Take a field trip to a children’s museum. They are almost always set up with the various learning styles and multiple intelligences taken into consideration.

Learning styles and multiple intelligences are methods of looking at how people learn and how they demonstrate what they know. The most common way educators think about learning styles is to classify students as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners. Visual learners tend to depend on the teacher’s body language or facial expressions, maps, charts, or pictures. Students who learn best through auditory methods prefer verbal lectures, talking ideas through, and listening to others, and rely on the speaker's tone of voice. The kinesthetic learners enjoy hands-on projects and active exploration, and may find it difficult to sit still for long.

While the learning style theory describes the way in which students take in knowledge, the multiple intelligence theory explains how students demonstrate what they have learned. The Multiple Intelligence theory was first described by Howard Gardner in his book Frames of Mind, published in 1983. It describes seven general categories to demonstrate intelligence. Gardner ’s seven categories have expanded since he first described them, but the following is the basis for the theory, including examples of how the intelligences are demonstrated:

Many educators have learned from experience that combining an approach in the classroom that accommodates learning styles and multiple intelligences strengthens what the students are learning and creates an environment that makes learning more fun for the students and the teachers. Some teachers have reported higher passing rates on standardized tests after incorporating this method of teaching. Using the learning style and multiple intelligence theories is certainly an exciting way for teachers to incorporate a more holistic approach to learning in their classrooms.