presentation of learning methods

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What is a Presentation of Learning and Why Do We Do It?

Alec patton.

A Presentation of Learning (POL) requires students to present their learning to an audience, in order to prove that they are ready to progress. Effective POLs include both academic content and the student’s reflection on their social and personal growth.  They are important rituals – literally “rites of passage” for students.

At my school, every student gives two POLs per year – one at the end of fall semester, and one at the end of the year. They happen at the same time that most schools have their final exams, and serve a similar function. However, unlike exams, POLs happen in front of an audience that includes their teachers, parents, and peers. By requiring students to present to an audience, reflect on their learning, and answer probing questions on the spot, we are helping students build skills that they will use for the rest of their life. Taking an exam, on the other hand, is a skill that students will rarely, if ever, need to utilize after they finish college.

Every team’s POL expectations are slightly different, but they all fall into one of two broad categories: “presentation” or “discussion”.

Presentation

The presentation is the “classic” version of the POL. A student gives a prepared presentation on their own, and takes questions. Designing a POL structure is a balancing act for the teacher: require students to cover too much material, and every one of your students will march in and recite a near-identical list of assignments completed and skills learned. On the other hand, make the requirements too open-ended and the POL can become an empty facsimile of reflection – or, as students have described it to me, “BS-ing”!

I once saw a POL assignment that included the phrase “it has to have some magic”, which students were free to interpret as they saw fit. It led to unpredictable and delightful presentations, and inspired more thought and extra work than any rubric could have.

The “Discussion of Learning” trades the presentation structure for a seminar structure: a small group of students facilitates their own hour-long discussion, with the teachers initially just listening, then adding questions to enrich and drive the discussion. The parents are invited in for the final fifteen minutes, when the students summarize the discussion thus far and invite the parents to participate.

In my experience, this format tends to lead to meatier, more honest reflection than presentations. Especially when students are allowed to choose their own groups, they tend to make themselves more vulnerable than in other contexts. This format also opens up a space for students whose voices aren’t always heard in the classroom. The most memorable POL I’ve ever been a part of was a discussion by a group of girls, all  them native Spanish speakers, who talked about having been made uncomfortably aware of their accents by peers, and struggling to make their voices heard within our team. It was powerful, effective, thoughtful – everything I would have wanted from a POL, but it never would have happened if the structure had been different.

Which format should I choose, and when?

Students will be best-served by experiencing both the “presentation” and “discussion” format at some point in their academic careers.

I like to end fall semester with a presentation, because individual presentations give me the clearest sense of which skills a student has successfully developed, and what they will need more help with in the coming semester. I then end the year with a discussion, because at this point I know the students very well, and in a small-group setting we can speak frankly both about their successes, and the potential problems they will face in the coming year. I end this discussion with every student setting goals for the summer and coming year that I record and email to the student and their parents, so that they leave my class with the best possible trajectory into the future.

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The 7 main types of learning styles (and how to teach to them), share this article.

Understanding the 7 main types of learning styles and how to teach them will help both your students and your courses be more successful.

When it comes to learning something new, we all absorb information at different rates and understand it differently too. Some students get new concepts right away; others need to sit and ponder for some time before they can arrive at similar conclusions.

Why? The answer lies in the type of learning styles different students feel more comfortable with. In other words, we respond to information in different ways depending on how it is presented to us.

Clearly, different types of learning styles exist, and there are lots of debates in pedagogy about what they are and how to adapt to them.

For practical purposes, it’s recommended to ensure that your course or presentation covers the 7 main types of learning.

In this article, we’ll break down the 7 types of learning styles, and give practical tips for how you can improve your own teaching styles , whether it’s in higher education or an online course you plan to create on the side.

Skip ahead:

What are the 7 types of learning styles?

How to accommodate different types of learning styles online.

• How to help students understand their different types of learning styles

How to create an online course for all

In the academic literature, the most common model for the types of learning you can find is referred to as VARK.

VARK is an acronym that stands for Visual, Auditory, Reading & Writing, and Kinesthetic. While these learning methods are the most recognized, there are people that do not fit into these boxes and prefer to learn differently. So we’re adding three more learning types to our list, including Logical, Social, and Solitary.

Visual learners

Visual learners are individuals that learn more through images, diagrams, charts, graphs, presentations, and anything that illustrates ideas. These people often doodle and make all kinds of visual notes of their own as it helps them retain information better. 

When teaching visual learners, the goal isn’t just to incorporate images and infographics into your lesson. It’s about helping them visualize the relationships between different pieces of data or information as they learn. 

Gamified lessons are a great way to teach visual learners as they’re interactive and aesthetically appealing. You should also give handouts, create presentations, and search for useful infographics to support your lessons.

Since visual information can be pretty dense, give your students enough time to absorb all the new knowledge and make their own connections between visual clues.

Auditory/aural learners

The auditory style of learning is quite the opposite of the visual one. Auditory learners are people that absorb information better when it is presented in audio format (i.e. the lessons are spoken). This type of learner prefers to learn by listening and might not take any notes at all. They also ask questions often or repeat what they have just heard aloud to remember it better.

Aural learners are often not afraid of speaking up and are great at explaining themselves. When teaching auditory learners, keep in mind that they shouldn’t stay quiet for long periods of time. So plan a few activities where you can exchange ideas or ask questions. Watching videos or listening to audio during class will also help with retaining new information.

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners

Reading & Writing learners absorb information best when they use words, whether they’re reading or writing them. To verbal learners, written words are more powerful and granular than images or spoken words, so they’re excellent at writing essays, articles, books, etc. 

To support the way reading-writing students learn best, ensure they have time to take ample notes and allocate extra time for reading. This type of learner also does really well at remote learning, on their own schedule. Including reading materials and writing assignments in their homework should also yield good results.

Kinesthetic/tactile learners

Kinesthetic learners use different senses to absorb information. They prefer to learn by doing or experiencing what they’re being taught. These types of learners are tactile and need to live through experiences to truly understand something new. This makes it a bit challenging to prepare for them in a regular class setting. 

As you try to teach tactile learners, note that they can’t sit still for long and need more frequent breaks than others. You need to get them moving and come up with activities that reinforce the information that was just covered in class. Acting out different roles is great; games are excellent; even collaborative writing on a whiteboard should work fine. If applicable, you can also organize hands-on laboratory sessions, immersions, and workshops.

In general, try to bring every abstract idea into the real world to help kinesthetic learners succeed.

Logical/analytical learners 

As the name implies, logical learners rely on logic to process information and understand a particular subject. They search for causes and patterns to create a connection between different kinds of information. Many times, these connections are not obvious to people to learn differently, but they make perfect sense to logical learners. 

Logical learners generally do well with facts, statistics, sequential lists, and problem-solving tasks to mention a few. 

As a teacher, you can engage logical learners by asking open-ended or obscure questions that require them to apply their own interpretation. You should also use teaching material that helps them hone their problem-solving skills and encourages them to form conclusions based on facts and critical thinking. 

Social/interpersonal learners 

Social or interpersonal learners love socializing with others and working in groups so they learn best during lessons that require them to interact with their peers . Think study groups, peer discussions, and class quizzes. 

To effectively teach interpersonal learners, you’ll need to make teamwork a core part of your lessons. Encourage student interaction by asking questions and sharing stories. You can also incorporate group activities and role-playing into your lessons, and divide the students into study groups.  

Solitary/intrapersonal learners 

Solitary learning is the opposite of social learning. Solitary, or solo, learners prefer to study alone without interacting with other people. These learners are quite good at motivating themselves and doing individual work. In contrast, they generally don’t do well with teamwork or group discussions.

To help students like this, you should encourage activities that require individual work, such as journaling, which allows them to reflect on themselves and improve their skills. You should also acknowledge your students’ individual accomplishments and help them refine their problem-solving skills. 

Are there any unique intelligence types commonly shared by your students? Adapting to these different types of intelligence can help you can design a course best suited to help your students succeed.

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How to help students understand their different types of learning styles 

Unless you’re teaching preschoolers, most students probably already realize the type of learning style that fits them best. But some students do get it wrong.

The key here is to observe every student carefully and plan your content for different learning styles right from the start.

Another idea is to implement as much individual learning as you can and then customize that learning for each student. So you can have visual auditory activities, riddles for logical learners, games for kinesthetic learners, reading activities, writing tasks, drawing challenges, and more.

When you’re creating your first course online, it’s important to dedicate enough time to planning out its structure. Don’t just think that a successful course consists of five uploaded videos.

Think about how you present the new knowledge. Where it makes sense to pause and give students the time to reflect. Where to include activities to review the new material. Adapting to the different learning types that people exhibit can help you design an online course best suited to help your students succeed.

That being said, here are some tips to help you tailor your course to each learning style, or at least create enough balance. 

Visual learners 

Since visual learners like to see or observe images, diagrams, demonstrations, etc., to understand a topic, here’s how you can create a course for them: 

• Include graphics, cartoons, or illustrations of concepts 
• Use flashcards to review course material 
• Use flow charts or maps to organize materials 
• Highlight and color code notes to organize materials 
• Use color-coded tables to compare and contrast elements 
• Use a whiteboard to explain important information
• Have students play around with different font styles and sizes to improve readability 

Auditory learners prefer to absorb information by listening to spoken words, so they do well when teachers give spoken instructions and lessons. Here’s how to cater to this learning type through your online course: 

• Converse with your students about the subject or topic 
• Ask your students questions after each lesson and have them answer you (through the spoken word)
• Have them record lectures and review them with you 
• Have articles, essays, and comprehension passages out to them
• As you teach, explain your methods, questions, and answers 
• Ask for oral summaries of the course material 
• If you teach math or any other math-related course, use a talking calculator 
• Create an audio file that your students can listen to
• Create a video of you teaching your lesson to your student
• Include a YouTube video or podcast episode for your students to listen to
• Organize a live Q & A session where students can talk to you and other learners to help them better understand the subject

Reading and writing (or verbal) learners 

This one is pretty straightforward. Verbal learners learn best when they read or write (or both), so here are some practical ways to include that in your online course:

• Have your students write summaries about the lesson 
• If you teach language or literature, assign them stories and essays that they’d have to read out loud to understand
• If your course is video-based, add transcripts to aid your students’ learning process
• Make lists of important parts of your lesson to help your students memorize them
• Provide downloadable notes and checklists that your students can review after they’ve finished each chapter of your course
• Encourage extra reading by including links to a post on your blog or another website in the course
• Use some type of body movement or rhythm, such as snapping your fingers, mouthing, or pacing, while reciting the material your students should learn

Since kinesthetic learners like to experience hands-on what they learn with their senses — holding, touching, hearing, and doing. So instead of churning out instructions and expecting to follow, do these instead: 

• Encourage them to experiment with textured paper, and different sizes of pencils, pens, and crayons to jot down information
• If you teach diction or language, give them words that they should incorporate into their daily conversations with other people
• Encourage students to dramatize or act out lesson concepts to understand them better 

Logical learners are great at recognizing patterns, analyzing information, and solving problems. So in your online course, you need to structure your lessons to help them hone these abilities. Here are some things you can do:

• Come up with tasks that require them to solve problems. This is easy if you teach math or a math-related course
• Create charts and graphs that your students need to interpret to fully grasp the lesson
• Ask open-ended questions that require critical thinking 
• Create a mystery for your students to solve with clues that require logical thinking or math
• Pose an issue/topic to your students and ask them to address it from multiple perspectives

Since social learners prefer to discuss or interact with others, you should set up your course to include group activities. Here’s how you can do that:

• Encourage them to discuss the course concept with their classmates
• Get your students involved in forum discussions
• Create a platform (via Slack, Discord, etc.) for group discussions
• Pair two or more social students to teach each other the course material
• If you’re offering a cohort-based course , you can encourage students to make their own presentations and explain them to the rest of the class

Solitary learners prefer to learn alone. So when designing your course, you need to take that into consideration and provide these learners a means to work by themselves. Here are some things you can try: 

• Encourage them to do assignments by themselves
• Break down big projects into smaller ones to help them manage time efficiently
• Give them activities that require them to do research on their own
• When they’re faced with problems regarding the topic, let them try to work around it on their own. But let them know that they are welcome to ask you for help if they need to
• Encourage them to speak up when you ask them questions as it builds their communication skills 
• Explore blended learning , if possible, by combining teacher-led classes with self-guided assignments and extra ideas that students can explore on their own.

