What Is Kinesthetic Learning?
Kinesthetic learning is commonly used to describe learning activities that involve movement and physical action. Examples include building a model, carrying out an experiment or practising a practical skill. Here, the term describes an activity, rather than a fixed type of learner.
A person may enjoy hands-on work in one subject and prefer reading, listening or discussion in another. Pashler and colleagues’ review found insufficient evidence for matching instruction to assessed learning styles. Preferences can inform a conversation about learning, but should not restrict a student’s opportunities.
Touch, Movement and Body Awareness
Tactile exploration uses touch to examine objects, textures or raised diagrams. Movement-based activities involve physical actions, such as assembling a model or demonstrating a process. Proprioception is the sense of the body’s position and movement. These experiences can overlap, but they do not form a diagnostic system for classifying students.
Choose an activity because it helps students work with the lesson’s content. Moving around or handling materials alone does not guarantee better understanding or memory.
Purposeful Hands-On Activities
- Build and explain: assemble a model, identify its parts and explain how they relate.
- Practise a procedure: follow accessible instructions, receive feedback and try again.
- Explore a diagram: trace a raised shape or graph, identify its labels and use it to answer questions.
- Investigate: carry out a suitable experiment and connect the observations to the concept being taught.
Provide accessible ways to participate for students with different sensory or movement needs. Assess learning through what students can explain and do, and adapt the activity using their feedback.
Tactile Graphics Provide Access to Visual Information
For a student who cannot access a visual diagram, tactile graphics can convey shapes, layout and spatial relationships through raised lines and textures. Their value as an accessible format does not depend on a learning-style label.
Use tactile graphics alongside braille, spoken descriptions, large print or accessible digital text where appropriate. Introduce unfamiliar symbols and allow time to explore the material before asking the student to interpret it.
Creating Tactile Materials
Swell paper can be used to produce raised graphics on demand. Print or draw suitable black artwork on Swell Touch paper, then process it through a Swell Form machine.
Check the finished result for readable labels, clear lines and distinguishable features. Select materials for the learning objective and the student’s access requirements, then combine practical work with explanation, discussion and feedback.
