The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

Conceptual Learners: Students who are conceptual learners tend to learn theories well and are able to
think critically about abstract ideas. They do not need to have practical or real life examples or
applications. They also prefer to work with language typically. Some strategies that work well for
conceptual learners are:
• Look for the big picture ideas and how they relate to other ideas
• Try to connect readings with lectures and other readings
• Leave space in class notes to record these connections
• Think about how and why information is organized in the way it is
The styles listed above are just a few of many, and students are not limited to being only one type of
learner; they can be a combination of many. Furthermore, the strategies listed above are only a few
strategies that generally work for students with those specific learning styles. For example, none of the
strategies for visual learners might work for a student who is a visual learner. If that is the case, the
student (and possibly you as their tutor) might try to come up with new ways of approaching the
information so that the student can be more effective and successful. Here is a longer list of many of the
different learning styles; however, the ones listed below are not usually the dominant learning styles of
students. The four styles discussed above are the most common and most dominant learning styles that
students use and have. The group of learning styles listed below tend to compliment and can be used to
augment the dominant styles.
• Social learner
• Independent learner
• Spatial learner
• Global learner
• And many more. A simple google search will give a more complete list.
Tutor Resources
If your student doesn’t know his/her learning style, it might be a good idea to try to figure it out
early in the semester, so you and your student can be more successful all semester. There are a few ways
to go about this. One is to find a list of learning styles and their characteristics and have the student do a
self-assessment based upon what they know about themselves and their preferences. This can be good
because it helps the student to think about how they are learning, which is never a bad thing. The second
option is to have them complete a learning style survey or questionnaire. These questionnaires can also be
good for tutors to take as well because it can show what areas you prefer, which can benefit a tutor in
many ways. First, it can allow the tutor to be aware of his/her preferences which will help them to figure
out what their tutoring style is. Secondly, if the tutor knows how he/she learns, he/she can help their
tutees that learn the same way have more options and strategies. There are many free options for doing
this. Below is a list of a few websites that will do a learning style assessment for free using student
responses to questions:
• http://www.mtsu.edu/~studskl/hd/learn.html
• http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/dvclearn.htm
These are just a few resources. There are many more that a simple Google search for “learning style
assessment” will bring up.
Tutor Response
Now that you and your student know and have a basic understanding of his/her learning style it is
important that you:
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