Now that you’re ready to teach something to everyone, you might be wondering what you actually need to do to create your online courses. Well, start with a platform.

Thinkific is an intuitive and easy-to-use platform any instructor can use to create online courses that would resonate with all types of learning styles. Include videos, audio, presentations, quizzes, and assignments in your curriculum. Guide courses in real-time or pre-record information in advance. It’s your choice.

In addition, creating a course on Thinkific doesn’t require you to know any programming. You can use a professionally designed template and customize it with a drag-and-drop editor to get exactly the course you want in just a few hours. Try it yourself to see how easy it can be.

This blog was originally published in August 2017, it has since been updated in March 2023. 

Althea Storm is a B2B SaaS writer who specializes in creating data-driven content that drives traffic and increases conversions for businesses. She has worked with top companies like AdEspresso, HubSpot, Aura, and Thinkific. When she's not writing web content, she's curled up in a chair reading a crime thriller or solving a Rubik's cube.

• The 5 Most Effective Teaching Styles (Pros & Cons of Each)
• 7 Top Challenges with Online Learning For Students (and Solutions)
• 6 Reasons Why Creators Fail To Sell Their Online Courses
• The Advantages and Disadvantages of Learning in Online Classes in 2023
• 10 Steps To Creating A Wildly Successful Online Course

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How a Simple Presentation Framework Helps Students Learn

Explaining concepts to their peers helps students shore up their content knowledge and improve their communication skills.

A few years ago, my colleague and I were awarded a Hawai‘i Innovation Fund Grant. The joy of being awarded the grant was met with dread and despair when we were informed that we would have to deliver a 15-minute presentation on our grant write-up to a room full of educational leaders. If that wasn’t intimidating enough, my colleague informed me that he was not going to be in Hawai‘i at the time of the presentation. I had “one shot,” just a 15-minute presentation to encapsulate all of the 17 pages of the grant I had cowritten, but how?

I worked hard to construct and deliver a presentation that was concise yet explicit. I was clear on the big picture of what the grant was composed of and provided a visual of it in practice. I made sure the audience understood the “why” behind the grant. I showed how it worked, the concrete elements of it, and how they made it successful. I finished with a scaffold that would help others know how to initiate it within their context, giving them the freedom to make it authentically their own.

I received good feedback from the presentation, and more important, what was shared positively impacted student learning in other classrooms across the state.

A Simple Framework for Presentations

That first presentation took me over a month to prepare, but afterward I noticed that my prep time for presentations shrank exponentially from a few months to a few (uninterrupted) days. Interestingly enough, as a by-product of creating the original presentation, I created an abstract framework that I have used for every professional learning presentation I have delivered since then. The “What, Why, How, and How-To” framework goes as follows:

• What? What can the audience easily connect to and know as a bridge to the unknown for the rest of the experience?
• Why? Why should they care to listen to (and learn from) the rest of the presentation? What’s in it for them to shift from passive listeners to actively engaged? The audience needs to know why you believe in this so much that you are compelled to share it.
• How? What are the key elements that make it unique? How is it effective in doing what it does? What are the intricacies of how it works?
• How-to? How could they start doing this on their own? How could this knowledge serve as a foundational springboard? Connect it to “why.”

Benefits for Students

One of the best parts of presentations is that they help the presenter to improve their communication skills. The presenter is learning how to give a presentation by doing it. To prepare a presentation, the presenter must know the intricate elements of what they are presenting and the rationale for their importance. In the presentation delivery, the presenter must be articulate and meticulous to ensure that everyone in the audience is able (and willing) to process the information provided.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that preparing and delivering presentations could provide a valuable learning opportunity for my students.

I recall teaching mathematical concepts whereby students would immediately apply knowledge learned to accomplish the task in silence and without any deeper questioning. Only after I asked them to provide presentations on these concepts did they regularly ask me, “Why is this important, again?” or “What makes this so special?” My students’ mathematical literacy grew through preparing presentations with the “What, Why, How, and How-To” framework, which supported them in their ability to demonstrate content knowledge through mathematical rigor (balancing conceptual understanding, skills and procedural fluency, and real-world application).

• The “what” served as the mathematical concept.
• The “why” demonstrated the real-world application of the concept.
• “The “how” demonstrated conceptual understanding of the concept.
• The “how-to” demonstrated skills and procedures of the concept. 

In addition to content knowledge, the sequential competencies of clarity, cohesiveness, and captivation ensured that the presenter could successfully share the information with their audience. When combined, these framed a rubric that supported students in optimizing their presentation deliveries. The competencies are as follows:

1. Content knowledge. The presenter must display a deep understanding of what they are delivering in order to share the “what, why, how, and how-to” of the topic.

2. Clarity. The presenter must be clear with precise, academic language. As the content they deliver may be new to the audience, any lack of clarity will alienate the audience. Providing multiple modes of representation greatly addresses a variety of processing needs of a diverse audience.

3. Cohesiveness. When making clear connections, the presenter bridges gaps between each discrete component in how they all work together as integral elements of the topic. Any gaps too large may make the elements look disjointed or, worse, the audience feel lost.

4. Captivation. The presenter must captivate the audience through any combination of audience engagement or storytelling . They make the presentation flow with the energy of a song , and in the end, they leave the audience with a delicate balance of feeling fulfilled and inspired to learn more.

Anyone can build an effective presentation with the “What, Why, How, and How-To” framework, along with competencies of content knowledge, clarity, cohesiveness, and captivation. The better we teach and coach others on how to create and deliver presentations, the more we learn from these individuals through their work.

In my class, one multilingual learner responded to the prompt “What are the non-math (life lessons) you have found valuable from this class?” with “I learn what is learning and teaching... I truly understood how teaching is actually learning when I had presentation. I found a bit of desire to being a teacher. I hope you also learned something from this class.” I always learn from my students when they present.

Ace the Presentation

5 Learning Styles to Consider for Memorable Presentations

There is no consensus on foolproof tricks to satisfy the audience in a presentation, and each researcher certainly has tips on this based on their personal experience.

However, there is an aspect that often eludes attention and directly influences the appeal that the material exposed has on the audience: the different learning styles.

Professionals who want to succeed in their corporate presentations should know the different learning styles deeply. After all, each individual has their way of capturing information and sending it to the brain to turn it into knowledge.

Thinking about this challenge for presenters, we elaborated this article with the primary learning styles. By dominating each of them, you’ll be able to create personalized and more efficient presentations that meet the expectations of all participants.

What are Learning Styles?

Learning styles are cognitive skills that each person uses to fix specific topics, implying that learning a subject varies from person to person. 

From the strategy of personal knowledge, one has more efficiently with a style and more incredible difficulty understanding information with others.

The Vark method, developed by the New Zealand professor Neil Fleming and Colleen Mills, proposes that learning takes place through five skills: auditory, visual, kinesthetic, reading and writing, and multimodal (when learning occurs through two or more skills).

VARK is an acronym that designates the four modes of learning: Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic.

5 Learning Styles to use when structuring Public Presentations

1. visual learning style.

The visual learning style is the one in which the person learns through vision. The easiest to assimilate information is recorded in graphs, videos, images, diagrams, maps, symbols, and lists.

People with a visual learning style tend to take notes to assimilate something or record it in memory; they are not satisfied or do not get along just by listening to the presenter.

For you to capture the attention of a visual audience, your presentation needs some features. Some rich features that can boost presentations are:

• Photography;

2. Auditory learning style

The person with the sharpest aural style can learn by listening to information. In this way, the individual can participate in discussions, explain concepts, listen to podcasts, read aloud, and listen to recordings of lessons.

People who have an auditory learning style, when they hear some information, their brain memorizes it.

So during a presentation it is expected that they express themselves and repeat the content to memorize certain subjects, even though the ideas have not gone through great reflection before being exposed to the public.

Knowing this, see what you need when setting up your presentations to cater for these people:

• Podcasts extracts.

3-4. Reading/Writing

It is the modality that differs because it is tied to written content. People who identify with this style have ease in dealing with information expressed in the form of words.

In addition, they are people who have the facility to express abstract knowledge in written language. 

They prefer to study through books, workbooks, dictionaries, online texts, articles, and research because they find ways to learn more quickly. Most of them are people who also like to read a lot.

5. Kinesthetic learning style

This term may seem a little strange, but if we search the origin and meaning of this word, we will realize that it is associated with the perception of muscle movements. 

At this point, you may think, but what does this have to do with learning style?

The relationship of the kinesthetic learning style with muscular movements is because specific individuals develop the ability to learn through practical situations of life. 

That is, they are highly active. They are those who do not cling too much to theories.

Imagine those who are seen as agitated people. In the case of school children, teachers often consider them hyperactive. Even as adults, they don’t get to spend much time listening to a story or reading a lengthy text is too quiet a place.

The ideal for this public is not too dull and monotonous; otherwise, they can stand up from their chairs and go away or stay a period outside the auditorium room.

Here are the tips to keep people with the characteristics of the style of learning Kinesthetic interested in your presentation:

• Hold debates;
• If possible, take short breaks;
• Move on the stage;
• Give practical examples,
• Avoid being only in theory;
• Make provocations and inquiries.

This is especially true in presentations to large audiences, in which the exhibitor tends to want to offer an impact presentation.

With a great diversity of information, technological resources, or a lot of interactivity, it often forgets whether it will capture the attention of the majority.

Given this knowledge of different learning styles, the idea is to create a clear, objective presentation and coordinate appeals that satisfy the four types.

Want to Stand Out? 15 Key Tips for an Awesome Presentation

11 Best Body Language Tips For Engaging Presentations (#11 is Underrated)

Growing up, we were always taught how we should have manners while talking to others and that there were some things we could not do in front of people like sprawling or even putting our elbows on the table while eating because it was rude. In the examples above, the rudeness comes from gestures, not…

Learning styles are the way each person uses to learn the proposed content, and this is because each person has eased with a particular style and more difficulty learning from others. Therefore, each person is unique in their way of learning!

The presenter must adapt his presentation to the primary intelligence, which is also the secret of good interpersonal communication.

Learning styles represent part of our five senses – vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Each person usually has one or more of them developed. 

References and Further Reading

Learning Styles. OREILLY.

Your Guide To Understanding And Adapting To Different Learning Styles. Cornerstone.

Ace Presentation. Tips for Conducting Audience Analysis.

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The Learning Styles and the Preferred Teaching—Learning Strategies of First Year Medical Students

Poonam kharb.

1 Professor, Department of Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Prajna Paramita Samanta

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Manisha Jindal

3 Professor, Department of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Vishram Singh

4 Professor & HOD, Department of Anatomy, Santosh Medical College, Santosh University, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Introduction: The purpose of teaching is to facilitate learning and to encourage the learners to learn more effectively. The learning style is an individual’s consistent way of perceiving, processing and retaining new information. Educational researchers have shown an increasing interest in the learning styles, the related instructional methods and the andrgogical teaching techniques. This interest is spurred by a desire to help the students to become capable and successful learners.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the preferred learning styles of medical students as well as their preferences of specific teaching-learning methods.

Method: A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 first semester medical students who were enrolled at SMS & R, Sharda University, India. The VARK questionnaire, version 7.1 was used to categorize the learning preferences/modes as visual (V), auditory (A), read and write (R) and kinaesthetic (K). The students were also asked to rank the various teaching methodologies viz. lectures, tutorials, demonstrations and practicals/dissections from the most preferred choice to the least preferred one.

