Learning Styles & Study Skills

Learning Outcomes: Students will be introduced to learning styles Students will become familiar with their own individual learning style

Ice Breaker: What’s your Learning Style? --Take the Test

What are Learning Styles? Information enters your brain three main ways: sight, hearing and touch. The one you use the most is called your Learning Style. Visual Learners learn by sight Auditory Learners learn by hearing Tactile Learners (kinesthetic) learn by touch

Visual Learners Let me see it! Prefer Challenges Prefer to see information such as pictures, diagrams, cartoons, demonstrations. Picture words and concepts they hear as images. Benefit from using charts, maps, notes, and flash cards when studying. Like to take notes! Organize their thoughts by writing them down Use colored highlighters to color code texts and notes Easily distracted in lecture with no visual aids. Overwhelmed with intense visuals accompanied by lecture. Let me see it!

Auditory Learners Let me hear it! Prefer Challenges Prefer to hear information spoken. Can absorb a lecture with little effort. Well-developed listening and presentation skills May not need careful notes to learn. storytelling, role-playing and dialogue May read aloud to themselves. Like background music when they study. auditory distractions  difficulty with detailed written material Loose concentration easily  graphs and other visual illustrations are sometimes more challenging difficulty with silent activities such as test-taking or online learning Let me hear it!

Tactile or Kinesthetic Learners Prefer Challenges Prefer touch as their primary mode for taking in information. Do best when they are actively involved In traditional lecture situations, they should write out important facts. Create study sheets connected to vivid examples. Role-playing Do best with a Hands-on approach Like to participate in learning Loose much of what is said in class Have a hard time with sitting and listening Move around a lot Do not prefer reading Let me touch it!

Know Your Learning Style! Know your learning style now! Know your strengths and your weaknesses! Come up with multiple solutions so it can help you study more effectively!

Build Strengths across the Learning Styles Make the best use of your learning style. Work harder in skills that don’t come easily to you. Be flexible and adaptable, try new things and new ways. Keep growing!

Really important - be adaptable! Different Teaching Styles Are they compatible with your learning style? Lecture – teacher talks all period Group discussion – teacher talks but encourages discussion Small groups – teacher aids (facilitates) group interaction Visual focus – teacher uses lots of visual aids Verbal focus – words, words & more words Logical sequence – teacher presents material in a step-by-step, reasonable format Random sequence – teacher jumps all over the place Really important - be adaptable!

No matter what your Learning Style is, it’s very important to… Be involved in class – participate! Link classroom experience to the outside world Relate class concepts to your own life Ask questions Don’t get distracted – stay “on-task” Keep an open mind: Experiment! Different instructors have different goals regarding student participation. Some expect students to concentrate on listening, thinking, and taking notes. Others want you to be actively involved in other ways as well. Participating in various ways will develop your academic skills. Asking or responding to questions can make a class more worthwhile for you and your classmates.

Learning Outcomes: Students will be introduced to learning styles Students will become familiar with their own individual learning style

Know Your Learning Style!

Assessment