What's Your Learning Style?
With testing season coming up and graduation season right around the corner, it’s more important than ever to study up on your SAT/ACT material. Studying is never fun, but for some students it’s much more difficult to stay focused and retain the information they’re reviewing. If you find that your current study habits aren’t quite cutting it, then it may be time to assess your learning style.
What are Learning Styles?
Not every study method will work well for every student. Learning styles describe the ways that students most effectively learn and retain information. There are 4 common learning styles:
- Visual learning: students prefer to learn through seeing and visual aids, like charts, videos, diagrams, etc.
- Auditory learning: students learn best through listening in formats such as lectures or podcasts.
- Reading/writing learning: students prefer to take notes, have written information, and engage with texts.
- Kinesthetic learning: students learn best by interactive engagement in lessons with physical activity, hands-on experiences, and practical application.
These are the 4 most prominent learning styles that students and teachers often consider. You could find your learning style by sitting down and examining which methods you tend to work best with. If you’re feeling stumped and unsure, you could also take quizzes online that may be able to point you in the direction of what your learning style may be.
How does this help me study?
Once you’ve determined which learning style best suits you, you’ll have the opportunity to start changing your study methods to match. For example, let’s say you’re studying biology and reviewing the components of cells. You could adjust your study habits based on each learning style accordingly:
- Visual learners: watch a video using diagrams to help explain and label the different parts of cells.
- Auditory learners: listen to a podcast about cells and cell structures, or listen to a recording of your teacher’s lecture, if possible.
- Reading/writing learners: rewrite your notes for the chapter on cellular biology.
- Kinesthetic learners: create a diagram or model of a cell and label each part of the cell with explanations about each component’s function.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, studying and preparing for standardized tests are typical habits of good students, but setting aside study time is only half the battle. You drastically increase your chances of success when you adapt to your learning style because you’re setting yourself up to succeed. Studying is only helpful when you retain the information you’re reviewing, and you definitely don’t want to sit down in front of a test and find that you don’t remember anything that you’re studying. Learning styles are a great strength, and you’ll certainly want to lean into every strength and advantage you have when you sit down to take your tests.
