How
do you learn best? Have you ever thought that you might
be more effective in your classes if you fully understood
the methods for learning and studying that work best for
your learning style? This section is designed to allow
you to assess your learning style and provide some ideas
for strategies that will help you to be more effective
in the classroom. Remember, we all learn in different
ways but everyone can learn effectively. Though most of
us are able to learn in all of the modes, we tend to have
preferences for certain styles. The following information
may then be helpful as you work to modify how you study,
prepare for exams, read your assignments or take notes
during lectures in relation to your preferred learning
style. |
VISUAL
LEARNERS |
- Organize work and living space to avoid distractions.
- Sit in the front of the room to avoid distraction
and away from doors or windows where action takes
place. Sit away from wall maps or bulletin boards.
- Use neatly organized or typed material.
- Use visual association, visual imagery, written
repetition, flash cards, and clustering strategies
for improved memory.
- Reconstruct images in different ways - try different
spatial arrangements and take advantage of blank spaces
on the page.
- Use note pads, Post-Its, to-do lists, and other
forms of reminders.
- Use organizational format outlining for recording
notes. Use underlining, highlighting in different
colors, symbols, flow charts, graphs or pictures in
your notes.
- Practice turning visual cues back into words as
you prepare for exams.
- Allow sufficient time for planning and recording
thoughts when doing problem-solving tasks.
- Use test preparation strategies that emphasize organization
of information and visual encoding and recall.
- Participate actively in class or group activities.
- Develop written or pictorial outlines of responses
before answering essay questions.
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AUDITORY
LEARNERS |
- Work in quiet areas to reduce distractions, avoiding
areas with conversation, music, and television.
- Sit away from doors or windows where noises may
enter the classroom.
- Rehearse information orally.
- Attend lectures and tutorials regularly.
- Discuss topics with other students. Ask others to
hear your understanding of the material.
- Use mnemonics, rhymes, jingles, and auditory repetition
through tape recording to improve memory.
- Practice verbal interaction to improve motivation
and self-monitoring.
- Use tape recorders to document lectures and for
reading materials.
- Remember to examine illustrations in textbooks and
convert them into verbal descriptions.
- Read the directions for tests or assignments aloud,
or have someone read them to you, especially if the
directions are long and complicated.
- Remind yourself to review details.
- Use time managers and translate written appointment
reminders into verbal cues.
- Use verbal brainstorming and tape recording writing
and proofing.
- Leave spaces in your lecture notes for later recall
and 'filing'. Expand your notes by talking with others
and collecting notes from the textbook.
- Read your notes aloud.
- Practice writing your answers using old exams and
speak your answers.
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READING/WRITING
LEARNERS |
- Use a combination of handouts, textbook and lecture
notes when studying.
- Rewrite the ideas and principles into other words.
- Make lists and organize them into categories and
sections.
- Turn charts and flows into words.
- Seek to explain pictures and examples in words.
- Seek out professors who use words well and provide
lots of information in their lectures.
- Read and write your notes again and again.
- Organize diagrams and graphs into statements.
- Imagine your lists arranged as multiple choice questions
and distinguish one from the other.
- Make use of extra information recommended by instructors
such as manuals, dictionaries, and glossaries.
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KINESTHETIC
LEARNERS |
- Keep verbal discourse short and to the point.
- Actively participate in discussions.
- Use all of your senses - sight, touch, taste, smell,
hearing.
- Use direct involvement, physical manipulation, imagery,
and "hands on" activities to improve motivation,
interest, and memory.
- Organize information into the steps that were used
to physically complete a task.
- Seek out courses that have laboratories, field trips,
etc. and lecturers who give real life examples.
- Use case studies and applications (example) to help
with principles and abstract concepts.
- Allow for physical action in solving problems.
- Read or summarize directions, especially if they
are lengthy and complicated, to discourage starting
a task without instructions.
- Use taped reading materials.
- Use practice, play acting, and modeling to prepare
for tests.
- Allow for physical movement and periodic breaks
during tests, while reading, or while composing written
assignments.
- Role play the exam situation.
- Teach the material to someone else.
- Write practice answers, paragraphs or essays.
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