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Which Learning Style is Right for You?

Which Learning Style is Right for You?
5/24/2011
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Kara Coleman

As a tutor, the question that I hear most from my students is “How do I study?” The answer depends on which learning style suits you best because there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all learning.

The majority of people are visual learners. They benefit from recopying or making their own notes, tend to be good at spelling and can remember where certain text is located on a page. It’s a good idea for visual learners to sit in the front of the classroom, within sight of the board or projector.

Auditory learners remember things well when they are sung or spoken to out loud. If you benefitted more from Schoolhouse Rock! (Conjunction Junction, anyone?) than you did from textbooks, try reading your notes out loud, or set them to a tune. Ask your professors if they permit voice recorders in their classes; if they do, record their lectures and replay them when you get home.

My orientation teacher at Gadsden State once said, “Some people are content to sit in the driver’s ed classroom and watch a DVD on traffic accidents. Others want to get in cars and go have accidents.” That’s not a pleasant analogy but it describes the difference between visual learners and auditory learners and kinesthetic/tactile learners. Kinesthetic learners learn by doing. They like field trips and science experiments and can easily pick up dance choreography and martial arts. These learners will probably benefit from writing notes by hand so that they can form the words rather than just read them or – better yet – engaging in an active discussion about the topic they are studying.

What learning style works best for you and why?

Kara Coleman lives in Gadsden, Alabama, where she attends Gadsden State Community College. She received the school’s Outstanding English Student Award two years in a row and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa. She plans to transfer to Jacksonville State University in August 2011 to study communications with concentration in print journalism. Kara’s writing has been featured in Teen Ink magazine and she is a children’s book author through Big Dif Books. In her spare time, Kara enjoys reading, painting, participating in community theater and pretty much any other form of art.

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