Virtualism

Visual-spatial learning

The visual-spatial thinking and learning style is very powerful. Visual-spatial learners are excellent visualisers and must visualise in order to learn. Visual-spatial learners think primarily in pictures not words - either “still” like  photographs or “moving” like videos. They need time to translate their pictures into words and should not be hurried to provide answers to questions.

Their thought process is random abstract pattern recognition rather than sequential and they have problems following sequential material presented orally.  They need to translate words into pictures in order to think and while they are translating they can miss incoming content material. This means that they may have gaps in their subject knowledge. Because of their need to translate their thoughts/pictures into words, they often do poorly in timed tests.

Gifted visual-spatial learners thrive on complexity yet often fail at simple tasks e.g. they can learn abstract, complex mathematics and yet have difficulty with the times-tables. They can create complex and detailed stories but cannot write them down. They tend to be global and divergent thinkers. Because they focus on the larger picture, they often don't know how they have arrived at a conclusion or solved a problem.

Writing can be particularly difficult for visual-spatial learners, because it requires considerable effort and well developed visualising skills to translate words into pictures in order to be able to think, translate the pictures back into words and then hold them still in their head while they writes them down. This process requires constant effort which is physically exhausting and mentally draining.

They tend to be disorganised and have difficulty meeting time limits. This is not a behavioral issue but a significant difficulty for which they need assistance to develop appropriate strategies and skills. They need structure and predictability, clear limits and time frames and assistance with project planning. It is important that they are praised for their effort rather than concentration on achievement as it takes considerable time for them to develop organisational strategies and skills.

Personally I suffer from the ability to decipher static text, the only form that seems to stick is that of poetry because it has the ability to take its own form. The implementation of a virtual agency within government would increase my overall understanding of the issues we face and would better my opinion and input on such problems.