There are four main learning styles that the vast majority of the population falls into. These include the visual, aural, reading/writing, and kinesthetic methods. The kinesthetic learning style is a tactile way of learning that allows the learner to interact with the lesson. Kinesthetic learners do best by being able to feel and touch. Having a hands on approach to the material that is being taught allows these students to retain the information and better understand it. According to “Kinesthetic Study Strategies” (n.d.), these type of learners “need to do things to understand”. Unfortunately, only 15% of students learn this way. This makes education difficult for these students, as most education is catered to the majority of students, which is evenly split between visual and auditory learners (Anderson, n.d.). The author of this essay identifies as a kinesthetic learner. Being a kinesthetic learner, the preferred learning strategies have included many that are typical for this learning style. Hands on approaches for nursing skills have been highly successful, as well as return demonstration. The author has also found that teaching other skills has greatly improved her understanding and method. In order to learn ideas that are not skill related, illustrating the idea and explaining it to others has proved very effective. Also, the author will often write about events in clinicals, what actions she took, and then research to see if these were the best actions, or how she could improve upon her practice. The preferred method of studying for exams has been to rewrite notes repeatedly, and recall clinical events and situations in order to reevaluate the actions taken. According to “Kinesthetic Study Strategies” (n.d.), these learners do excel with an approach to learning that incorporates all their senses. When learning, these students retain more information when they are allowed to approach the subject in a hands on manner that utilizes all senses, use trial and error, and partake in numerous field/location tours. These methods have proven to be conducive to learning for the author. Most education seemed to be gained during clinical rotations when the author was able to apply skills that had been learned in a classroom setting. Once these skills were applied in a “real life” setting, the methodology behind them made sense. To study, it is recommended that these learners incorporate a lot of examples into their note taking, illustrate ideas about the subject, talk about the subject with other kinesthetic learners, and recall personal examples that they may have, including the field trips and experiments. The author relates to an extent to these recommendations. Although she has found it works well to illustrate ideas and recall real life examples such as clinical rotations, the author has not done much studying that includes speaking with others. Rewriting notes repeatedly has been highly effective, as well as viewing videos and doing practice questions. Finally, for studying for exams, it is recommended that this type of learner create mock exams in their own home, as well as write test questions and answers. Although a kinesthetic learner, this is not anything that the author has attempted. In the past, the method of studying used for exams has been reading and then rewriting notes, and completing as many practice questions on the subject as possible from a NCLEX question bank. In comparing the standard learning methods recommended to kinesthetic learners to those of the author, there appears to be changes to be made that can improve her studying and education. Many of the ideas have not been tried yet, with the most interesting being writing exam questions and role playing a mock exam. According to the definition of a kinesthetic learner, it seems that these methods would be helpful, especially with test anxiety. To alter study habits, seeking out other kinesthetic learners to study with, as well as writing practice exams will be incorporated in order to improve understanding of material and class scores. Several of the methods currently used do not fall into a kinesthetic category, but rather in the category of “reading/writing”. This can possibly be attributed to education and training in other learning methods at a young age. Though current methods fall into other categories, the author has found these to be highly useful to her for retaining and understanding provided information. This may indicate that although students can fall into one category, a multimodal approach may benefit all students. According to “Kinesthetic Learning”(2012), “Although only ~15% of the population is strongly aligned with a kinesthetic learning style preliminary research has shown that kinesthetic learning results in increased learning outcomes for all students”. Although the author will alter her study methods in order to improve her education, former methods will still be incorporated as she feels a multimodal approach has also been effective based on her past class scores.

References
Anderson, Margaret. (n.d.). Modalities. Retrieved August 30, 2012, from SUNY Cortland website, http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/learning/modalities.htm
Kinesthetic Learning. (2012). Retrieved August 30, 2012 from The Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College website, http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/mineralogy/xtlsymmetry/kinesthetics.html
Kinesthetic Study Strategies. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2012 from VARK Learn website, http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=kinestheticprint

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