Have you ever been at school listening to a lecture and wondered why the person next to you seemed to be having a hard time paying attention? Or maybe you've been at work and were struggling to understand a presentation only to find out that your colleague thought it was easy to comprehend? This does not mean that you are less intelligent or more intelligent that anyone else, it just means that you have individual learning styles. Individual learning styles define who we are and how we process information. Chances are, these scenarios have happened to you many times, but once you understand why, you can change your study habits to reflect your own learning styles.



There are four basic types of individual learning styles and pretty much everyone fits perfectly into one of the categories. On your own, without knowing the definitions of the learning styles, you probably already have some idea of what type of environment is conducive to your studying habits. Maybe you enjoy lectures that come with visual presentations, but hate the ones that don't. Perhaps you have a hard time sitting through presentations and videos, but you love field trips, lab work and other "hands on" assignments. Stop and think about the ways you like to learn and you'll gain some insight into your personal learning styles.

The good news is that there is no right approach to learning. So, whether you are a visual/verbal, visual/nonverbal, tactile/kinesthetic or auditory/verbal learner, it is superficial when it comes to your intelligence level. What does matter though is that you find out which of the individual learning styles applies to you and read as much as you can about the different tips and techniques that work best for you.

The visual/verbal individual learning styles mean that you like to be presented with visual and written information. Handouts, notes, blackboard presentations and lectures using an overhead projector work well for you. Try color coding your notes to enhance your individual learning style preferences.

The visual/non verbal individual learning styles indicates that you like to be shown films, videos, maps and charts to increase your comprehension of a subject. You will work best in a quiet room, away from distractions and may not like study groups.

The tactile/kinesthetic individual learning styles shows that you are a very "hands on" type of person and you like to "do" rather than just watch or listen. You work well when you can learn with your hands, participate in outdoor field work or lab experiments. To help you pay attention during lectures, sit in the front of the room near the instructor.

The auditory/verbal individual learning styles reveals that you like to listen to lectures and participate in group discussions. Any type of oral language format works great for you. Audio tapes can help you retain information as well. To enhance your educational experience, try joining study group so you can talk with others about the material. You might want to tape record lectures and talk out loud as you read to help with retention.