Results: The majority (61%) of the students had multimodal VARK preferences. Among them, 41%, 14% and 6% preferred the bimodal, trimodal and the quadrimodal ways of information presentation. 39% of the respondents had one strong (unimodal) learning preference. The most common unimodal preference was kinaesthetic, followed by visual, auditory and read and write. The most preferred teaching methodology was practical/dissection (39%) and tutorial was the least preferred one (12%).

Conclusion: One single approach to teaching does not work for every student or even for most of the students. The educators’ awareness of the various learning styles of the students and their efforts towards matching the teaching and learning styles may help in creating an effective learning environment for all the students.

INTRODUCTION

Recent years have seen a change in the trends of medical education from pedagogy to andragogy i.e. from a teacher-centred learning to a student-centred learning. Therefore, it is not only desirable but also essential for educators to recognize that adults have different learning styles and that they should tailor instructions to the characteristic ways in which the adults prefer to learn [ 1 , 2 ]. The term, ‘learning style’ describes an individual’s preferred method of gathering, processing, interpreting, organizing and analyzing information. The VARK model which was developed by Fleming and Mills [ 3 ] provides the learners with a profile of their learning styles, based on the sensory modalities which are involved in taking in information. VARK is an acronym for the Visual (V), Auditory (A), Read/Write (R) and the Kinaesthetic (K) sensory modalities. The visual learners process the information best if they can see it. The auditory learners like to hear information. The read-write learners prefer to see the written words. The kinaesthetic learners like to acquire information through experience and practice.

Various instructional methods which are used for teaching the first year medical students include lectures, dissections, practicals, tutorials, etc. The students’ preference for different teaching-learning methods had been attributed in the past to a number of reasons such as familiarity with the method, a positive outcome, etc. A less explored but perhaps a more significant factor could be the students’ learning styles. Having knowledge on the learners’ learning styles is a vastly underutilized approach towards an improvement in the classroom instructions. The learning style information can also benefit the students as it would help them in formulating the appropriate learning strategies for enhancing their learning. Most of the previous studies which have been done in the medical arena on the learning styles have been conducted in other countries and the results have shown variations, may be due to the use of different teaching methodologies at the premedical level [ 4 ].To the best of our knowledge, none of the studies have correlated the preferences of the instructional methods with the learning styles of the medical students. The aim of the present study was therefore, to gain an understanding of the learning style preferences of first semester medical students, to find out the most preferred instructional methods and to correlate these methods with the learning preferences of the students, which could be helpful in formulating teaching —learning strategies for improving the learning experience.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study was conducted on the first year medical students who were enrolled at the School of Medical Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. A total of 100 students voluntarily participated in the study (66 females and 34 males). Two separate questionnaires were used to determine the students’ most preferred teaching-learning methods and their learning style preferences. The first questionnaire was used to obtain the general demographic information i.e. names, ages and genders of the students, as well as to assess their preferences of the teaching-learning methodologies (Lectures, Practicals/Dissections, Tutorials, Self study) in the descending order of the preference. The second questionnaire, the latest version (7.1) of the VARK questionnaire, which was developed by Fleming [ 5 ], was used to determine the learning style preferences of the students. It consisted of 13 questions with four options each and the respondents could choose more than one option if they found them suitable. The VARK model was used in the present study because it a. addressed a part of the learning styles that was open to self-modification, b. it was accompanied by study strategies for each style, c. it could help in formulating teaching strategies and d. it was the most popular model due to its simplicity and reliability.

The purpose of the study was explained to the students and the hard copies of the questionnaires were distributed to the students who volunteered to take the analysis. The completed questionnaires were collected after 15-20 minutes and they were evaluated by using previously validated scoring instructions which were available on the VARK website.

Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the students’ preferences of the various VARK components, as well as their preferences for the various teaching-learning methods. The Students’ t-test was utilized to compare the VARK scores for the male and female students and Pearson’s Correlation Co-efficient was employed to analyze the correlation between the learning styles and the most preferred teaching- learning methods.

According to the VARK model, the students’ learning styles are dependent on how they prefer to perceive/receive information. They may prefer a single mode (unimodal), two modes (bimodal), three modes (trimodal) or all four modes (quadrimodal) of the information presentation. In the present study, it was found that 61% students had multimodal learning style preferences and that only 39% students had unimodal preferences. Amongst the multimodal learning styles, the most preferred mode was bimodal, followed by trimodal and quadrimodal respectively [ Table/Fig-1 ].

Percentages of students with unimodal, bimodal, trimodal & quadrimodal preferences

Of the 39% students who had unimodal learning styles, 26% preferred the kinaesthetic mode, 7% preferred the visual mode, 4% preferred the auditory mode and only 2% preferred the read-write mode. Therefore, the kinaesthetic mode was the most preferred mode and the read—write the least preferred mode of the information presentation.

The learning style preferences of the female students were more varied, which included all the bimodal (VA, VK, VR, AK AR, KR) and the trimodal (VAK, VAR, AKR and VRK) learning styles, whereas in the male student population, the VR and AR bimodal combinations were not represented [ Table/Fig-2 ].

Distribution of various combinations of learning styles in male & female students. V- visual, A- auditory, R- read-write, K- kinaesthetic

[ Table/Fig-3 ] shows the comparison of the preferences for the four VARK modalties of the female and male students. It was observed that a significantly higher number of female students preferred the auditory mode of the learning style as compared to the males; whereas a significantly higher number of male students preferred the kinaesthetic mode (p value <0.05).

[Table/Fig-3]:

Comparison of VARK Scores of Male & Female Students

(* p value<0.05, student’s “t” test)

Various teaching-learning methods such as a. direct instruction methods (lectures and demonstrations), b. interactive instruction methods (tutorials), c. experimental learning methods (practicals and dissections) and d. independent study methods ( self study) are used to impart and acquire knowledge of the basic sciences during first year of the medical curriculum. The most preferred teaching-learning method among all the students was practicals/dissections (39%), followed by lectures (32%), self study (18%) and tutorials (11%). Among the female students, the second most preferred teaching—learning methodology was lectures, whereas the male students preferred self study following practicals/dissections [ Table/Fig-4 ].

Comparison of preference of teaching-learning methods among male and female students.P/DI- Practical/Dissection, SS-Self study, L-Lecture, T-Tutorial

The correlation between the students’ learning styles and their preferences of the teaching-learning methods is shown in [ Table/Fig-5 ]. The most preferred VARK mode was the kinaesthetic and the most preferred teaching—learning method was practical/dissection. A positive correlation (Pearson’s ccorrelation coefficient, r = 0.752) was observed between the preferences of the VARK modes and the teaching learning methods.

[Table/Fig-5]:

Correlation between students’ preference for VARK modes and teaching-learning methods

The educational world is acknowledging the importance of understanding the students’ different learning style preferences and their role in attaining academic success [ 6 , 7 ]. In the present study, therefore, we administered the VARK questionnaire to the first year medical students to determine their learning style preferences. A majority of the students (61%) exhibited multimodal learning style preferences, which indicated that they preferred multiple modes of information presentation. The results of previous studies which were conducted on first year medical students from various other countries also reported similar results; however, the percentage of students with multimodal learning style preferences in these studies varied from 59-85% [ 4 , 8 – 10 ].This implies that most of the students learn effectively as long as the teaching methods include a blend of activities that stimulate the visual, aural, read-write and the kinaesthetic sensory modalities. The increasing use of multimedia in teaching can provide opportunities for presenting multiple representations of the content (text, video, audio, images and interactive elements) to cater more effectively to the diverse learning styles of the students. Neuroscience research has also revealed that significant increases in learning can be accomplished when the learning environments cater to their predominant learning styles [ 11 ]. This is known as the “meshing hypothesis” [ 12 ].

In the unimodal learning style category, we found that the most preferred mode was the kinaesthetic one, followed by the visual, auditory and the read-write ones. Therefore, the active learning strategies such as role playing, simulations, use of models, debates, etc which are preferred by the kinaesthetic learners would be more beneficial to the students than the traditional lecture formats. Active learning strategies not only encourage the critical thinking (evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of the information) but they also improve the problem solving and the decision making skills. A passive learning strategy format such as lectures mainly caters to the auditory learners. In the present study, the percentage of the auditory learners was much less as compared to those of the kinaesthetic and the visual learners. Our findings were comparable to the results of the study which was conducted by Baykan and Nacar [ 13 ] on first year medical students from Turkey. According to Lujan and DiCarlo [ 14 ], the most preferred learning style of the first year medical students was read/write among the students from Indiana, USA. However, Nuzhat et al., [ 4 ] reported that the auditory mode was the most preferred learning style among the medical students from Saudi Arabia. The variations in the learning preferences of the medical students from different countries could be explained on the basis of the differences in the teaching methodologies which are being used at the premedical level and the exposure to the hands on clinical experiences in the first year of the medical curriculum.

There is no single best teaching-learning strategy that can work for every student, no matter how good that approach is. Some previous studies have reported that certain teaching-learning methods, such as problem based learning, are favoured over the traditional methods i.e. lectures [ 15 , 16 ]. However, only little is known on whether the learning style of a student affects his/her preference for a specific teaching strategy/instructional method. The data from this study revealed that practicals/dissections were the most favoured teaching methodology of both male and female students. This fact can be associated with the finding that the most preferred learning style of the student population of the present study was the kinaesthetic one. The kinaesthetic learners prefer the hands on approach to learning and therefore, the students with this learning style prefer to perceive information best through practical sessions. Further, it was observed that the second most favoured teaching methodology of the female students was lectures, which could be explained by the fact that higher numbers of female students had a preference for auditory and visual modalities. This indicated that the choice of the teaching methodologies was affected to a certain extent by the learning styles of the students.

Unmatched learning styles and teaching— learning methodologies may adversely affect the learning on the part of the students [ 17 , 18 ] and therefore, tailoring instruction methods to the students’ learning style preferences is advocated [ 18 ].

Providing training and opportunities to the medical educators to develop an understanding of the students’ learning style preferences can result in a greater comprehension and consideration of the unique learning needs of each student who is under their tutelage. Correlating the students’ learning style preferences and instructional needs can assist the teachers in using appropriate teaching-learning instructional practices and it can also provide personalized interventions for enhancing the learning.

One of the limitations of the study was its relatively small sample size. For this reason, these findings cannot be generalized to all the medical students. Secondly, like any other learning style inventory, VARK analyzes only one aspect of the learning style.

In future, further studies need to be conducted to a. study the correlation between the performances and the learning styles of students, b. find out whether the learning styles of the students change as they progress from the pre-clinical phase to the clinical phase of the curriculum.

CONCLUSIONS

The knowledge on the learning styles has implications for both the medical teachers and the students. The students identify their learning preferences, which can help them in using the appropriate learning strategies and as a result, they are more likely to become lifelong self directed learners and to maximize their true potential. The teachers become aware of the students’ learning styles and they can therefore incorporate teaching-learning strategies which are tailored to meet the students’ learning preferences. This would not only create an efficient learning environment, but it would also motivate the students to achieve academic success.

