Discover your learning style

Discover your learning style and how you digest and process information to support your own learning.

Learning styles

What are learning styles?

Everyone's individual approach to learning is based on a complex mix of strengths and preferences. Our learning style is how we absorb and apply new concepts, skills and information in different ways at different times.

Other factors which affect your learning include motivation or mental state, the time of day, the physical environment, and time management.

How does knowing more about learning styles help?

Most people have particular preferences for some learning styles over others. Being aware of your own preferences and styles is a huge advantage in your learning journey.

Preferences and weaknesses

Using your personal preferences well and improving your weaker ones can:

What's your approach to learning?

Find out how you approach learning

The quizzes below may help you gain a little more insight into your typical approach to learning and which strategies may work well for you in maximizing your strengths.

These quizzes are meant to provide you with an avenue for self exploration in preparation for learning. Your approach to learning is changeable and takes into account your interests, motivations and tendencies which may influence learning.

Learning style quizzes

Myths about learning

Read through these myths about learning and consider which ones change your ideas about how you learn.

Myth One:

Talent is everything

Wrong!
If you believe your learning abilities are fixed, you'll put up mental blocks that hinder your learning. For example, you may tend to avoid risks to avoiding failing or you may lower your expectations in areas you feel are your weakness. Either way, those fixed beliefs will prevent you from opening up to new experiences.
Mindset can have positive and negative impacts on learning; intelligence and ability are neither innate nor static. Our brains grow, change, and adapt as we use them.

Bust the myth!

A combination of motivation and focused effort will really help you improve.
• Apply what you learn in practice. Practice builds accuracy and fluency. This fluency also builds the confidence and flexibility to apply what you've learned in different situations.
• Feed your curiosity. Ask questions, perform experiments, talk to experts, work with others, make mistakes, and explore your questions from many different angles.
• Know that your beliefs affect your behaviours. Cognitive psychologist Dr Stephen Chew calls these "beliefs that make you stupid".
Myth Two:

I only need one good method for studying.

Wrong!
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If your tried and true study strategies aren't working, use a different approach. Monitor your learning, by measuring your knowledge against what you expect.

Bust the myth!

• Reflect on your studying by asking yourself these three questions: What did you do? Was it effective? What can you change?
• Test your perceptions. After an exam, make a prediction of how many questions/problems you answered correctly. When you get the test back, see how your score matched with your prediction. If you were way off, consider changing your study strategy.
• Use strategies like generating your own questions and creating concept maps.
Myth Three:

If it’s easy, I must be learning

Wrong!
When faced with familiar terms or examples, you might find yourself feeling like you really understand the material, when your brain is really just responding to the fact that it's seen this exact material before. This is called the familiarity trap. Try to mix things up as you're studying and don't let yourself get discouraged if it feels like you aren't 'getting it'; that's a good sign. Confusion activates parts of your brain which regulate learning and motivation, helping you achieve a greater level of understanding.

Bust the myth!

• Retrieve—don't regurgitate. Develop your own test questions, ask yourself questions, solve sample problems, and analyse for deeper meanings. Why is this answer important? What does it relate to? How does this answer connect with what I already know? Can I illustrate it with an example?
• If you're confused, don't give up. Working hard to understand a problem or figure something out isn't a bad thing, and will likely lead to a deeper understanding of the material which will stay with you for a long time.
Myth Four:

If I memorise enough to pass the test, I’ve learned it!

Wrong!
If you stay up all night cramming for a test, you'll probably pass. But have you really learned anything while you were cramming? Cramming doesn't give the brain time to process information and make critical connections necessary to retrieve it from memory later.
Learning goes beyond your test scores: critical thinking analysis, applying principles to solve problems, the ability to assess your effectiveness, revise, and apply what you know are skills that you'll need through the rest of your life.

Bust the myth!

• Apply learned material. Try to think about situations where you might use what you're learning; come up with your own examples of a concept, or try to teach it to someone else.
• Think ahead about the classes you'll be taking, and what you'll be expected to know when you take them. Get some advice from your teacher or academic advisor. Take note of concepts you'll need to know well for the future, and focus your time on those items.
• Learn from failure. If you fail an exam, take steps to analyse what went wrong and change your strategies for next time.
Myth Five:

Planning is a waste of time

Being a self-directed learner requires planning. Planning can also help you develop a workable schedule for studying. Research shows spacing study episodes out with breaks in between study sessions or repetitions of the same material is more effective than massing such study episodes.
Planning reduces stress, helps you avoid cramming, and builds skills in metacognition. Planning is an important part of any career or occupation, so learning to plan well contributes to your overall competency.

Bust the myth!

• Target your studying: try to study key themes, and take what you know about the exam structure into account when you're planning. If you know you'll have an essay, write outlines! If you have to solve problems, go over homework or make up your own.
• Review or practice throughout the term. Without regular review, you may have to re-learn a large portion of the course right before the final.

References

Ambrose, S.A, Lovett, M.C. (2014). Prior Knowledge is More Than Content: Skills and Beliefs Also Impact Learning, in Benassi, V. A., Overson, C. E., & Hakala, C. M. (Editors). (2014). Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum. http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/asle2014/index.php

Clark, C.M., Bjork, R.A. (2014). When and Why Introducing Difficulties and Errors Can Enhance Instruction, in Benassi, V. A., Overson, C. E., & Hakala, C. M. (Editors). (2014). Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum. http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/asle2014/index.php

Dweck, C. (2009). Mindset. http://mindsetonline.com

North Carolina State University. (n.d.). Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire. https://www.webtools.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/

Samford University. (2011). Beliefs that make you fail… or succeed [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=SP85708E6EA236E3DB&v=RH95h36NChI#t=146

Samford University. (2011). Putting principles for learning into practice [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9GrOxhYZdQ&list=PL85708E6EA236E3DB&index=5

Samford University. (2011). I blew the exam, now what? [Video]. Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QVRiMkdRsU

VARK Learn Limited. (2022). The VARK questionnaire. http://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/

Attributions

Hero image: Close up of painting by Fiona Art. Licensed under a Pexels.com license.

Pink daisies by Brett Sayles. Licensed under a Pexels.com license.

Discover your learning style

Learning styles

What are learning styles?

How does knowing more about learning styles help?

Preferences and weaknesses

What's your approach to learning?

Find out how you approach learning

Learning style quizzes

Myths about learning

Myth One:

Talent is everything

Bust the myth!

Myth Two:

I only need one good method for studying.

Bust the myth!

Myth Three:

If it’s easy, I must be learning

Bust the myth!

Myth Four:

If I memorise enough to pass the test, I’ve learned it!

Bust the myth!

Myth Five:

Planning is a waste of time

Bust the myth!

References

Attributions

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