I’m sure most students have heard the idea that everyone learns differently, or how the way everyone attains information can be defined through specific learning styles. I knew that learning styles existed, but I was never actually sure what they were or where I fit in. I was inspired to write about this by a conversation I had recently. I was speaking with my friend and I mentioned that I planned to study after school to prepare for my upcoming math test. After I mentioned my plans to study, she revealed to me that she feels clueless when it comes to studying. This sparked the thought that knowing your learning style is crucial to success in school. Knowing how you learn will give you a foundation for studying and practicing concepts. If you do not know the best way to learn, you can’t put it into practice and will be stuck rehearsing habits that don’t benefit you.
There are four distinct styles of retaining information: visual learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners and reading/writing learners. Firstly, visual learners learn best when using visual aids such as charts, graphs and diagrams when trying to learn. If you find yourself needing to see information and struggle with picking up information just by hearing it, you may just be a visual learner! Visual learners are super common, making up about 65 percent of the population. The next most common type of learners are auditory learners, who are approximately 30 percent of the population. This means they prefer to hear or speak information. Having someone explain concepts out loud to you, or explaining things back to them can help comprehension if you learn auditorily. Kinesthetic learners are more uncommon, with only five percent of the population identifying with this style. If you often need to use real-life examples or to put things into practice to fully grasp an idea, you may be a kinesthetic learner. Wanting to feel or move during the learning process is another kinesthetic trait. Finally, some people just prefer to read or write to learn information. Written notes are super important to this type of learner because you write when taking notes, and later read them to study. Knowing your learning type or what combination of types you have can make studying more interesting and enjoyable.
Study hacks for visual learners include drawing diagrams or putting information into a chart or graph. For auditory learners, watching a video to hear the information or repeating important key points from notes should help. Repeating information out loud is actually a great memorization technique and can be beneficial to all learners. Kinesthetic learners will thrive with practice problems and using movements and gestures to remember content. Reading/writing learners can stick with tried and true note-taking.
Personally, I feel like I would be an auditory learner because I often find myself trying to recall quotes from a teacher when taking tests and needing to repeat something out loud to remember it. If you are still unsure about the best way for you to learn you should try some of the hacks I shared and see which you resonate with most. Who knows, you may discover that parts of each learning style apply to you, making you a little bit of everything.