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• Welcome to this free course on 'General Teaching M...
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• Acknowledgements & references
• Course guide
• TOPIC 1 - QUIZ
• TOPIC 2 - QUIZ
• TOPIC 3 - QUIZ
• TOPIC 4 - QUIZ
• TOPIC 5 - QUIZ
• Introduction
• 1.1 DEFINITIONS, TYPES & PROCESSES OF LEARNING
• What is learning
• Behaviourism
• Constructivism
• Social-constructivism
• Cognitivism
• Conclusion on learning theories
• 1.2 LEARNING STYLES
• Introduction to learning styles
• Overview of learning styles
• Interpersonal learners
• Intrapersonal learners
• Kinesthetic learners
• Verbal learners
• Visual learners
• Logical learners
• Auditory learners
• Identifying learning styles
• 1.3 LEVELS OF COGNITION
• Introduction to Bloom's taxonomy
• How Bloom’s Taxonomy is useful for teachers
• 2.1 FOUNDATION AND RATIONALE
• Introduction to Active Teaching and Learning
• Defining Active Teaching and Learning
• Rationale for Active Teaching and Learning
• 2.2 METHODS, TECHNIQUES & TOOLS
• METHODS FOR ACTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING
• Problem-based learning
• Project-based learning
• Learning stations
• Learning contracts
• TECHNIQUES FOR ACTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING
• Demonstration

Presentation

• Brainstorming
• Storytelling
• TOOLS FOR ACTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING
• Low cost experiments
• Charts and maps
• Student portfolio
• 2.3 BARRIES IN INTEGRATING ACTIVE TEACHING
• Identifying Barriers
• 3.1 INTRODUCTION TO CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION
• Defining classroom management
• The role of the teacher
• Defining classroom organization
• Classroom seating arrangement
• Overview of classroom seating arrangement styles
• Benefits of effective classroom management and organization
• 3.2 STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
• The teacher as a model
• Desired learner behaviour
• Rewarding learners
• Types of rewards
• Reinforcing learners
• Delivering a reinforcement
• 3.3 LESSON PLANNING
• Definition of a lesson plan
• Components of a lesson plan
• 4.1 INTRODUCTION TO ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
• Definition of assessment
• Formative vs. summative assessment
• Assessment for learning
• Assessment vs. evaluation
• 4.2 CLASS ASSESSMENT TOOLS
• Assessment rubrics
• Self-assessment
• Peer-assessment
• 4.3 REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
• Definition of reflective practice
• The reflective cycle
• 5.1 CONCEPT OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
• Introduction to teaching and learning materials
• Purpose of teaching and learning materials
• 5.2 TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
• Traditional and innovative resources
• Screencasts
• Educational videos
• Educational posters
• Open Educational Resources (OERs)
• 5.3 CHOOSING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
• Integrating instructional materials
• Factors to consider when selecting instructional materials

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General Teaching Methods

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A presentation delivers content through oral, audio and visual channels allowing teacher-learner interaction and making the learning process more attractive. Through presentations, teachers can clearly introduce difficult concepts by illustrating the key principles and by engaging the audience in active discussions. When presentations are designed by learners, their knowledge sharing competences, their communication skills and their confidence are developed.

• Define the objectives of the presentation in accordance to the lesson plan (lesson planning)
• Prepare the structure of the presentation, including text, illustrations and other content (lesson planning)
• Set up and test the presentation equipment and provide a conducive seating arrangement and environment for the audience (lesson planning)
• Invite the audience to reflect on the presentation and give feedback (lesson delivery)
• After the presentation, propose activities or tasks to check the learners’ understanding
• Use Mentimeter for interactive presentations and to get instant feedback from your audience (consult this written tutorial on how to use Mentimeter).
• An infographic; graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge, is an innovative way to present. Use the digital tool Canva to create your own infographics (consult this  written tutorial  on how to use Canva).
• Use Google Slides or the Microsoft software PowerPoint , to easily create digital presentations.
• The purpose of a presentation is to visually reinforce what you are saying. Therefore the text should contain few words and concise ideas organised in bullet-point.
• Support your text using images .
• Provide time for reflection and interaction between the presenter and the audience, for example by using  Mentimeter .

    Techniques/ Demonstration                                                                Techniques/ Brainstorming

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Teaching Learning Methods

• Open Access
• First Online: 23 November 2019

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• Ane Landøy   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8589-2789 4 ,
• Daniela Popa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4538-7136 5 &
• Angela Repanovici   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8748-5332 6  

Part of the book series: Springer Texts in Education ((SPTE))

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After completing this learning unit, you will be able to:

Identify the characteristics of each method;

Differentiate between types of teaching and learning methods;

Argue the necessity of the adequacy of a didactic method to the proposed learning approach.

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• Active-participatory teaching methods
• Graphical viewing methods
• Metacognition facilitation methods

Problem solving methods

In this chapter we present an overview of pedagogical perspective from which we interpreted teaching information literacy. In order to achieve an effective teaching, we combined the techniques and methods considered classic with the modern ones (Blummer 2009 ). But the literature highlights that not only the technical aspects of a training determine the achievement of educational goals (Mackey and Jacobson  2007 ; Harkins et al. 2011 ). The human resource is a very important factor. Thus we believe that team teaching (teacher and librarian), creating a curriculum designed by a team of specialists information literacy, librarians and experts in teaching and learning are essential to achieve effective teaching learning. This belief was the basis of the collaboration between the authors of this book, combining the different areas of expertise to produce a product that can be considered, hopefully, a useful help to the trainer.

The way we teach is influenced by the way we perceive learning. Learning theories are closely related to IQ theories. The latter highlights the existence of a general intelligence that determines the level of development of learning capacity (Muijs and Reynolds 2017 ) as well as the existence of multiple intelligences (Gardner 1987 ).

One of the most popular classifications of learning theories has as a main criterion the historical period in which these theories and paradigms of psychology emerged. From this point of view, we group the theories of learning into: behavioural, cognitive, humanistic, and constructivist.

The functions that these theories fulfil are:

Informational, referential , giving an overview of the described reality;

Explanatory trying to answer the question of why the phenomenon of learning occurs;

Predictive or anticipatory through which can be predicted phenomena that cannot be explained in themselves;

Systematisers summarising a substantial amount of information in order to make theoretical generalisations; and

Praxiological, normative and prescriptive allowing practitioners to use certain methodological guidelines (Panţuru 2010 ).

Learning patterns are derived from learning theories. The most discussed are: behavioural models, the direct training model, models centred on information processing, person-centred models, models centred on a social dimension, the mastery learning model, and the modular approach model.

Training models guide the manner of implementing of teaching strategies. Didactical or Educational Strategies are those that designate the manner of pedagogical action, in order to achieve predetermined goals. Depending on the scope of the concept, we find the existence of two types of strategies: the macro type (developed for medium and long time periods) and the micro type (built for short time periods).

Structurally, teaching strategies consist of:

Models of learning experiences;

Learners’ learning styles;

Learner motivation for learning;

Methods and training procedures used in the didactic approach ;

The resources available for education;

Specific information content;

Particularities of learning tasks;

Forms of organising the teaching activity; and

Type of assessment considered (Bocos and Jucan 2008 ).

10.1 Teaching Strategies

Teaching strategies become appropriate to an educational approach by choosing them according to certain criteria such as:

The pedagogical conception of the teacher dependent on the paradigms on which he bases his opinions;

The pedagogical conception of the historical period to which reference is made, the trends in pedagogical practice;

Didactic principles that delineate the educational process;

Competencies to be developed;

Age and pupil’s level of schooling;

Informational specific of the specialised discipline;

Psychosocial characteristics of the group or class of students;

The time set for achieving the objectives; and

The specificity of the school unit to which the class or group of students belongs.

By degree of generality :

General strategies (used in multiple learning situations or school disciplines); and

Particular strategies (specific to less generalisable approaches, to specific disciplines);

According to the field of predominant instructional activities and the nature of operational objectives (Iucu 2005 ):

Cognitive strategies;

Psychomotor or action strategies;

Emotional strategies; and

Mixed strategies;

By the logic and strategies of student’s thinking (Cerghit 2002 ):

Inductive strategies;

Deductive strategies (axiomatic);

Analogue strategies;

Transductive strategies; and

By the level of directive/non-directive of learning :

Algorithmic/prescriptive strategies :

Explanatory-reproductive (expositive);

Explanatory-intuitive (demonstrative);

Algorithmic; and

Programmed;

Heuristic/non-algorithmic strategies :

Explanatory-investigatory (semi-disciplined discovery);

Conversation-heuristic;

Independent discovery;

Problematised;

Investigative observation;

Inductive-experimental; and

Mixed strategies (Bocos and Jucan 2008 )

Algoritmico-heuristic.

10.2 Methods and Training Procedures

The methods and the training procedures used in the didactic approach are elements of a didactic strategy. Although many other structural elements of educational strategy are equally important, field practitioners tend to focus especially on didactic methods as the visible part of the didactic iceberg. We intended to invite the reader of this paper to reflection, presenting very briefly some of the most well-known didactic strategies to discover the importance and interdependence of each element of the strategy with the others.

The method is a term of Greek origin “methodos” (“metha” translating to through and “odos” meaning direction, road ), namely it can be translated by the phrase “the way to”. The didactic method is a way through which the teacher conducts and organises the training of the trainees.

We define the method as “the assembly or the system of processes or modes of execution of the operations involved in the learning process, integrated into a single flow of action, in order to achieve the objectives proposed” (Cerghit 2006 , p. 46). The degree of freedom and of directing depends on the pedagogical conception at the core of the pedagogical approach.

It is recommended that the choice of teaching-learning methods to be made according to training objectives, the skills of the trainees and trainer and the information content to be mastered.

At present, pedagogues prefer less structured approaches, ambiguous contexts that allow students to discover by themselves the most appropriate way to introduce new information into their own knowledge systems. Although this orientation is predominant, the student-centered curriculum, literature is abundant in studies that still call into question a student centered approach (Garrett 2008 ; Sawant and Rizvi 2015 ; Jacobs et al. 2016 ).

The functions which teaching-learning methods carry out are:

The cognitive function , representing the way of access to knowledge, and information, necessary for its plenary development;

The formative-educational function through exercising skills, certain motor and psychic functions at the same time as discovering scientific facts;

The motivational function inspiring the student, transforming the learning activity into an attractive, stimulating activity;

The instrumental function allows the method to be positioned between the objectives and the results of the didactic activity, being a working tool, a means to efficiently achieve the plan and achieve the intended purpose; and

The normative function of optimising action is highlighted by the prescriptions, rules and phases that the method brings in achieving the objective (Cerghit 2006 ).

10.2.1 The Relationship Between the Method and Procedure

Some of the constituent elements of the methods are training procedures. These are required operations chained into a hierarchical and logical structure to ensure the effectiveness of the teaching method. Between the method and procedure there are subordinate relationships, with structural and functional connotations. Sometimes a method can become a procedure if it is used for a short period of time. A relevant example is that of the explanation method. Rarely, the method is used as the main approach of a lesson, but often, regardless of the method used, we use explanation in a training process.

10.3 Classifications of Teaching—Learning Methods

There are various classifications in the literature according to different criteria. Due to the multiple functions that methods can perform as well as the different variants they may have, the rankings in certain categories are relative. Thus, a method may belong to different categories, depending on classification criteria. The most popular classifications have as main criteria: the person/persons on whom the teaching activity is centered, the type of training/lesson, the type of activity predominantly targeted, the degree of activism/passivity of the pupils, the preponderant means of communication (oral, written).

We continue by presenting a classification of teaching and learning methods, which contains examples of methods in certain categories, without claiming to be exhaustive.

By the criterion of the persons on whom the teaching activity is centered or by degree of student activity:

Centred on the teacher—expository methods :

Lecture/exposure;

Story telling;

Explanation; or

Instruction.

Focused on the interaction between teacher and student

Conversation;

Collective discussion;

Problem solving;

Troubleshooting;

Demonstration;

Case analysis or study; or

Didactic game.

Student centred or active-participatory methods :

Methods of organising information and graphic visualisation:

Cube method;

Method of mosaic or reciprocal teaching;

Conceptual map;

Diagrams; or

Training on simulator.

Methods of stimulating creativity:

Brainstorming;

Philips 6–6;

6/3/5 Technique;

SINECTICA; or

Panel discussions.

