Learning

There are a number of different ways in which have been proposed as the most efficient and effective ways of learning. These skills are typically taught to those in education to help with their studies, however can also be applied to other educational fields. This is an area that has been researched due to highlighting the limited ways in which information is given out to those researching mental health. 

There are three primary ways to learn: through visual, kinesthetic and auditory. To gather an understanding of the most effective ways in which young people learn I gathered 20 individuals of the ages 18-25. The simple question was 'what do you find to be the most effective ways of learning?'. Due to the size of this discussion group, it was difficult to note down what each of the individuals answered. However, there were a number of discussions based around the most said techniques.

Visual Learning:

A number of individuals in the discussion group expressed how well they learn through visuals. This was said to be through; drawing visual examples of written text, watching videos of the animated information or someone else speaking, drawing posters of the information. These are the main examples that were given by individuals who expressed how efficiently these methods worked for them. On the other hand, this also highlighted how each of the methods does not work for all and that sometimes a combination of different techniques is sometimes more effective.

Verbal Learning:

Through speaking to those individuals who have studied Psychology, each expressed the effectiveness of teaching another individual to better their own understanding. This can be simply achieved through reading and understanding a piece of text and then verbally explaining it to another individual. This highlights the importance of discussion in learning and how talking through something with another individual can better your understanding of a subject. In relation to the topic that is being studied, this may be done through expressing the importance of carers discussing their role and the support that is available with other individuals. This is known to improve and individuals confidence in the subject area, as well as opening up their thoughts with another person.    

Kinesthetic Learning:

This method of learning is through carrying out physical activities. This is similar to visual learning however is the act of the individual themselves. An example may be connecting images to a piece of text or by producing a diagram/map. Nearly all of the individuals find that drawing out the information in some form benefits their learning. However, this can be said to distract the learner as they end up paying more attention to the appearance of what they are producing, rather than ensuring that it is helping them learn the information.  

This discussion group has been beneficial in a way that it has highlighted a number of directions to explore in terms of how information is best received as well as how it is best learnt. This relates to the topic of mental health as it is important that if an individual is seeking information, then the way that it is delivered should be in an effective and informative way. Not only is this due to the importance of the information being understood correctly but it is also essential that the individual goes away being better informed than they were before.