The auditory overload of a lecture may overwhelm a right-brained thinker but a left-brained student will likely thrive in such an environment. Conversely, the left-brained student may be uncomfortable participating in a group art project while such a project will enliven the right-brained student. Harness your strengths by becoming familiar with your brain's learning style and approach new information in the ways that your brain will most readily absorb it.
Hemispheric Dominance
The cerebral cortex of the brain, the part that controls rational functions, is divided into two hemispheres. Each hemisphere processes information in different ways. While both hemispheres are engaged during every human activity, most people tend to favor one hemisphere over the other. This preference is called hemispheric dominance. If you interact with new input in the manner best suited to your dominant hemisphere, you are more likely to retain it.
Left Brain Learning
The left hemisphere processes information systematically and linearly. It lines up each detail in sequential order and discovers the whole picture by examining its parts. Dealing with symbols like letters and numbers is a left brain strength, so mathematics, spelling and vocabulary generally come easily for left brain thinkers. Structure and order are comforting to the left brain and schedule-keeping and list-making are pleasurable tasks. The Broca's area, which is responsible for speech, is in the left hemisphere, so verbal expression, whether in person or on paper, is a left brain advantage.
Right Brain Learning
Right brain thinkers start with the big picture and work their way inwards. Their attention to detail is diffused rather than focused, which generates a tendency toward intuitive problem-solving. Solutions are reached not from methodically applying formulas, but instead they bubble up as an "a-ha" moment. Right brain thinkers prefer the concrete to the symbolic and will retain input more readily if they can touch it, see it or connect to it on an emotional level. The left brain dots the "i"s and crosses the "t"s, but the right brain concentrates on meaning, coherence and aesthetics. The right brain is non-verbal and therefore, right brain thinkers may prefer to express themselves through music, dance or works of art.
Advice for Teachers
Adopting a teaching method that accommodates both learning styles can help you keep both left and right brain thinkers involved and receptive. Engage right brain students by providing an overview and handouts for each lecture and accompany it with visuals like overhead illustrations or videos. Give them the opportunity to connect with the material on a visceral level through role-playing, music or art projects. Left brain students appreciate the structure of an outlined lecture and guided discussion. Let your students choose from a variety of assignment options such as writing a report, conducting independent research, designing an illustration or creating a dramatic work.
Strengthen Your Non-Dominant Hemisphere
Improve the functioning of your non-dominant hemisphere by exercising it. Strengthen the left brain with word and number challenges like crossword puzzles and Sudoku. Games like chess and bridge also help develop sequential thought processes. And learning a new language will engage the left brain as well. Creative activities like story-telling or free association games stretch the right brain as does anything that requires visuospatial skills, like painting, sculpture and simple visualization.
References
- Middle Tennessee State University: Learning Syltes
- "Science News"; Music, Language Meet in the Brain; B.B.; 2002
- Thaindian News: Cradle of Creativity Identified in the Brain
- "Instructor"; Left Brain/Right Brain; Diane Connell; September 2002.
- "Going Bonkers Magazine"; Right Brain vs. Left Brain; Deborah Hall; 2009.