Methods to facilitate metacognition:

The Know/Want/Learn method;

Reflective reading;

Walking through the pictures; or

The Learning Log.

10.4 Descriptions of the Methods Used in the Examples in Previous Chapters

Expository Methods :

It is considered a traditional, verbal, and exponential didactic method. Although some authors treat the lecture differently from exposure, the great similarities between them lead us to treat them together. Pedagogical practice highlights several forms of lecture according to the age of educators, their life experience, exposure time and scientific discipline: school lecture story, explanation, university lecture, lecture with opponent, and lecture—debate.

Except for the lecture with an opponent, the method involves passing a consistent volume of information in a verbal form in a monologue from the teacher to the students. As it generates a high degree of passivity among students, exposure methods have been strongly criticised but have also experienced improvements following these criticisms.

The school lecture requires the presentation of a series of ideas, theories, interpretations of scientific aspects, allowing the formation of a coherent image of the designated reality.

The story is used predominantly in educational contexts where trainees have limited life experience. It consists in presenting the information in a narrative form, respecting a sequence of events.

The explanation is an presentation in which rational logical reasoning is obvious, clarifying blocks of information such as theorems, or scientific laws.

The university lecture focuses more on descriptive—explanatory presentation of the results of recent scientific research, due to the fact that the particularities of the age and the level of education of the participants is different. The time allocated to it is longer than for the other exposure methods.

Lecture with an opponent involves the intervention of another teacher or a well-informed student by asking questions or requesting additional information. It creates an effect as in a role play that ensures dynamism of presentation.

The lecture—the debate is based on the teacher’s presentation of essential information and its deepening through debate with the students. The success of the method is requires that the target audience should have a minimum knowledge in advance.

In an attempt to reduce its limits, several conditions have been observed to achieve a high level of efficiency:

Information content should be logically connected, essentialised, without redundant information;

The quantity of information is appropriate to the psycho-pedagogical peculiarities of the educated;

Use examples to connect theory to practice;

Use language appropriate to the audience’s competency, explaining less-known scientific terms;

Maintaining an optimal verbal rhythm (approximately 60–70 words per minute) and an intensity adapted to the particularities of the audience;

Increased attention to expressive elements of verbal and nonverbal communication;

Maintaining visual contact with the public, adjusting speech according to their reactions;

Use of means of scientific expression to help communication (diagrams, schemes, or semantic maps);

Providing recapitulative loops to maintain the logical connection of ideas; and

Providing breaks or alternating scientific discourse with less formal or fun aspects that allow defocusing and refocusing the audience’s attention.

Advantages of a lecture :

A consistent amount of knowledge can be transmitted within a relatively short time frame;

Stimulates curiosity and stimulates pupils’ interest in the subject;

It presents a coherent presentation model and manner to systematise a theme and organise information;

Pupils know modalities to express and express themselves; and

Students can receive additional information that helps explain the interpretation of a scientific reality.

Disadvantages of lecture :

Presents fewer formative and more informative links;

Generates passivity among students;

Mild loss of attention and boredom;

Does not allow individualising the pedagogical discourse;

Induces a high degree of uniformity in behaviour; and

Few opportunities to check understanding of the discourse.

Conversation

Conversation consists in the didactic use of the questions through in-depth examination of a theme, capitalising on pupils’ answers in order to develop the logical reasoning of thinking. The conversation has several forms including: heuristic, examiner, collective discussion, and debate.

In its application, it is necessary to observe several conditions for the method to be considered effective. Thus, the teacher must ensure a socio-emotional climate appropriate to the conversation that will follow, to raise interest in the subject to be debated, to manage the number of participants in the discussion (maximum 20 people are considered optimal), and to allow each member to express their opinion. If the number of participants is higher, it is recommended to build several smaller discussion groups. The teacher will pay attention to the ergonomics of the space, facilitating the settlement of people in a way that they can communicate easily. The arrangement of the participants in a circle is preferable. Also, the teacher will assign the role of discussion moderator, will temper the tendencies of some to monopolise discussions and stimulate the involvement of the more reserved. Students will know the topic under discussion, they will be taught to present ideas in a smooth, appropriate way and allow others to express themselves. The teacher will also give importance to time, so that all the topics proposed are discussed.

Requirements for Formulating Questions :

To be correctly expressed, logically and grammatically;

The question contains limited content in need of clarifications, to be precise;

Questions can be varied: some claiming data, names, definitions, explanations, others expressing problematic situations;

Giving the necessary thinking time, depending on the difficulty of the questions; and

Students will be stimulated to ask questions that require complex answers, avoiding those which suggest the answer or have closed answers (yes/no).

Response Form Requirements :

Be grammatically and logically correct, regardless of the school discipline in which it is formulated;

The answer is as complete as possible and appropriate to the question; and

Avoid fragmented, or vague responses.

The heuristic , Socratic, mauvetic conversation was designed to lead to the “discovery” of something new for the learner. Presumes related series of questions and answers at the end of which to shape out, as a conclusion, new scientific facts for the student. Essential in this method is combining questions and answers in compact structures, each new question having as its origin or starting point the answer to the previous question. A disadvantage in its application is the conditioning of a pupil’s knowledge experience, which allows the formulation of answers necessary to the questions that are addressed to him.

Advantages of using the method :

Flexibility of logical operations, hypothetical-deductive reasoning of thinking;

Developing the vocabulary, organising ideas in elevated communication structures;

Forming a personal communication style.

Disadvantages of using the method :

It is dependent on the student’s previous knowledge and experience;

Lack of interest on certain topics may generate passivism or negativity;

Difficulty in involving all participants;

Some important aspects may remain undiscussed.

Methods of Direct and Indirect Exploration

Exercise Method

The method aims to obtain a high level of skill in the use of algorithms, to form or to strengthen a skill or ability. It can apply to any school discipline. The method consists of performing a repetitive and conscious action to learn a performance model or to automate the steps required to achieve high performance.

Depending on the form criterion of the exercise, they may be: oral, written or practical. Given their purpose and complexity, one can distinguish between exercises: introductory (done with the teacher), to consolidate a model of reasoning or movement (performed under the supervision of the teacher or independently), exercises with the role of integrating information, skills and abilities into ever larger systems, creative exercises or heuristics.

In order to achieve the optimal exercise, it is necessary to comply with certain conditions such as:

Conscious and correct assimilation of the model;

Using exercises that vary in form, to avoid negative emotions and stiffness;

Observing the didactic principle of grading the difficulty as far as mastering the previous levels;

(Self) applying corrective feed back immediately; and

Use an optimal number of exercises.

Advantages of using the method

The method allows the formation of skills or their consolidation in the shortest possible time, avoiding learning by trial and error. It produces positive emotional states due to satisfaction through success. Generates growth at a motivational level. It may be the basis for the formation of perseverance and will.

Disadvantages of using the method

It can generate rigidity in learning behaviour, stagnation in learning. If different forms of exercise are not used, it will cause fatigue, the impossibility of identifying similar structures that require the same type of exercises. Not scheduling learning can lead to adverse effects on the maintenance of new information, knowledge or formed skills.

Demonstration

The method consists in condensing the information that the student receives into a concrete object, a concrete action, or the substitution of objects, actions or phenomena.

Demonstration with objects involves the use of natural materials (rocks, plants, chemicals) in an appropriate educational context (used in a laboratory or natural environment). This type of demonstration is extremely convincing due to the direct, unmediated character of the lesson.

Demonstration with actions consists of a concrete example, not “mimed” by the teacher, along with the teacher’s explanations, followed by student practice.

Demonstration with substitutes (maps, casts, sheets, three-dimensional materials) is required when the object, the phenomenon we want to explain, is not directly accessible.

Combined demonstration —demonstration through experiences (combination of the above). One form of combined demonstration is that of a didactic drawing, combining the demonstration with action with that with a substitute.

Demonstration by technical means using multimedia, audio-visual means, highlighting aspects impossible or difficult to reproduce in another context and that can be repeated many times.

The method requires certain conditions for organising the space where the demonstrations take place (such as opaque curtains, lab, or niche.); special training for the teacher in maintaining the equipment, devices, materials used for this purpose.

Access to concrete objects or phenomena that cannot be accessed within limits of time and space;

Using substitutes simplifies, through visualising or schematising, the understanding of the composition of objects or phenomena;

Can be used for a long time;

The use of substitutes or technical means is less expensive than originals; and

Some aspects of reality cannot be reduced to be explained in a teaching environment.

The lack of correlation of this method with the modeling and the exercise may lead to didactic inefficiency;

Requires special technical equipment;

Students receive ready-made knowledge, thus not practising independent thinking;

Use of complicated procedures and pretentious language can distract the student from the essence of the activity.

This method can be used to deliver effective models (a simplified reproduction of the original) of action or thought. Uses several procedures:

Changing the dimensions of natural aspects to a usable scale (models, casts);

Concretising abstract notions (use of objects or forms to understand the figures);

Abstraction (rendering by numerical and/ or letter formulas of certain categories of objects, actions); and

Analogy (creating a new object comparable to the structure or functionality of a similar object).

Using the model involves activating/energising the student; and

Allows an efficient way of action.

Can form rigid behaviours; and

Insufficient practice of divergent thinking.

The Cube Method

The cube model is ideal for exercising students’ analysis capabilities and exploring multiple dimensions of a subject’s interpretation. It is based on an algorithm with the following sequences: description, comparison, analysis, association, application and discussion. It is ideal for usage by sub-groups or pairs of students.

It is done on a cube that on each of whose faces one of the following operations can be written: describes, compares, analyses, associates, applies, or discusses. It is recommended that the sides of the cube are covered in the above mentioned order, following the steps from simple to complex. If the method is applied to groups of students experienced in the use of such methods, each subgroup, team, or pair may receive a random assignment from the ones listed above.

The topic of the lesson or the issue to be analysed is announced. Six activity teams are formed, the activity procedure will be explained. Specify the task of each team, starting from the subject under consideration, the study material shared by all groups. The order of the stages will be kept, therefore: the first team will describe the subject matter in question; the second will compare the subject with that previously learned; the third will associate the central concept with the other; the fourth will analyse the phenomenon, the discussed subject matter, insisting on highlighting the details; the fifth team will highlight the applicability of the theme; and the sixth will discuss cons or pros.

The teams will present the results of their work, they will fill in new details that come up after the discussions. A variation of the method requires that the presentation of the contents of each team to be done within six minutes, giving one minute for each face of the cube. The results are displayed or recorded on the board to be commented by all participants (Fig.  10.1 ).

The advantages of this method are the demand for attention and thought, giving students the opportunity to develop the skills needed for a complex and integrative approach. Individual work, working in teams or the participation of the whole class in meeting the requirements of the cube is a challenge and results in a race to prove correct and complete assimilation of knowledge.

Requires more rigorous and lengthy training; may not be used in any lessons; information content is smaller; requires increased attention of students; and their ability to make connections and find the answers themselves.

The Mosaic Method

The method is based on group cooperative learning and teaching the acquisition of each team member to each other (intertwining individual and team learning). The mosaic is a method that builds confidence in the participants’ own strengths; develops communication skills (listening and speaking); reflection; creative thinking; problem solving; and cooperation.

Steps in engaging the activity

The teacher asks for the formation of teams of four students. Each team member receives a number from one to four. Students are grouped according to the received numbers. They are cautioned not to forget the composition of the original groups. Newly formed teams receive personalised cards that contain parts of larger material (the material has as many parts as the groups are formed). The teacher explains the topic to be addressed. Expert groups analyse the material received, consult each other and decide how to present the information to the members of the original groups.

Experts return to the initial teams and teach the information to others. If, until this stage, the teacher has only the role of monitoring the work of the groups, he can now intervene, clarifying unclear aspects. Teaching will be done in the logical order of material distribution that must coincide with scientific logic. At the end of the activity, a systematisation of the acquired knowledge will be presented before all the groups. The teacher can ask questions to discover the level of understanding the information studied.

