Multisensory Learning Techniques

They can be used to help all students, but Multisensory techniques have been proven to be particularly beneficial in educating students with various learning difficulties - such as dyslexia and autism. All pupils, whatever their ability, should be given the opportunity to reach their potential, and incorporating multiple senses to aid the learning process has been recorded as useful since the origination of Pedagogy (children's education). In this article, we take a look at some of the most popular Multisensory learning approaches out there, their uses, and how they should be used.

As the name suggests, Multisensory learning involves all of the human body's senses: hearing, touching, tasting, seeing and smelling. Some of these are easier to recognize than others; take hearing and feeling, for example: students often listen to tapes and DVDs in class to enhance their knowledge of a subject, and it's fairly common to make models out of clay and similar materials. However, things such as smelling to aid learning are a little less obvious, but in truth, we use this sense when cooking, or when molding and sculpting with strongly scented items such as play dough.

With the five senses in mind, what are some of the activities and exercises pupils can take part in during Multisensory learning sessions? Perhaps the most obvious demonstration of this kind of classroom-based learning is in Art lessons, where a hands-on approach is taken to engage students and make learning fun, through making models out of clay or even just molding simple shapes out of it.

Art typically focuses on practical activities anyway, but even the more theory-based subjects can be made more inclusive through Multisensory techniques. In English, students with letter formation problems may find letters made out of plasticine (or another soft, malleable material) helpful. By using their sense of touch, they can get a feel for how the letter is shaped, thus helping them when it comes to forming it using pen and paper.

It's even harder to believe than using a range of senses in English, but Math really can be made Multisensory, too! Those who struggle completing sheet after sheet of sums and equations may find more fun in counting and sorting pretend money, using magnetic numbers on a whiteboard to solve addition and subtraction problems, counting real-life objects, and completing outdoor surveys for data handling projects.

Art, English and Math aside, you should easily be able to find interactive software, computer programs, songs, rhymes, and television programs that relate to various topics within most subject areas. Be it humanities, technology, or foreign languages there'll be something available!

Whatever subject it is that you're teaching, ensure to use a range of the techniques mentioned for the best impact. Diversity not only prevents boredom, but it enables students to work on an array of skills. By addressing different elements when learning, the development of pupils will be much faster. Even struggling students may be able to face up to some of their difficulties and - who knows - begin to overcome them.