How to Study: What to Know About Successful Studying

So what type of learner are you?

Many students know that there are a variety of learning styles which exist within the educational system. But are you aware of the seven defined styles? Beneath is a reference chart for the seven defined styles of learning. Each one uses a specific focus point for retaining new information.

What Is Your Learning Style?

Visual-Spatial – Do you like to draw, do jigsaw puzzles, read maps, daydream? Creating drawings, graphic organizers, or watching videos might be useful for you.

Bodily-Kinesthetic – Do you like movement, making things, physical activity? Do you communicate well through body language, or like to be taught through physical activity? Hands-on learning, acting out, role playing are tools you might try.

Musical – Do you show sensitivity to rhythm and sound? If you love music, and are also sensitive to sounds in your environments, it might be beneficial to study with music in the background. You can turn lessons into lyrics or speak rhythmically to aid in content retention.

Interpersonal – Do you have many friends, empathy for others, street smarts, and interact well with others? You might learn best in a group setting. Form a study group with other students who are preparing for the same exam. Technology makes it easy to connect, if you are unable to meet in person, teleconferencing or video chats are useful tools to aid interpersonal learners in connecting with others.

Intrapersonal – Do you prefer to work alone rather than in a group? Are you in tune with your inner feelings, follow your intuition and possess a strong will, confidence and opinions? Independent study and introspection will be ideal for you. Reading books, using creative materials, keeping a diary of your progress will be helpful. Intrapersonal learners are the most independent of the learners.

Linguistic – Do you use words effectively, have highly developed auditory skills and often think in words? Do you like reading, playing word games, making up poetry or stories? Learning tools such as computers, games, multimedia will be beneficial to your studies.

Logical-Mathematical – Do you think conceptually, abstractly, and are able to see and explore patterns and relationships? Try exploring subject matter through logic games, experiments and puzzles.

While each one is defined, no student can be considered one singular type of learner. There may be a category that a student best fits and it is important to take note of which category that is. If you are not sure which category you best fit in with, take a diagnostic exam. As a student or learner with an upcoming exam, you will want to use resources that fall in line with the category that best support your memory.

Some students will find that they fall into multiple categories as well. That is normal. With access to materials such as videos, podcasts, books, tutorials, and a variety of other sources, it’s easy to think that your optimal learning style goes beyond just one category.

The best potential a student has for retaining new information is to cater it to their specific needs. In order to maximize your studying, it is important that you select specific source types for your learning styles and combine them with the habits that are most commonly seen within successful study patterns.

Adding a visual component can help reinforce lesson material and your retention of information.

Many students, and just people in general, listen to audiobooks. This is a commonly used tool and helps increase the learning for those who are specifically considered more auditory learners. However, when it comes to studying language arts, combining an audiobook and following along with the reading to visually see the words also increases the focus and awareness of the material. This becomes an important learning point when it comes to spotting conventions of language, such as punctuation, and associating words together for increased vocabulary.

Another great example comes with studying science and subtopics of it. Whether it is understanding the environment, physics, or the human body, understanding lessons within this area require a deeper knowledge of how things work. Visual representations such as diagrams, flowcharts, and time elapsed videos can help reinforce these points, alongside standard auditory learning.

Math can be a bit more of an abstract concept. But providing visual context towards studying it can also help reinforce these points. The same way parents and teachers show children how one apple added to another apple equals two apples, we can show how formulas and equations equate to calculating the spatial area of a shape. Step by step processes in an easy-to-follow flow of math sets can also help demonstrate more difficult points with more ease.

From these points, it seems that adding any visual context to a lesson helps increase the understanding for material. But what other tactics are commonly seen among successful students and test takers?

Regardless of your optimum learning style, there are three simple commonalities across successful studying patterns.

1. Time

The first commonality among successful students is putting in a time commitment. There is a simple relationship between studying and results: putting in the time will help you learn. The key component in this task is that you need to actively study. Set aside time within your schedule to go to a specified workspace with your study materials and try. Sitting at a desk with your book or laptop open isn’t actively studying. While it does get you one step closer to learning, you need to read the material and try to absorb the information. If you dedicate the time to actively study, you will see natural progress.

To see considerable progress, there is a need for good balance of time. How much time is too little? How much is too much? These questions can be answered with our second commonality of:

2.Consistency

While putting in a time commitment seems difficult, the task is much more manageable when it is spread out. Additionally, when it is spread out, you are providing your mind with time to take a break and absorb the information within that downtime.

3. Practice

While learning the material and studying the information is a huge step in the right direction, you must be able to apply the principles towards the questions you will see on your exam. The quickest way to cause test anxiety may be to study for hours until your confidence is as high as it can possibly be, and then get stuck on the first question of the test. If you are unfamiliar with either utilizing your knowledge or the question sets you will see, the exam will overwhelm you and take away any confidence you’ve earned during your study sessions.

The best and simplest way to overcome this issue is to practice. Practice the material in a variety of ways. Hand write your notes to increase your retention of information. Jot down key phrases or words of association as a trigger to remember specific concepts. Watch videos that breakdown your lessons and draw simple diagrams that work for you. Use flashcards to remember vocabulary and key concepts. Orally recite your information and talk yourself through lessons.

When it comes down to it, use all of these tactics to channel the information into practice questions. Familiarize yourself with the questions you will see, so that when you open up the first page of the exam, you can feel confident to pace yourself one question at a time.

As simple as these three steps seem while reading about them, it is important to recognize that putting in such timely and consistent efforts requires discipline. By utilizing multiple forms of accountability, such as a goals list, visual calendars, and reminders, you can increase your potential for focusing. Similarly, we recommend combining your optimum learning style with a healthy dose of new techniques to enhance and maximize your study efforts.

Putting in the time and effort seems like an obvious task, but we also recognize that there are a variety of factors that can cause more problems throughout the process. Not only can accountability be an over-arching problem, but factors such as focusing, anxiety, or simply not having proper materials to study from can be large issues in the process of acing your exam. For further information on small steps you can take to conquer these problems, subscribe to our newsletter or click on the related links below.