All students contribute to the task. Students practise active listening and cooperate in solving requests. They are also encouraged to discover the most appropriate means of transmitting information and explaining to colleagues. Students are trained in the efficient organisation of working time. Students have freedom to choose their method of learning and teaching colleagues.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the method is the high cost of time. There is a risk that some groups may not finish their tasks in a timely manner and slow the activity of the whole group. It is also possible to generate formalism with pupils being superficially involved in didactic activity.

The best-known methods in this category are questioning, problem solving, and learning through discovery. They are based on the creation of a situation, or structures with insufficient data that give rise either to a socio-cognitive conflict, or a cognitive dissonance where the knowledge previously acquired by the student is insufficient or incomplete to solve the difficulty or a problem situation in which the student must apply his knowledge under new conditions. The problem-solving approach is a context in which the student learns something new.

In order for students to become consciously and positively involved in a problematic situation, they must be trained gradually in this educational approach. The teacher is responsible for explaining the problematic situation and providing guidance in solving it. Students, in their problem solving effort: analyse the problem’s data; select significant details; find correlations between data; use creative imagination; build solutions; and choose the right solution.

Stimulates students’ interest;

Exercises the operating schemes of thinking; and

Stimulates creativity.

Problems may be inadequate for the level of cognitive development and level of student knowledge, thus causing students to withdraw from such situations.

Methods of Information Management and Graphics Visualization :

Conceptual Map

Being able to make connections between acquired knowledge, to organise it in a well-defined structure is just as important as having a lot of complex information. Conceptual maps or cognitive maps are graphical renderings of an information system or concepts in a hierarchical or logical order. They can be used in all three processes: teaching, learning, or evaluation. Depending on the particularities of the trainees and the specificity of the educational discipline, the conceptual maps may be different. For conceptual schematics, circles, stars, and cottages can be used. Single or bidirectional arrows or lines can represent connections. A conceptual map contains at most one or two main themes, 10–15 subtopics, and tertiary subtitles, if there are significant details supporting the structure or relevant examples. The first concepts that are plotted, as well as the relationships between them, are the main ones, then the secondary ones are drawn. If needed, the tertiary ones are drawn. Then the relationships are drawn between them, and words can be used to explain relationships (they are written on the arrows).

It is important to get students to work with them because their construction involves the practice of cognitive operations such as: analysis, synthesis, comparison, systematisation, classification, hierarchy, argumentation, and evaluation. By building these maps, the student actively participates in their own training, seizing the structures that further develop the strength of the links between knowledge, and learning much more easily. Conceptual maps facilitate easy updating of information systems.

In evaluating conceptual charts, account will be taken of the correctness of concepts, the relevance of those identified and the relationships established between them.

Facilitates the storage and updating of information systems;

Visual memory is exercised;

The imagination, and creativity is exercised;

Forms logical thinking;

Usable in several school subjects;

Can be a pleasant and coherent way of systematisation, and consolidation of knowledge; and

Are flexible structures that can undergo improvements, and enrichments.

Requires a high degree of activism and involvement of student’s in their training;

May require mental effort too demanding for some students; and

Those with a visual learning style are advantaged.

Venn Diagram

This method calls for students’ analysis and comparison capabilities, asking for the graphical organisation of information in two partially superimposed circles, which represent two notions, aspects, ideas, processes, or facts to be debated (Marzano 2015 ). In the overlapping area, the common attributes of the analysed concepts are placed, and in the free parts will be placed the aspects specific only to each concept. They are useful in all stages of the learning process: teaching, learning, and evaluation. Two types of Venn diagrams are commonly used: linear and stack.

Venn linear :

See Fig.  10.2 .

Venn linear

Venn in stack :

See Fig.  10.3 .

Develops the ability to hierarchise concepts;

Practice ability to grasp relationships between related issues; and

Exercises the ability to reason.

The Grape Bunches Method

“The grape bunches” method aims to integrate past knowledge and fill it with new information. It is a method that can be used both individually and in groups. It is also a technique that allows connections to be made between concepts. It is useful in recapitulative tasks or knowledge building lessons, in summative assessment of a unit of learning but also in teaching new content, because it allows students to think freely. It can be combined with other techniques or become a technique in another method.

The method involves several distinct steps:

Students are informed that they will use the bunch method and how to use it;

Groups will be formed, if it is a group activity;

The group designates the member who will build the clusters or if the activity is carried out individually, each one will draw the diagram;

If the activity is from the front, then the teacher will draw the diagram on the blackboard;

The teacher presents the key concept that will be analysed. He presents the chosen way of work, either by free expression or by updating previous contents. The teacher asks students to make connections between the concepts, phrases or ideas produced by the key term or central issue through lines or arrows, thus building up the cluster structure;

If it is a pairactivity, desk mates or teams will consult and work out the result of their work; and

The final results are discussed in front of the class, a question mark is added to incorrect concepts, necessary explanations are given and the final result is corrected. Also, trainees are invited to create new connections with aspects not taken into discussion.

The role of the teacher is to organise, monitor and support students’ work, to synthesise the information they receive, to ask questions and request additional information and to stimulate the production of new links between concepts or new ideas.

Developing cognitive capabilities for interpretation, identification, classification and definition;

Develop reflection, evaluation and self-assessment capabilities;

The method encourages the participation of all students;

Evaluate each student’s way of thinking;

Stimulates students to make connections between concepts;

It is a flexible method because it can be used successfully to evaluate a content unit, but also during teaching;

Stimulates student’s logical thinking;

Increases learning efficiency (students can learn from each other); and

The method helps the teacher to assess the extent to where students are relative to curriculum standards (Fig.  10.4 ).

Bunch method

Students can deviate from the topic discussed since it is a method that is based on creativity;

The method takes a long time to process ideas; and

There is a possibility for each student not to actively participate.

Tree Schemes

These may be horizontal or vertical. Among the horizontal ones we mention: horizontal cause—effect type; situation—problem—explanation type; and classification type. Some of the best-known vertical tree schemes are Tree of Ideas and Concept Tree.

Starbursting

The method is considered a method of information management and graphic visualisation. It is a useful method in problem solving and one to stimulate the creativity of the trainers, similar to brainstorming. The difference is in the organisation of known information according to some key questions.

Write the issue or concept that will be debated on a whiteboard or flip chart and frame in a star. The teacher adds as many questions as possible to that concept. Each question will be framed in one star. Initial questions used will be essential questions, such as: who; what; when; where; and why; which may then give rise to other complex questions (Fig.  10.5 ).

Starbursting method

Proposing the problem, and the concept;

Organising the class in several subgroups, each of them stating the problem on a sheet of paper;

The elaboration in each group of a list of various questions related to the issue to be discussed;

Communicating the results of the group activity; and

Highlighting the most interesting questions and appreciating teamwork.

This is a method considered by students to be relaxing and enjoyable;

Stimulates individual and group creativity, the manifestation of spontaneity;

It is easy to apply, suitable for many types of student groups with different psychoindividual characteristics;

It develops the spirit of cooperation;

It creates the possibility of contagion of ideas;

Develops teamwork skills;

Stimulation of all participants in the discussion; and

There is no need for elaborate explanations, as it is very easy to understand by all students.

It takes a long time for application; and

Lack of involvement from some students.

Methods to Facilitate Metacognition :

The “I Know/I Want to Know/I Learned” method

The method consists in valuing previous experience of the subject matter and discussing the prerequisites. The premise behind this method is to reconsider students’ previous or pre-requisite knowledge when introducing new insights. It can also be an excellent formative assessment of the lesson, an instrument for stimulating metacognition, but also a means for the teacher to get feedback on the understanding of new knowledge by students.

Method of implementation:

Presentation of the theme of the activity;

Dividing the class of students into sub-groups;

The teacher distributes the support sheets and asks students to inventory everything they know about the subject;

Students fill in the columns “KNOWN” and “WANT TO KNOW” of the worksheet table. In the column “KNOWN”, students will add all known aspects related to the subject matter under discussion. In the column “WANT TO KNOW”, those questions that arise in relation to the subject under consideration will be passed. Questions are identified as having an important role in guiding and personalising reading;

Individual reading of the text;

Fill in the column “LEARNED” in close connection with previously asked questions, highlighting those who receive such an answer;

In the next step, students will compare the results of the three analysis fields; and

Final discussions and drawing conclusions in a plenary.

Active reading from students;

Development and exercise categorisation capacity;

Increasing the motivation of students to engage in activity;

Stimulating students’ creativity; and

Good retention of the information presented during the course.

Difficulties can arise in formulating proper questions about the topic being debated;

The teacher must exercise the roles of organizer and facilitator in order for the activity to be accomplished and to achieve its objectives; and

May be demanding and tiring for younger participants.

Methods of Stimulating Creativity :

Brainstorming

The method stimulates students’ productivity and creativity. The basic principle of the method is “quantity generates quality”. By using this method students are encouraged and requested to participate actively avoiding the beaten path. Brainstorming facilitates exercising capabilities to critically analyse real situations, a random association that allows discovering unpredictable sources of inspiration, and making decisions about choosing the most appropriate solutions. This way, creativity is practised and allows a person to express himself genuinely. It has a beneficial effect on interpersonal relationships among the group of students.

The method’s steps:

The theme is chosen and the task is announced;

Students are asked to express as quickly, as concisely as possible all ideas as they come to their mind in solving a problem situation. They can associate with the ideas of their colleagues; they can take over, complete or transform their ideas. Any kind of criticism is prohibited, not to inhibit creative effort. The principle governing activity is “quantity generates quality”;

All ideas are recorded;

Leave a few minutes to “settle” ideas that were given and received;

The ideas issued are repeated, and students build criteria to assemble concepts given by categories, and key words;

The class of students is divided into subgroups, according to ideas, for debate. A variation at this stage is a debate in a large group, critically analysing and evaluating ideas; and

The results of each subgroup are communicated in varied and original forms such as: schemes, verbal constructions, images, songs, mosaic, and role-plays.

It stimulates creativity;

The development of critical thinking and the ability to argue;

The development communication skills;

Active participation of all students/learners;

Low application costs, broad applicability;

Enhancing the self-confidence and the spirit of initiative of a student; and

The development of a positive educational climate.

Time-consuming;

Success of the method depends on the moderator’s ability to lead the discussion in the desired direction;

It can be tedious and demanding for the participants; and

It proposes possible solutions to solve the problem, not an effective solution.

Applications/Exercises

Write a short essay on the subject: Didactic methods between normality and creativity .

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Landøy, A., Popa, D., Repanovici, A. (2020). Teaching Learning Methods. In: Collaboration in Designing a Pedagogical Approach in Information Literacy. Springer Texts in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34258-6_10

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > Creating Presentations to Connect with Each Type of Learner

Creating Presentations to Connect with Each Type of Learner

When you’re presenting a topic to an audience, you want to ensure that it resonates with your entire audience. However, adults have different learning styles that affect how they absorb information. By understanding these styles of understanding and retaining information, you can tailor aspects of your presentation to these different kinds of learners to ensure that no one will feel left behind.

How to Craft Presentations that Connect with Different Types of Learners

Each person learns and understands information differently. Imagine that you’ve gotten turned around in an unfamiliar city and need to find your way back to your hotel. If you refer to a map, you might be a visual learner. If you ask for directions, you might be an auditory learner, but if you take the time to write those directions down, you might be a reading/writing learner. If you prefer to wander and find your way on your own, your learning style might be more kinesthetic. While this is a very simple example of different learning styles, it’s easy to see that what works for one person may not work for an entire audience at a presentation.

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Learn more about the different styles of learning and how to tailor your presentations to include each one.

Visual Learners

Use charts, graphics, and videos to appeal to visual learners.

