Which Type Of Learner Are You?

 Often students spend hours, days or weeks studying and preparing for exams and tests, but they don’t see their efforts reflected in their results. Often this is because they have opted to use a passive way of learning instead of an active way of learning.

Passive learning is when one takes information in without trying to reproduce it. Active learning, on the other hand, involves reproducing what one has learnt. In active learning one usually condenses the information while reproducing it.

Examples of passive learning include re-reading (not out loud), copying of notes, and typing notes on the computer without changing or shortening them and even highlighting. Examples of active learning include doing past papers, mind mapping, writing index/flash cards, annotating texts and repeating out loud.

There isn’t a single wrong or right way of active learning and each student can have a different learning style. Currently there are 7 known learning styles:

• Aural learners usually learn best through verbal presentations like speeches and lectures.
• Logical learners like involving logic, reasoning and numbers in their learning process.
• Physical learners learn best when they can use their hands or body and are all about the sense of touch.
• Social learners flourish when they can discuss ideas and concepts and when they brainstorm with others.
• Solitary learners prefer to work alone and self-study in a quiet place where they can focus on their work.
• Verbal learners learn best through speech and writing.
• Visual learners use pictures and diagrams to understand their work better. 

A student can even be a combination of any of these, and some of these even have sub-types.
 

When I was in school, I didn’t know about these different types of learning styles. Whether they were well known in the world back then, I cannot tell. What I can remember is what I did when I was studying. I am not saying this will work for everyone, but it sure did work for me. I continuously made summaries of what we covered in class, writing it shorter and in my own words. I tried doing this as soon after learning new work as I could. When a test or exam was approaching, I drew up a timetable to break down the section or sections into smaller parts. Then I assigned a part to each day, leaving a margin of two or three days when I knew about the upcoming test well enough in advance. When I had to cover the section, I assigned for each day, I merely picked up my notes (the summarized, shortened notes notes I made just after learning it in class) and went outside. I have always loved singing, and there outside I walked up and down, singing my notes to myself. This leads to Carmina Burana (O Fortuna) suddenly having lyrics about the Second World War or genetics. Time To Say Goodbye now was a song about the Krebs-cycle or church reformation and Amigos Para Siempre to be a song about the human nervous system. When I sang through my work a few times, I would go inside and find my mom wherever she was. Then I would start explaining to her what I just went through outside while letting her have my notes. I would always ask her to make a pencil mark next to whatever I have left out. I usually tried going through my work like this on three different days before my exams. I would leave a day or two, right before the day of the exam for past papers or exercises. Mathematics was a different story, but I will share this with you in another blog.

What I was trying to show through what I have just shared is how I combined a couple of different styles of learning to help me remember my work. Now more than a decade and a half since I have finished school, I still recall most of my work. Sometimes I still see my notes when I close my eyes. 

The most important thing is that one experiments and finds the active learning style that works best for one as an individual. I have seen students writing index cards using the cutest little pictures to summarize and shorten their notes, which is another brilliant way of active learning. 

I would recommend one never starts a new learning style right before a very important test or exam. One never knows, beforehand, how effective that particular style would be for one. However, feel free to experiment at other times as it is making learning so much more fun and effective if one has found a way that works for you.

Till next time,

Stay safe