Why Do Visual Learners Have the Edge on Standardized Tests?
Students have to learn methods for retrieving information visually. A good visual learner uses colors, shapes, and images to remember information. They can “see” words and numbers in their minds.
Dr. Pat Wyman, author of Learning vs Testing, suggests that students ” .. reach into their learning toolbox and select visual strategies that they've added to their existing learning styles. One of the most efficient ways to do this is by actually looking in an upward direction with their eyes and creating and retrieving an image that they've created of what they've been taught."
Dr. Wyman believes parents can help students become more visual by asking them to visualize familiar people, places, and events. Ask your child to visualize a friend in the lunchroom or your family in a favorite restaurant.
“As you observe them doing this you will know that when your child recalls a picture they look up to their left or up to their right. This is known as the "eye-brain connection, “ she notes.
By learning to use the eye-brain connection, students will become better at converting information into images, and this will help them on standardized tests.
Although Dr. Wyman agrees that students learn best in their preferred style, she believes everyone can learn techniques to learn in other modes. The ability to match learning strategies to the task is an invaluable tool that your child can utilize for the rest of her life.
"It increases their learning options," says Wyman. "When your child goes out into the world, his particular learning style is not catered to."
Dr. Wyman tells parents to start with the end in mind: knowing how a child will be evaluated.
- If they will be evaluated in writing teach them how to add visual picture strategies to their learning style toolbox.
- If the assessment will be out loud add auditory strategies.
- If a tactile/kinesthetic evaluation will be used, teach them how to do that.
By teaching your child to work in all modalities—visual, auditory, kinesthetic—you will give him tools for an educational lifetime.