How they learn

A visual learner absorbs and retains information that’s presented visually. If you’re trying to show the relationship between a set of numbers, a chart or a graph is your best bet. In order for you to make an impact on a visual learner, you’ll need to use something other than just words in order for the, to realize the relationships between data and concepts.

Tactics for reaching them

Your presentation should lean on visual aids. A few examples of this include:

• Sharing an outline of what information is going to be covered during the presentation.
• Using graphs and diagrams to present your data.
• Use a bright color scheme that incorporates complementary colors to draw their eye to what you’re sharing.
• Encourage your audience to take notes and write down key facts.
• Visually map out your concepts and connect information with arrows. Infographics are a great tool for this.
• Make your presentation more engaging by embedding videos.

Auditory Learners

Speak loudly and clearly to connect with auditory learners.

In school, the auditory learners in your classes would simply remember everything their teachers said, instead of taking notes. They simply find it easiest to remember information that they hear and may understand and remember knowledge gleaned from lectures, discussions, audiobooks, podcasts, and having a conversation with another person. It may also be normal for an auditory learner to recite facts to themselves as a way to retain information. They may ask repetitive questions as a way to memorize a concept.

Most presentations rely on a speaker sharing information, which is incredibly helpful to an auditory learner. However, there are other ways that you can help them retain the content you’re presenting:

• Record your presentation so that your audience can listen to it again later.
• Move around the room while you’re presenting so that the audience sitting in the back can hear you more clearly.
• Practice your delivery so that you aren’t giving your whole presentation in monotone. Changing your inflection and stressing important words and topics will resonate with auditory learners.
• Embed videos or sound clips into your presentation, which will have the added benefit of reaching visual learners, too.

Reading/Writing Learners

Reading/writing learners will appreciate it if you share your notes after your presentation.

This text-based learning style is popular with teachers and students because it’s all about written words. Those who favor a reading/writing learning style are likely to retain what they read and benefit from information that is presented in a textual format.

Reading/writing learners appreciate a well thought out PowerPoint presentation that thoroughly explains its concepts via text. But you can share information in other ways, too:

• Once you’ve finished discussing a concept, provide an easy to digest summary of the information you’ve shared. You should provide a similar summary at the end of your presentation that mentions all the important points you’ve shared.
• If possible, prepare a transcript of your presentation, or share your slides and notes with your audience.
• Provide note-taking materials like notebooks and pens for your audience to use during the presentation.
• Keep your presentation’s formatting consistent. Don’t switch fonts midway through, it may throw off those who learn by reading.

Kinesthetic Learners

Include a physical element in your presentation for kinesthetic learners.

When some people purchase furniture that requires assembly, they’ll take a close look at the instructions. Kinesthetic learners will throw those instructions away and figure it out as they go. These types of learners absorb information through real life examples and exercises. They appreciate demonstrations, simulations, and experiments. If there is a physical aspect to a learning situation, a kinesthetic learner will benefit from it.

If you’re teaching a kinesthetic learner how to cook a dish, you can put your recipe book away. They’re much more likely retain that dish’s information if they’re allowed to cook alongside you. Tailor your presentations to kinesthetic learners by allowing them to learn from experience with tactics like:

• Physical exercises like role playing to ensure they understand a concept.
• Asking them to write down what they hear.
• Allowing your presentation to have some aspect of physical participation, even it’s as simple as an informal poll involving raised hands.

Not all adults use the same tactics to learn and retain new information. By understanding the various learning styles, you can adjust your presentations to reach your whole audience.

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Blog Beginner Guides

8 Types of Presentations You Should Know [+Examples & Tips]

By Krystle Wong , Aug 11, 2023

From persuasive pitches that influence opinions to instructional demonstrations that teach skills, the different types of presentations serve a unique purpose, tailored to specific objectives and audiences.

Presentations that are tailored to its objectives and audiences are more engaging and memorable. They capture attention, maintain interest and leave a lasting impression. 

Don’t worry if you’re no designer —  Whether you need data-driven visuals, persuasive graphics or engaging design elements, Venngage can empower you to craft presentations that stand out and effectively convey your message.

Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop interface, extensive presentation template library and customizable design options make it a valuable tool for creating slides that align with your specific goals and target audience. 

Click to jump ahead:

8 Different types of presentations every presenter must know

How do i choose the right type of presentation for my topic or audience, types of presentation faq, 5 steps to create a presentation with venngage .

When it comes to presentations, versatility is the name of the game. Having a variety of presentation styles up your sleeve can make a world of difference in keeping your audience engaged. Here are 8 essential presentation types that every presenter should be well-acquainted with:

1. Informative presentation

Ever sat through a presentation that left you feeling enlightened? That’s the power of an informative presentation. 

This presentation style is all about sharing knowledge and shedding light on a particular topic. Whether you’re diving into the depths of quantum physics or explaining the intricacies of the latest social media trends, informative presentations aim to increase the audience’s understanding.

When delivering an informative presentation, simplify complex topics with clear visuals and relatable examples. Organize your content logically, starting with the basics and gradually delving deeper and always remember to keep jargon to a minimum and encourage questions for clarity.

Academic presentations and research presentations are great examples of informative presentations. An effective academic presentation involves having clear structure, credible evidence, engaging delivery and supporting visuals. Provide context to emphasize the topic’s significance, practice to perfect timing, and be ready to address anticipated questions. 

2. Persuasive presentation

If you’ve ever been swayed by a passionate speaker armed with compelling arguments, you’ve experienced a persuasive presentation . 

This type of presentation is like a verbal tug-of-war, aiming to convince the audience to see things from a specific perspective. Expect to encounter solid evidence, logical reasoning and a dash of emotional appeal.

With persuasive presentations, it’s important to know your audience inside out and tailor your message to their interests and concerns. Craft a compelling narrative with a strong opening, a solid argument and a memorable closing. Additionally, use visuals strategically to enhance your points.

Examples of persuasive presentations include presentations for environmental conservations, policy change, social issues and more. Here are some engaging presentation templates you can use to get started with: 

3. Demonstration or how-to presentation

A Demonstration or How-To Presentation is a type of presentation where the speaker showcases a process, technique, or procedure step by step, providing the audience with clear instructions on how to replicate the demonstrated action. 

A demonstrative presentation is particularly useful when teaching practical skills or showing how something is done in a hands-on manner.

These presentations are commonly used in various settings, including educational workshops, training sessions, cooking classes, DIY tutorials, technology demonstrations and more. Designing creative slides for your how-to presentations can heighten engagement and foster better information retention. 

Speakers can also consider breaking down the process into manageable steps, using visual aids, props and sometimes even live demonstrations to illustrate each step. The key is to provide clear and concise instructions, engage the audience with interactive elements and address any questions that may arise during the presentation.

4. Training or instructional presentation

Training presentations are geared towards imparting practical skills, procedures or concepts — think of this as the more focused cousin of the demonstration presentation. 

Whether you’re teaching a group of new employees the ins and outs of a software or enlightening budding chefs on the art of soufflé-making, training presentations are all about turning novices into experts.

To maximize the impact of your training or instructional presentation, break down complex concepts into digestible segments. Consider using real-life examples to illustrate each point and create a connection. 

You can also create an interactive presentation by incorporating elements like quizzes or group activities to reinforce understanding.

5. Sales presentation

Sales presentations are one of the many types of business presentations and the bread and butter of businesses looking to woo potential clients or customers. With a sprinkle of charm and a dash of persuasion, these presentations showcase products, services or ideas with one end goal in mind: sealing the deal.

A successful sales presentation often has key characteristics such as a clear value proposition, strong storytelling, confidence and a compelling call to action. Hence, when presenting to your clients or stakeholders, focus on benefits rather than just features. 

Anticipate and address potential objections before they arise and use storytelling to showcase how your offering solves a specific problem for your audience. Utilizing visual aids is also a great way to make your points stand out and stay memorable.

A sales presentation can be used to promote service offerings, product launches or even consultancy proposals that outline the expertise and industry experience of a business. Here are some template examples you can use for your next sales presentation:

6. Pitch presentation

Pitch presentations are your ticket to garnering the interest and support of potential investors, partners or stakeholders. Think of your pitch deck as your chance to paint a vivid picture of your business idea or proposal and secure the resources you need to bring it to life. 

Business presentations aside, individuals can also create a portfolio presentation to showcase their skills, experience and achievements to potential clients, employers or investors. 

Craft a concise and compelling narrative. Clearly define the problem your idea solves and how it stands out in the market. Anticipate questions and practice your answers. Project confidence and passion for your idea.

7. Motivational or inspirational presentation

Feeling the need for a morale boost? That’s where motivational presentations step in. These talks are designed to uplift and inspire, often featuring personal anecdotes, heartwarming stories and a generous serving of encouragement.

Form a connection with your audience by sharing personal stories that resonate with your message. Use a storytelling style with relatable anecdotes and powerful metaphors to create an emotional connection. Keep the energy high and wrap up your inspirational presentations with a clear call to action.

Inspirational talks and leadership presentations aside, a motivational or inspirational presentation can also be a simple presentation aimed at boosting confidence, a motivational speech focused on embracing change and more.

8. Status or progress report presentation

Projects and businesses are like living organisms, constantly evolving and changing. Status or progress report presentations keep everyone in the loop by providing updates on achievements, challenges and future plans. It’s like a GPS for your team, ensuring everyone stays on track.

Be transparent about achievements, challenges and future plans. Utilize infographics, charts and diagrams to present your data visually and simplify information. By visually representing data, it becomes easier to identify trends, make predictions and strategize based on evidence.

Now that you’ve learned about the different types of presentation methods and how to use them, you’re on the right track to creating a good presentation that can boost your confidence and enhance your presentation skills . 

Selecting the most suitable presentation style is akin to choosing the right outfit for an occasion – it greatly influences how your message is perceived. Here’s a more detailed guide to help you make that crucial decision:

1. Define your objectives

Begin by clarifying your presentation’s goals. Are you aiming to educate, persuade, motivate, train or perhaps sell a concept? Your objectives will guide you to the most suitable presentation type. 

For instance, if you’re aiming to inform, an informative presentation would be a natural fit. On the other hand, a persuasive presentation suits the goal of swaying opinions.

2. Know your audience

Regardless if you’re giving an in-person or a virtual presentation — delve into the characteristics of your audience. Consider factors like their expertise level, familiarity with the topic, interests and expectations. 

If your audience consists of professionals in your field, a more technical presentation might be suitable. However, if your audience is diverse and includes newcomers, an approachable and engaging style might work better.

3. Analyze your content

Reflect on the content you intend to present. Is it data-heavy, rich in personal stories or focused on practical skills? Different presentation styles serve different content types. 

For data-driven content, an informative or instructional presentation might work best. For emotional stories, a motivational presentation could be a compelling choice.

4. Consider time constraints

Evaluate the time you have at your disposal. If your presentation needs to be concise due to time limitations, opt for a presentation style that allows you to convey your key points effectively within the available timeframe. A pitch presentation, for example, often requires delivering impactful information within a short span.

5. Leverage visuals

Visual aids are powerful tools in presentations. Consider whether your content would benefit from visual representation. If your PowerPoint presentations involve step-by-step instructions or demonstrations, a how-to presentation with clear visuals would be advantageous. Conversely, if your content is more conceptual, a motivational presentation could rely more on spoken words.

6. Align with the setting

Take the presentation environment into account. Are you presenting in a formal business setting, a casual workshop or a conference? Your setting can influence the level of formality and interactivity in your presentation. For instance, a demonstration presentation might be ideal for a hands-on workshop, while a persuasive presentation is great for conferences.

7. Gauge audience interaction

Determine the level of audience engagement you want. Interactive presentations work well for training sessions, workshops and small group settings, while informative or persuasive presentations might be more one-sided.

8. Flexibility

Stay open to adjusting your presentation style on the fly. Sometimes, unexpected factors might require a change of presentation style. Be prepared to adjust on the spot if audience engagement or reactions indicate that a different approach would be more effective.

Remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, and the best type of presentation may vary depending on the specific situation and your unique communication goals. By carefully considering these factors, you can choose the most effective presentation type to successfully engage and communicate with your audience.

To save time, use a presentation software or check out these presentation design and presentation background guides to create a presentation that stands out.    

What are some effective ways to begin and end a presentation?

Capture your audience’s attention from the start of your presentation by using a surprising statistic, a compelling story or a thought-provoking question related to your topic. 

To conclude your presentation , summarize your main points, reinforce your key message and leave a lasting impression with a powerful call to action or a memorable quote that resonates with your presentation’s theme.

How can I make my presentation more engaging and interactive?

To create an engaging and interactive presentation for your audience, incorporate visual elements such as images, graphs and videos to illustrate your points visually. Share relatable anecdotes or real-life examples to create a connection with your audience. 

You can also integrate interactive elements like live polls, open-ended questions or small group discussions to encourage participation and keep your audience actively engaged throughout your presentation.

Which types of presentations require special markings

Some presentation types require special markings such as how sales presentations require persuasive techniques like emphasizing benefits, addressing objections and using compelling visuals to showcase products or services. 

Demonstrations and how-to presentations on the other hand require clear markings for each step, ensuring the audience can follow along seamlessly. 

That aside, pitch presentations require highlighting unique selling points, market potential and the competitive edge of your idea, making it stand out to potential investors or partners.

Need some inspiration on how to make a presentation that will captivate an audience? Here are 120+ presentation ideas to help you get started. 

Creating a stunning and impactful presentation with Venngage is a breeze. Whether you’re crafting a business pitch, a training presentation or any other type of presentation, follow these five steps to create a professional presentation that stands out:

• Sign up and log in to Venngage to access the editor.
• Choose a presentation template that matches your topic or style.
• Customize content, colors, fonts, and background to personalize your presentation.
• Add images, icons, and charts to enhancevisual style and clarity.
• Save, export, and share your presentation as PDF or PNG files, or use Venngage’s Presentation Mode for online showcasing.

In the realm of presentations, understanding the different types of presentation formats is like having a versatile set of tools that empower you to craft compelling narratives for every occasion.

Remember, the key to a successful presentation lies not only in the content you deliver but also in the way you connect with your audience. Whether you’re informing, persuading or entertaining, tailoring your approach to the specific type of presentation you’re delivering can make all the difference.

Presentations are a powerful tool, and with practice and dedication (and a little help from Venngage), you’ll find yourself becoming a presentation pro in no time. Now, let’s get started and customize your next presentation!

Learning Styles

Oct 09, 2014

2.68k likes | 6.15k Views

Learning Styles. What is a Learning Style?. Learning style is described as a group of characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors that define our way of learning. Simply: different approaches or ways of learning. What is a Learning Style?. Different styles influence: the way students learn,

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• learning style
• visual learners
• learning style model
• accommodating students learning style

Presentation Transcript

What is a Learning Style? Learning style is described as a group of characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors that define our way of learning. Simply: different approaches or ways of learning.

What is a Learning Style? Different styles influence: the way students learn, how teachers teach, and 3. Influence the interaction between teacher / student

Learning Styles There are many MODELS of learning styles in education. In 1987, Neil Fleming, a high school and university teacher from New Zealand developed the most widely used learning style model known as the VAK (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic). Years later added a fourth style: Read/Write! The acronym changed to VARK.

The VAK Model Visual: see it! When I SEE it then I Understand!

The Visual Learner Seeing/Writing The Visual Learner tends to observe things, pictures, demonstrations, films, etc. in order to improve his or her level of knowledge. Some common visual learning strategies include creating graphic organizers, diagramming, flow charts, mind mapping, outlining and more. www.inspiration.com/visual-learning

Visual Learners learn Through seeing.. • Need to see the teacher's body language and facial expression. • Tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom • May think in pictures and learn best from visual displays • Prefer to take detailed notes during lecture or classroom discussion to absorb the information.

Helps clarify thoughts See how ideas are connected Realize how information can be grouped and organized How does visual learning help students? New concepts are easily understood when linked to prior knowledge. http://www.inspiration.com/visual-learning

Visual learning help students Organize and analyze information: students use diagrams and plot to display large amounts of information in ways that are easy to understand and help reveal relationships and patterns. Integrate New Knowledge: Students better remember information when represented and learned both visually and verbally. Think Critically: Linked verbal and visual information help make connections, understand relationships and recall related details. www.inspiration.com/visual-learning

The VAK Model Auditory “hear it”

AUDITORY LEARNERS Learn by hearing • Prefer to hear information spoken. • • Can absorb a lecture with little effort. • • May not need careful notes to learn. • • Often avoid eye contact in order to concentrate. • • May read aloud to themselves. • • Like background music when they study.

AUDITORY LEARNERS Learn by hearing • Learn through listening • • Learn best through verbal lectures, discussion, talking things through, and listening to what others have to say • • Interpret the underlying meaning of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed, and other nuances • • Prefer directions given orally • • Seldom takes notes or writes things down • • Prefer lectures to reading assignments • • Often repeat what has just been said

AUDITORY LEARNERS Learn by hearing • Talk to self • • Often benefits from reading text aloud and using a tape recorder • • Sit where they can hear but needn't pay attention to what is happening in front • • Hum or talk to himself/herself or others when bored • • Acquire knowledge by reading aloud • • Remember by verbalizing lessons to themselves (if they don't they have difficulty reading maps or diagrams or handling conceptual assignments like mathematics).

The VAK Model Kinesthetic “do it”

Kinesthetic “do it” • Tactile/Kinesthetic persons learn best through a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. • They may find it hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and exploration.

Kinesthetic Learner Try things out, touch, feel, and manipulate objects. Body tension is a good indication of their emotions. They gesture when speaking, are poor listeners, stand very close when speaking or listening, and quickly lose interest in long discourse. Remember best what has been done, not what they have seen or talked about. Prefer direct involvement in what they are learning; they are distractible and find it difficult to pay attention to auditory or visual presentations. Rarely an avid reader, they may fidget frequently while handling a book. Often poor spellers, they need to write down words to determine if they “feel” right.

CHARACTERISTICS OF KINESTHETIC LEARNERS Walk while studying Move and lecture to the walls Do things as you say them Practice by repeating motions Dance as you study Write words – use crayons, pens, pencils to see if they “feel right” When memorizing, use finger to write on the table or air Associate a feeling with information Stretch www.cvcc.edu/Resources/Learning_Assistance_Center/pdf/Learning_Styles

CHARACTERISTICS OF KINESTHETIC LEARNERS Write on a marker board in order to use gross muscle movement Use the computer Hands-on activities with objects that can be touched Study in short time periods; get up and walk around in between Make study tools to hold Use flash cards; separate into “know” and “don’t know” piles Use plastic letters and magnetic boards for new vocabulary Write and rewrite to commit to memory www.cvcc.edu/Resources/Learning_Assistance_Center/pdf/Learning_Styles

The VAK Model Read/Write Learning Style

The read/write learning style was added to Fleming’s model after the initial three. Read/write learners specifically learn best through the written word. They absorb information by reading books and handouts, taking lots of notes (sometimes word-for-word), and making lists. They prefer lectures, diagrams, pictures, charts, and scientific concepts to be explained using written language. They are often fast readers and skillful writers.

Read/Write Learning Style Similar to visual learners, read/write learners may struggle with verbal directions and are easily distracted by noise. Some may be quiet and struggle to detect body language and other social cues.

7 Styles of Learning

In Conclusion Each student learns differently, at different rates, using different learning styles. Everyone has a learning style. Accommodating students’ learning style can result in improved attitudes toward learning, as well as increased self esteem and academic achievement. Knowing and becoming familiar with your learning style will help you become a more effective and creative teacher. www.cvcc.edu/Resources/Learning_Assistance_Center/pdf/Learning_Styles

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Methods Of Learning

The 2020 docu-film The Social Dilemma raises concerns about the amount and kind of information we consume on a regular…

The 2020 docu-film The Social Dilemma raises concerns about the amount and kind of information we consume on a regular basis, and the harm that it does us.

Not only has the information age impacted our attention span, but it has also hampered our learning abilities. We no longer have the patience to read about subjects in detail; instead, we rely on snippets, one-liners and blurbs for information.

As passive learners, who know of many topics but not much about any of them, how can we develop a growth mindset?

There are several different methods of learning that you can use to learn, unlearn and relearn information that nudges you in the right direction.

Experiential Learning Cycle

Let’s understand how people usually learn something new. American psychologist and educational theorist David Kolb developed the Experiential Learning Cycle. Also known as Kolb’s Cycle, it describes one of the methods of learning. It describes learning in four stages:

Concrete Experience : Encountering a new experience or reinterpreting an existing experience

Reflective Observation : Reviewing and reflecting on the new experience

Abstract Conceptualization : Deduce a new idea or concept based on the review done earlier

Active Experimentation : Planning and trying out what has been learned

Kolb’s cycle is a simple way to learn about the different methods of learning and apply your knowledge to ideate in the future.  Let’s look at some other commonly used methods of learning.

Different Methods Of Learning

Learning is an ongoing process. Regardless of experience, age and areas of interest, you can learn anything if you put your mind to it. You could be a  doctor or lawyer who’s interested in playing the guitar or painting.

The idea is to be constantly curious, and hungry for new knowledge. For instance, if you read a political or business-related article, you should immediately want to find out why it was written and what purpose it serves. ( advair diskus )

Here are some of the most effective learning methods that will help you ease into a growth mindset:

Engage With The Information

Don’t just learn to build knowledge. Learn to act, engage and contribute. Say, you’ve just read an article online and want to say something about it. It could be an idea, a question or a few appreciative words. Write it down in the comments section or in the form of an email to the author, if possible. You could also share your views with your friends and family. This way, you can engage with a topic even after you are done learning about it.

Reflect On What You’ve Learnt

Think about what you learned, its key takeaways and how you can use the knowledge in your daily life. Say you have learned something about new business strategies in the digital age. Reading about it isn’t enough. Reflect on possible ways to implement these strategies to improve your professional abilities. You could even come up with a winning idea for a new product or service at work.

Join Forums And Discussion Groups

Communicate what you’ve learned with others. Sharing of information can trigger interesting discussions and even turn into brainstorming sessions. You don’t need to converse only with people you know. When you interact with strangers, you’re bound to make an effort to contribute more to the conversation. You also get introduced to new points of view.

Practice Regularly

Practicing is one of the best learning methods because it’s the easiest to implement. If you learn something new, such as baking, practicing will help you perfect your skill. You can’t expect to bake once and declare yourself a master baker. Even celebrity chefs such as Ritu Dalmia and Vikas Khanna became proficient after years of practice. It doesn’t matter if you fail a few times; you can learn a new skill through long-term learning and continuous practice.

Revisit The Topic To Make It Concrete

Don’t assume you know everything about a topic because you’ve learned, practiced and discussed it. If you want to be good at something, you must expose yourself to it time and time again. For instance, say you have completed a course on coding. Try to read up on other material or learn about alternative theories on the subject. At the same time, you could enter coding competitions or create something new by applying what you have learned.

These methods of learning are only the tip of the iceberg. You can find many innovative learning methods to help you acquire new knowledge and find creative ways to apply what you already know.

Harappa Education’s Learning Expertly course will teach you how to develop a growth mindset. Learn about each step in Kolb’s Cycle to gain a deeper understanding of the topic. Aspire to become an agile and lifelong learner for self-improvement and personal development.

Explore topics such as  Learning From Experience , the  Learning Process ,  Kolb’s Learning Styles  & the Stages of Learning –  Learn, Unlearn and Relearn  from Harappa Diaries and achieve your set goals.