Abstract

An abstract learning style refers to a student who innately understands and formulates concepts that relate to intangible ideas. She is quite adept at immediately "seeing the big picture." In turn, for her to memorize and understand details and facts, she needs to see how they relate to the big picture. For her, it is quite helpful when teachers spell out the big picture and in turn spend some time explaining how the facts relate to the larger themes.

Suggested Teaching Strategies

• Choose texts that deal with abstract themes. However, make sure that non-fiction texts provide the necessary support for student comprehension. Such support includes the following: clear headings and subheadings; use of boldface or italics to point out key terms; and clear, concise prose.
• When introducing new abstract concepts, make sure you provide/review necessary background knowledge without which the concept(s) will not make sense to the students.
• Students often have pre-conceptions about the material at hand. Elicit from the students any pre-conceptions they may have of the subject matter and clarify any misunderstandings.
• Sometimes abstract learners tend to pay less attention to details. They will better understand and learn more detailed information if it is connected to larger themes. In your explanations, make those connections explicit.

Last updated 12.20.06

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