What Type of Student Are You?
Did you know that different people learn best in different ways? Some of us are audio learners, some visual learners, while others are hands-on learners. By determining your learning style, you can better understand which mode of learning is best for you.
Audio learners learn best by sound. They prefer noisy rooms and sometimes listen to music or TV while studying. Listening and talking are well-developed skills in audio learners.
Are you an audio learner?
- In a classroom setting, you learn best by listening to a lecture and then participating in a group discussion.
- You benefit from listening to audio tapes (books on tape, lecture recordings, etc.
- Joining a study group would be extremely beneficial to you.
- You “talk your way” through new information.
Visual learners think in images and pictures. They are good readers and tend to be well-organized. Visual learners also need to have time to digest what they have learned before being able to practice it. When trying to remember something, they may visualize a picture of it in their mind.
Are you a visual learner?
- While in a classroom setting, you learn best when information is presented in video, charts, maps or pictures.
- You may work best in a quiet room and not in a study group.
- You make flashcards of key information that needs to be memorized.
- You highlight key words, phrases or other information in textbooks or presentations.
- You color-code information.
Hands-on learners prefer to learn through their body or feelings. They tend to remember what they have learned better if they practice it. Most hands-on learners cannot sit still for very long. Also, eating or chewing gum while learning sometimes helps these learners retain information.
Are you a hands-on learner?
You learn best in a classroom that allows you to work with and manipulate material to learn.
- You also learn best when you can be physically active while learning.
- You benefit from instructors who provide in-class demonstrations and out-of-class field work.
- You sit in the front of the classroom and take lots of notes.
- You walk back and forth with your textbook, note, or flashcards while you’re studying and even talk out loud to help you remember key words and phrases.
- You spend extra time in a lab learning new information or go out into the field to get firsthand experience of what you are learning.
Did you know that different people learn best in different ways? Some of us are audio learners, some visual learners, while others are hands-on learners. By determining your learning style, you can better understand which mode of learning is best for you.