Auditory learning is a teaching method that is geared toward students whose learning style is geared more toward the assimilation of information through hearing rather than by sight. While the vast majority of people tend to be primarily visual in the way they relate to the world around them, audio stimulation is often employed as a secondary means of encountering and absorbing knowledge. For a small percentage of people, auditory learning surpasses visual stimuli and serves as the primary learning method, with visual learning becoming secondary.
Auditory learning appeals to individuals who are able to encounter and retain information that is delivered in some type of verbal presentation. Rather than making use of reading or other types of visual tools to learn, a person who is primarily auditory in their learning capacity will absorb much more data by encountering the information via a lecture, speech or even an audio recording.
Identifying people who learn by hearing is not a difficult task. Often, these people tend to recount past experiences with an emphasis on what they heard rather than what they saw. A person who is a good candidate for auditory learning will also often compliment any attempts at responding to the visual presentation of data by introducing some type of auditory stimulation in the background. For example, the student who is able to read an assignment more efficiently by having a radio playing in the background is highly likely to be auditory.
Many teaching methods today incorporate various methods that make it possible to connect with people who learn orally as well as those who learn visually. This recognition of different learning styles is actually to the benefit of the student. Learning methods that contain elements of both sight and sound make it possible for visual as well as auditory learning to take place in the same environment.
Auditory learning often includes opportunities for persons who are primarily auditory to learn as quickly as people who are primarily visual. An educator may choose to not only write instructions on a board, but also repeat them verbally for the benefit of auditory learners. Group discussions, reading to the group, and using music and poetry to convey ideas will also benefit auditory learners.
