The Power of Images: Visual-Spatial Learners (continued)

1. I have a wild imagination.
2. I think mainly in pictures instead of words.
3. I solve problems in unusual ways.
4. I have a hard time explaining how I came up with my answers.
   (Silverman, 2002)

Remarkably, one-third of these mixed ability school samples was strongly visual-spatial (Silverman, 2002). Less than one-fourth (23%) was strongly auditory-sequential. The remainder (45%) was a mixture of both. However, 30% of this middle group showed a slight preference for the visual-spatial learning style, whereas only 15% showed a slight preference for the auditory-sequential learning style. In these schools, the student body was clearly more visual-spatial than auditory-sequential.

We plan to validate the Visual-Spatial Identifier with third and seventh graders and gradually extend the age range, as well as test its usefulness with different ethnic groups. For more information about the Identifier, please see "Classroom Identification of Visual-Spatial Learners," by Steve Haas, in this issue. The Identifier is available on our website: www.gifteddevelopment.com, and we can assess individuals as well as groups.

If our research holds for other groups, then at least one-third of the school population is visual-spatial! This is a substantial number of students whose needs are not being met. And their numbers are growing. According to studies conducted by John Flynn (1999), intelligence is increasing all over the planet at the rate of one-third of an IQ point per year, and the greatest gains have been in spatial visualization and verbal problem solving, not in areas related to school-based learning. Children from different ethnic backgrounds appear to be more visual-spatial than auditory-sequential, and there is greater ethnic diversity in the schools in the 21st century than there was in the 20th century. Gifted children are also more likely to be visual-spatial, particularly those in the highly gifted range (Silverman, 2002).

How can we recognize visual-spatial learners?

Preschool-age visual-spatial learners are attracted to puzzles, building, and art projects. We've found 18-month-old children who could do 4 to 6 puzzles at once-with all the pieces mixed up! We've heard of 3 year olds doing 300-piece puzzles. Some toddlers prefer to do all the puzzles brown-side-up. It's always a red flag to me when a visual-spatial learner doesn't like puzzles. I send these children to optometrists to see if there is some slight visual processing glitch that can be corrected with six months of vision therapy.

Visual-spatial learners are natural builders. They may toss aside their presents and build something interesting out of the boxes and ribbons. So many of them are Legomaniacs that I sound like a Legos commercial. K'nex, Construx, Tinkertoys, Zometool, and any other building materials are likely to engage them for hours on end. They also like to unbuild-or take apart-everything within reach, just to see how it works. They love anything with gears. Here are some anecdotes parents have sent me:

He thinks in three dimensions, and his first "art" project, at about nine months, was a mountain made of tiny pieces of masking tape piled on the coffee table. I carried tape with me all of the time and he piled it on anything he could. (Mirrors were a favorite.)

[At 2 ½] Clocks and gears entered our life around this time. M got clocks for gifts and we'd sit on the bed watching them. He wanted to know about gears and had to see the engine of the car. We'd be riding and he'd be listening for the gears operating. The summer when he was 2 ½, we'd go to the amusement park, and the kids loved the rides but I was a nervous wreck. He would lean way over to see how the ride operated. On the merry-go-round his head was always up watching the poles to see how they operated or else he was leaning into the center of the ride to see the gears. On one of the little car rides, he started crawling under one of the cars. We ran with the attendant and when we got there he looked up and asked, "What makes this thing run, anyway?"

Vivid imagination and creativity can be seen before school age. Visual-spatial children are always transforming ordinary things into something else. Instead of using her spoon to shovel soup into her mouth, the visual-spatial child is as likely to turn the spoon into a microphone for her TV interview, a baton to be twirled, a catapult for ice cubes, a metal dancing figurine, or a large earring. Art projects abound, using everything in sight. Never throw anything out that can be recycled into a work of art, or a construction project, or an invention.

We have a joke in our home, every time someone tries to throw something in the garbage we say, "Don't throw that out!! T can make something out of it!!"

He can make anything just looking at a picture or creating out of his imagination. He also builds things out of odds and ends around the house. Many rolls of Scotch tape have been sacrificed in the name of science. One time my husband had some little scraps of wood left over from an outdoor project and he asked J (then age 4) if he would like them to build with. Enthusiastically, J ran for his shoes to head out to the garage. "What are you going to make?" I asked. J stopped and looked at me like I was crazy. "I don't know that yet," he replied, "I have to see the wood first!"

Visual-spatial children are often drawn to animals and seem to commune with them. Remarkably tuned in, they appear to be keenly aware of the emotional state of everyone with whom they come in contact. They instinctively discern friend from foe, true from false, authenticity from pretense. They love movement, all kinds of music, dance, drama, art-beauty in all of its forms. They come to uncanny conclusions, and when you ask them how they know what they know, they just shrug their shoulders. They can't tell you. They just know. Their intuition is extremely well developed.

There sometimes is an other-worldly quality to visual-spatial learners. It's as if they are only partially paying attention to what we are saying, while another part of them is on a magic carpet sweeping over beautiful landscapes on the way to more inviting adventures. They have vivid recollections of movies, which they enjoy describing to you, or even better, acting out, in glorious detail, while you strain to keep your attention focused on what they're saying. Their world is full of wonder, magic, vivid imagination, and crystal-clear pictures that they desperately try to communicate in words. Our world is practical, realistic, and filled with words. They tune out our words, and we have trouble grasping their pictures. We live in two different realities.

