What sort of learner are you?

Wednesday, March 15, 2017
How to study best to cater for your preferred learning style.

Want to succeed at school, uni and then throughout your career? An important thing to learn about yourself which will help you achieve your goals is finding out what type of learner you are. Once you work this out, you can start proactively studying in a manner you know will allow you to retain information and grasp concepts. Don’t worry if you don’t know what type of learner you are. There are plenty of free online tests to help you work out what styles suit you.

Audio
You learn best while actively listening. You enjoy discussions and talking things through. You grasp concepts by listening to others and you prefer to read aloud, sing or hum more than others. As an auditory learner, try to tailor your study in a way that helps you learn such as listening and repeating notes out load. Mnemonic devices are also a great way for auditory learners to remember facts so get creative.

Kinaesthetic
You can’t sit still, and you benefit from frequent study breaks. As a kinaesthetic learner, you learn best when you do things yourself, so actively participating in activities will help you learn. You are great at building models and working with your hands and if you have done something yourself you will remember more so than if you read about it. Flash cards are a great study option for kinaesthetic learners as it they can be turned into a game.

Visual
What you see is what you will learn. As a visual learner, using graphs and diagrams are some of the best methods of learning. If you can visualise things in your mind you will retain more information. Flash cards and highlighting notes are also brilliant ways for visual learners to retain information and study effectively.  You like to see things clearly so you will tend to sit at the front of class. Colourful presentations and illustrations are your jam.

Read & Write
You are probably the most traditional methods of study. As a read & write learner, you like to read, take notes and then re-read notes. Studying in a group is probably not your thing and your note taking skills are envied by your class mates. The physical method of writing notes on paper will help you retain information and even more so when you come to re-reading and re-writing them later on. It is important to use your own words to describe things so when you come back to your notes you will know exactly what it means.

Just keep in mind that you won’t fit into just one learning style so don’t box yourself into one style. Explore your dominate styles and work with them. When you are in school, uni or the work place, you can’t always do things or learn things in the style that you prefer. You can however turn your study sessions into the learning style you prefer. If you need more breaks take them. If you hate group study, don’t do it. Understand yourself and cater your learning environment to suit you.

You can also base your career chose on the style of learner you are. If you prefer learning in a certain style you probably will prefer working in an environment that aligns with your learning style. Matching your career to your preferred learning style can help keep you interested and engaged in your career. Find out more about a career that will suit you and your personality by taking our Career Personality Test.

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Ursula Scale
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Ursula Scale

Ursula Scale is People and Culture Officer at Avondale University. She also studied a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) at Avondale. As a former a former events and marketing officer, she is passionate about sharing her Avondale experience with others.