The Princeton Review
How you learn has dramatic impact on how you process and recall information. It is, therefore, vital for you to take control of your learning environment. If you prefer to work on your own, then make sure you have the opportunity to retreat to your favorite study place to thoroughly review notes, carefully read assignments, and meticulously prepare your answers. On the other hand, you may prefer a social study environment where you can interact with your classmates, ask your teacher questions, and be challenged by different opinions. Be sure to put yourself in the best possible situation to be successful.
Most would distill learning styles into three main groups; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic or tactile. Everyone uses a mix of learning styles, but one is usually dominant. There are also the two learning environments I mention above. So you might be a visual learner who prefers to be alone versus a kinesthetic learner who wants to be in a group.
Do you know your learning style?
There are fancy assessments and tests to help you determine your learning style, but let’s do this the easy way. What was your favorite class and who was your favorite teacher? Once you have this, ask yourself why. You’ll begin to see that your favorite class and your favorite teacher probably employed your preferred learning style. Let’s think about this further. Math is not history and history is not science. Writing an equation on the board is not the same as discussing the American Revolution and neither is it the same as dissecting a frog. Each of these uses a different learning style – the visual math equation, the auditory discussion, or the kinesthetic frog dissection.
Let’s go one step further. Within each of these you may have had a favorite teacher. Even if you love math, there was probably a math teacher you liked and one you didn’t. What was it about this teacher you liked? I know it’s not a simple answer, but I would bet that your favorite teachers connected with your preferred learning style.
Sometimes you cannot control things – a large lecture hall, a required book – but you have complete control over what you do with the information. If you don’t get much out of the lecture, know that you need to read the chapter on your own or get with a couple friends to discuss the ideas. If you don’t like to read, then see if you can get an audio book. Again, if you put yourself in the best possible situation to succeed, you will.