Quiz: What Type of Learner Are You?
The Best Strategies for Your Learning Style
Studying can be boring and tedious, but what makes it a million times easier is knowing how you should study. Everyone retains information differently. Take this quiz to find out what type of learner you are, then read on to find discover what strategies best suit your learning style!
Auditory Learner
Auditory learners are typically known to be great listeners, and this is how they best absorb new information. Some effective strategies for auditory learners include:
Listening to podcasts, because you can write down the notes as you listen, and by saving the recordings on your phone you can study as you workout or commute;
Repeating facts out loud with your eyes closed;
Participating in group discussions;
Giving presentations yourself or teaching someone else what you just learned;
Since you think linearly, auditory learners learn best when you write a sequence of steps down and then talk yourself through each one;
Using word association games is also particularly helpful for auditory learners to remember facts and lines, and for this reason you also usually work best collaborating with a group of people;
You consume information from videos to an even greater extent than visual learners;
Audiobooks are also incredibly useful for audio learners, and many can be downloaded on sites such as audible.com
Learn more about this learning style with these resources:
What Type of Learner Are You from OnlineCollege.org
Multi-Sensory Approaches to Learning
Visual Learner
As a visual learner myself, I find that I think in pictures. This learning style usually correlates with reading and writing, but there are other effective strategies that help visual learners:
Drawing out diagrams, using coloured pens and writing out my notes repeatedly.
Handwrite notes in class and then type them up later, and then handwrite them again and interpret visual methods such as charts and doodles.
Use a whiteboard with different coloured markers and writing out key facts repeatedly.
Using flashcards, highlighting and copying down information from a PowerPoint.
If I’m learning information, drawing diagrams is most helpful for me, but if I’m learning how to do something I find that watching YouTube tutorials or educational videos from channels such as Crash Course really helpful as they’re filled with colourful images and designs. For example, if I’m taking a History class I like to draw the actual timeline and then cite the events below each date. If I’m taking a Geography class it’s essential for me to constantly resort to a map, and so I’ll print out a few maps and write my notes around it.
It’s also important that visual learners study in a quiet space since focus and concentration are crucial for us to digest new information.
During study breaks, it’s also useful for visual learners to find relaxation in soothing images or to doodle their stresses and anxieties to release tension.
For those visual learners that love to be creative, dotted notebooks are an amazing way to draw your notes rather than just writing them over and over again. There are many sources online that showcase incredible study notes and are great for getting ideas. I’ve included some of my favourites below:
Learn more about this learning style with these resources:
What Type of Learner are You by OnlineCollege.org
Kinesthetic Learner
Kinesthetic learners are known primarily for your capability to digest information from movement, and so strategies such as these tend to work best for you:
Kinesthetic learners can get distracted when sitting too long, and so it’s important for you to study in short blocks and take frequent breaks to move around and regroup their thoughts. Kinesthetic learners learn by doing,and so you generally prefer field trips and taking lab classes where you can be practical.
Memory cards and flash games are especially helpful for kinesthetic learners in order to memorize facts, as the physical act of writing down on the flashcards and flipping them over engages the brain. Typing out sentences from a textbook, tracing words and re-writing sentences is helpful to keep your concentration levels up if you are sitting too long reading, as you may tend to get fidgety when your fingers aren’t moving.
Using hand gestures in general and incorporating them into your studies can also be useful. For example, if you’re studying different mathematical methods, a closed fist could represent sin, open palm cosand an extended index finger tan.
Similarly to visual learners, drawing on whiteboards or chalkboards are useful for kinesthetic learners — and the bigger the better so that they are able to move around as they write.
Combining activities with studying is the most effective way for kinesthetic learners to memorize information, from memory games with friends to even squeezing a stress ball as you read.
It’s also been proven that kinesthetic learners find music a helpful aid when studying.
On study breaks it’s useful for you to do physical activity such as exercising or even just walking around.
Learn more about this learning style with these resources:
What Type of Learner are You by OnlineCollege.org
Kinaesthetic Learning Strategies
