Learning Style Inventory is Myers-Briggs Type Knowledge!!

Each one of us has an instinctive and natural style of learning; a learning style inventory if you will. When this learning style is understood and applied greater academic achievement can be realized at every level of education.

Various academic researches tell us that new information will "turn over" roughly every five years. If that trend continues, students who are in grades one through three will graduate during a time where, in some fields, there will be new information every 38 days!! Wow, that could mean that the information they learned this month may be outdated two months from now!!

And really it is the same at any level of study, the high school and college student faces the same information overload in addition to other interesting challenges that knowledge of instinctive learning style can ease.

This "instinctive learning inventory" style I speak of is based upon knowledge of Myers-Briggs personality type.

Although this article has college students and those bound for college in mind, learning at any level as indicated above, can be improved when we know our Myers-Briggs personality type and the natural learning patterns that are instinctive to us because of our typing.

Thus the Myers-Briggs can be a sort of learning style test. Knowing your Myers-Briggs personality type will explain your instinctive learning style.

While there are many theories of learning most have a basis in the undeniable reality that people "perceive" or take in information through there five senses and then they "reason" upon what they just took in.

Think about it what else is there. This transcends culture, religion, family....everything....humans take in information and then they decide what to do with it in very instinctive ways.

This article will focus on taking information in and some learning realities of "perception".

According to the Myers-Briggs approach, people take in information with their senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling) and with a "sixth" sense of "intuition".

Then people will "reason" or decide what to do with the information they are taking in or did take in at some point in the past with "thinking" and/or "feeling" behaviors.

This is the heart of it according to Myers-Briggs and the result when energy preference is factored in, and we won't say much about that in this article, is that we find 16 personality types or, if you will, 16 different learning styles!!

So, some folks are learning naturally, instinctively if you will, with a heavy and powerful dependence upon their senses.

These "types" these people are very good at learning when specific information is presented, they are naturals for following precise instruction in the classroom, memorizing facts, doing things in the class in a more routine, predictable manner, they thrive in a more "hands-on" teaching environment. These folks are the "Sensors" of the world.

Then we have those who are learning with their "intuition" that sixth sense of just knowing in general, conceptually what is going on.

These people, these "types", learn by seeing and seeking naturally insight, they use imagination to go way beyond the specifics of the facts presented, they value what is creative, new, original, they thrive on theory and are powerful at "reading between the lines" in any classroom situation; a more "hands-on" environment may drive them to distraction or "bore" them to tears! These folks are the "Intuits" of the world.

Those who learn as Sensors have and can use Intuition; but, it is not instinctively preferred thus when the Sensor uses Intuition it is harder, perhaps more stressful and too much use of Intuition can "irritate" the Sensor.

Likewise for the Intuits who are using sensing to study and learn. The more "sensing" (detailed, practical, in-the-moment and realistic) material is the harder they have to work.

This basic understanding of which "type" which learning style one is, either a Sensor or an Intuit can jump start a student at any age onto the Dean's List or help them to achieve a higher level of academic success.

Now once we understand the above, if one is a Sensor or an Intuit, then in college for instance, we run into some very interesting realities that we do not see in K-12 education.

The biggest reality is that, far and away, most college faculty are Intuits not Sensors and yet most college students are Sensors not Intuits!!

Did you follow that? Most college students are ready to instinctively use their detailed, practical, precise, hands-on learning preferences in class rooms taught by professor who don't have the slightest idea of what that means!!

A bit of an exaggeration there, but the fact is the teacher is delivering material in a conceptual, general, theoretic, non-hands-on manner to folks who have to work extremely hard to understand that!

Oh yes some college professors are Sensors but the majority are not. There are almost twice as many professors with natural preferences for Intuition than there are students who prefer Intuition!!

The secret to success here is for both Sensors and Intuits firstly understand this realty, then secondly understand their type, then thirdly know they need to be ready to use a lesser preferred learning style to do well.

And we can do this and it is easier to do when we know this ahead of time and know that this learning style is natural.