good as being able to work it out myself. With these results I

did some research into some things I can change to improve my college learning experience. The best tip

that I could find is to color coordinate things. From different color binders for different classes to

highlighting my notes, colors should make it easier for me to remember key points. Another interesting

thing I found was that paying close attention to my professors or peers body language can also help me

remember concepts. After this process I am left to ask, what is the best way for me to learn and

understand concepts that I cant see, like my example before electricity and circuits? Completing this

investigation has helped me realize some of my strengths and weaknesses as a student, and things that I

can do to improve.