How can we serve their needs?

There are many techniques teachers already employ that activate the right hemisphere, and engage visual-spatial learners. The techniques simply need to be used more frequently and more pervasively. Auditory-sequential learners will also benefit from these strategies, finding school more stimulating, as they develop more of their right-hemispheric abilities. Jerre Levy, a prominent brain researcher at the University of Chicago, warns that unless the right hemisphere is activated, little learning can occur.

When tasks are so easy that they fail to challenge mental capacities, communication between the two hemispheres declines and one hemisphere dominates processing with little participation from the other. Under these conditions, the attentional level is low and cognitive performance is poor. In contrast, in response to challenging tasks, the left and right hemispheres become tightly integrated into a unified brain system, which increases attentional resources and cognitive power. The right hemisphere is especially important in regulating attentional functions of both sides of the brain. Unless the right hemisphere is activated and engaged, attention is low and learning is poor. (J. Levy, personal communication, June 12, 2001)

Try the following suggestions one at a time, and see which ones reach which students. Use different strokes for different folks.

• When presenting a new concept, ask students to close their eyes for a moment and picture what you are saying. Have them share their pictures with a partner. 
• Show them! Use visual presentations as often as possible: overhead projectors, computers, demonstrations, diagrams, videos, pictures, charts, and graphs. 
• Teach to their strengths. Help them use their imagination, creativity, as well as their abilities to visualize, recognize patterns, see from different perspectives, build, draw, dance, sing, act, etc., to compensate for their weaknesses. 
• Give students time to think, time to translate their pictures into words or numbers. Word retrieval is difficult for visual-spatial learners, especially under the pressure of time. Support well thought out answers above fast ones. 
• Give them the big picture. Visual-spatial learners learn best if they understand the goals of instruction. Tell them where the lesson is leading, so that they have an idea of the whole, before they try learning the parts. 
• Use visualization techniques. Ask them to picture what you are saying. Have them record their images using webbing, mind-mapping, or pictorial notes. Teach the students to visualize spelling words, math problems, "What would happen if..." scenarios in reading, science, and social studies. Employ movie, television, and computer techniques to assist them in visualizing: zoom-in, split screen, slow motion, superimposition, fast forward, instant replay, etc. 
• If their handwriting is poor, let them use a keyboard. Teach keyboarding as soon as possible. (Child-sized keyboards are now available.) If they cannot master a keyboard, allow them to use a voice-activated computer. 
• Make the learning significant to them. Meaningful, relevant material will be remembered, while insignificant information and rote memorization will be quickly forgotten. How does this learning relate to their experience? In what way can they apply it to solving a problem they care about? 
• Use discovery techniques. Visual-spatial learners are good at discovering rules and principles. Have them discover their own methods of problem solving instead of teaching step-by-step. Employ inductive reasoning and inquiry training. 
• Avoid timed tests and contests. Timed tests actually freeze the thought process of visual-spatial learners. Let them take untimed tests, or demonstrate mastery in some other manner, such as creating a PowerPoint slide show, a diorama, a photographic exhibit, a videotape, a series of drawings, or an oral story about the concept. 
• Use hands-on approaches, such as manipulatives, experiments, real-life experiences, field trips, three-dimensional models. 
• Remove drill and repetition from their lives. These children do not learn from drill; it simply turns them off. Art begins with an image in one's mind. That image is permanent: it is not improved at all by drill and repetition. Like artists, once visual-spatial learners see concepts in their mind's eye, they learn them permanently. Their images are not improved by drill. Drill and repetition work best with auditory-sequential learners. 
• Do not require them to show their work. Trust that they got the correct answer in their own way. Respect visual, intuitive methods of knowing. 
• Give more weight to content of papers than to format. Allow them to use computer software, such as spell check and grammar check, to help them with the mechanics of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and syntax. These technological supports provide instant feedback, which is important for VSLs to learn skills. Don't penalize students in other subject areas when they haven't mastered these skills. 
• If they struggle with easy, sequential tasks, give them more advanced, complex work. These upside-down learners surprise us: hard is easy and easy is hard. Acceleration is more beneficial than remediation. 
• Teach them about their learning style. Help them understand their strengths as well as giving them hints about improving their weaknesses. 
• Expose them to role models of successful visual-spatial adults. Many of the most celebrated physicists, artists and statesmen were visual-spatial learners. Biographical sketches of famous VSLs can be found in The Spatial Child (Dixon, 1983) and In the Mind's Eye West, 1991).

Conclusion

The most loving thing anyone can do is to honor the reality of the visual-spatial learner. Our left hemisphere can be rather narrow-minded. It tells us to be on time, and admonishes anyone who does not adhere to that standard. Our left hemisphere is often judgmental. It believes that there is only one right way to do things, and that everyone ought to do them that way. Our left hemisphere processes rapidly, and has little patience with anyone who doesn't think as quickly. Our left hemisphere is highly verbal, and misunderstands people who don't express themselves as well in words. Our left hemisphere is linear, sequential-accruing knowledge through a series of retraceable steps; it invented the requirement to "show your work." Our left hemisphere believes that every effect has a cause, and scoffs at anything that cannot be explained through logic.