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The Different Learning Styles ---- Discovering Your Best Methods of Studying

Oct 13 '05 Write an essay on this topic.

The Bottom Line Knowing how to learn is an important step to a successful study session, and if you know how to best teach yourself, you are ahead of the game.

Each persons mind is put together a little differently, and because of that, we all tend to learn things in different ways, and the real secret lies in taking advantage of the best way to learn. If we are talking about learning people can be classified into 3 main categories first of all. People are either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (tactile) learners. Some people cross over, and can be best at more than one of these options, but typically we can be classified as best learning under one of them. This pertains most to studying, and how well you can retain the information while you are learning it. It can be further broken down into Social, solitary, or logical learning, but I will get to that a little later. Let's first focus on the 3 main ones and go over the quick definitions of each.

Visual Learning -- You learn best by seeing things, using pictures, images, or even graphs to fully understand what you are learning. You learn by seeing. Diagrams on overheads and on the board can really help you out when you are trying to learn visually.

Kinesthetic (or Physical) Learning -- You need to touch something, to physically do it in order to understand how it works. For instance if you need to take a gadget apart to physically find out how it works, rather than learning by reading, you are most likely a Physical Learner. You learn by doing; rather than hearing or seeing.

Auditory (Verbal) Learning -- By hearing what you need to do, you learn the fastest. These are the best types of students in classrooms, because you are able to soak up the information by hearing it presented to you, you can translate it into knowledge quicker in that facet. Unfortunately when you are reading something later, it may become more difficult for you to learn additional facts.

It is important to think about it for a second and figure out just which type of learner you are, because that will be the major first step towards becoming great at studying. There is a slight advantage to visual and verbal learning abilities, because you can do better in a classroom setting. Physical Learners need to put something into practice before it will be fully understood. But, no matter which category you fall into, there are easy ways to take advantage of what's around you when you are thinking about cramming for that first mid-term exam. Now that you know the types of learning, I want to try and give some breakdowns of tips that can be used for each learning style in order best take advantage of how your mind works.

Visual Learning Tips:

Because pictures are the best ways for visual learners to gain knowledge, you want to take that into consideration when sitting down to study. When you are working with terms that mean something, or words that describe something, take a minute and make up some flash cards that actually have pictures underneath the word on the front. Put the definitions or descriptions on the back, and try to learn them using that as a method. You will freely associate the picture with the word, and by doing so, it will make it easier for your brain to pick out the definition on command. By drawing out charts, and actually making graphs in order to memorize percentages, you can also help yourself to visually stimulate your brain. Color code your notes and you will better associate topics, and if you can print out diagrams of what you are studying, you will have an easier time remembering exactly what does what when learning something like human anatomy, geography, or even Chemistry Equations.

Auditory Learning Tips:

The biggest thing with being an auditory learner, is that you are going to remember more about what you hear than about what you are reading. The trick here, is to throw caution out the window, and take on a couple of methods that will help you remember what you are studying more clearly. First of all, for an auditory learner, it is EXTREMELY important to attend as many classes as you can. Because the majority of your knowledge can be collected from the Professor themselves, you can then make sure you are hearing everything you need to hear. Doing that gives you your best chance at hearing all of the important information the first time around. In addition, when you are reading the text, find a place where you can read it out loud to yourself. By doing this, it will trigger your brain to listen to what you are reading, and will end up helping you retain even more of the information. For definitions and such, when you make flashcards, read them outloud to yourself, and verbally commit things to memory.

Physical Learning Tips:

Physical learning is not always the easiest thing to do. If we are talking about Math, Science, and Art, you can teach yourself basic principles by actually putting them into practice. If you are trying to learn English, History, or Philosophy it can be a little tougher. I have a touch of kinesthetic learning capabilities myself, and what I have done is convince my brain that I am doing "physical learning" while actually not doing it. The trick here is finding a way to multi-task while you are learning new material. By having your body do something physical WHILE you are trying to learn, it can help a LOT with the process. Get on a tread-mill and read while walking it, ride a stationary bike slowly while reading, or even doing something creative with your hands while studying can help. It may seem weird, but try shuffling cards sometime while you are studying (without looking at the cards of course), and see if you can learn better that way. It has worked for me. If you have physical work that can be done associated with the learning, then that is the way to go, but if you can BE physical while learning it works almost as well.

I had touched briefly on social and solitary learning earlier, and let's take a quick look at what it means. Social learners work best in groups, and are able to absorb more useful information if they are studying with someone else at the same time. Doing flashcards with someone, or reading the text out-loud to someone else are quick and easy ways to do this. Quizzing each other is also a great way to do things. For solitary learners, these are people who can best teach themselves. Learning best by teaching oneself how to do something, what something means, or how something works is the sign of a solitary learner. Figuring out which one you are will help to decide which type of environment you should place yourself in while you are getting ready for that test.

By combining what you know about how you study best, with the knowledge of what type of learner you are, you can create the ideal situation for learning material. When you know exactly how you learn best, you can make sure that you are taking better advantage of your study time, and you will come away with much more knowledge than if you just randomly picked how you were going to study. Nobody knows you better than yourself, and you may have to test out a couple of methods before you find the one that works best for you, but by doing so you will have already done the leg work that could lead to an 'A' on that next test.

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