Prefered learning style

[Siamese cat]

My current predicament lead me to think about my learning style and use of some of my methods for faster learning of larger portions of subjects to learn.

I'm strongly visual learner. I do best when I form a picture in my mind, when I get to learn from flow charts (and frequently draw them myself while learning), I can close my eyes and remember very complicated equations, even do some solving if I focus enough to visualize what I want. I am better with general concepts and always can tell what is the essence. I don't tend to bog down with too much detail (which is a flaw of mine).

I've spent very little time in the classroom, and only at classes where I like the way the prof is presenting his subject, and as for others only in a first few classes so that I can hear the way that prof is presenting since from that I can conclude what they think is relevant and what kind of questions to expect (I'm extremely good at this which might be because my mom is a professor so I had an opportunity to learn about their ways at home ).

So share some secrets of yours, how do you learn best?

 

[TinyBubbles]

great thread! i'm not sure what learning style I prefer, probably audio, since I tend to remember stuff better when it's spoken than when it's written down. But then again, I do a lot of diagrams and graphs and things in school to help me learn (and I love drawing) so maybe there's some visual learning tendencies in there too.
Haha, so fun to dissect one's mind.. using one's mind

 

[The Jester]

I underline in my textbooks with pencil.

Works for me Just reading it twice or more, and I remember it.
Also, consciously connecting it with what I already know.

 

[randomsomeone]

I am highly visual, too.

 

[IndigoSensor]

Auditory, I learn best by listening to someone speak, or by me speaking.

 

[TinyBubbles]

Auditory, I learn best by listening to someone speak, or by me speaking.

slightly off topic but do you think it's possible to read words on a screen without "hearing" them in your head?

 

[Orion]

I'm a strong visual learner. I hate it when lecturers only read out quotes or passages- If it's a book, quote or poem I need to SEE the words. I even ignore what they're saying until they show it on the screen.

 

[LadyINFJ]

Highly visual here as well. But I prefer being in the classroom and listening to the teacher, taking notes when something important is being said, drawing pictures, diagrams, graphs. But my style of taking notes is very individual, in a way that it is difficult for other people to understand what I mean. I write down key words, my own abreviations, rarely full sentences. Later at home I "decode" my notes and write them down again, this time with sentences that make sense. Rewriting them makes me repeat what's being said and helps me memorize it better. Also while rewriting and rereading my initial notes, I kind of see flashbacks in my head and hear voices and remember additional information that has been said but I did not note down. When I read a lessonbook, I like to underline and mark the important parts and I try to memorize them. And of course repeating, repeating, repeating. I developed various learning methods and strategies throughout the years, especially while learning foreign languages. So I know what works best for me. I prefer when the teacher support his lecture with a PowerPoint presentation and slides as well. So I can connect picture and sound - this works best for me. Only sound makes it a bit harder because then it appears to be like a dictation. Only pictures doesn't work as well, I kinda miss the voice.

 

[Siamese cat]

I underline in my textbooks with pencil.

Works for me Just reading it twice or more, and I remember it.
Also, consciously connecting it with what I already know.

Underlining never worked for me. I still get to remember the same amount as when just reading it. Sometimes I underline but only important words or newly introduced names of concepts and such.

My sister (Graduating Law) tends to underline everything and even in several different colors, and every color represents different thing (facts, interesting stories, law abstracts, etc). She is able to reproduce whole sentences and learns them by heart extremely quickly which I can't do for the love of life. The only thing that I could remember by heart was the passage from Faust and even that was extremely hard. To paraphrase something I can without any effort but reproduce verbatim almost never.

 

[Jasmine85]

I prefer the format of a lecture. Ones that have been carefully composed with lots of little tangential questions dropped in to inspire the listener. I like lectures to be enthusiastically/cheerfully presented, because I enjoy that human interaction in learning.

Diagrams are okay if pre-drawn, but I'm not a huge fan of them used on the fly because it takes twenty times longer for a lecturer to draw one than it takes me to extract the relevant information from it, which is often not that much information.

And I do I like lectures to happen quickly. I learn best when they go at speed, otherwise I get bored and can't be bothered listening, and I don't take things in any where near as well then.

When it comes to anything work related I'm a fifth gear sort of person...

... and I like that I've put that last fact into words, because it is something I should remind myself of more often to optimize my happiness and productivity.

 

[Barnabas]

Mainly audio, I learn a great deal from straight lectures. But i've also learned that the most effeective way to learn something is through engaging as many of your senses as possible. So wathching a power point combined with the professors lecture plus taking notes seems to be the most effective for me so far. I have not yet found a way to encorperate taste and smell into a class lecture(but i'm work'n on it).

 

[Siamese cat]

And I do I like lectures to happen quickly. I learn best when they go at speed, otherwise I get bored and can't be bothered listening, and I don't take things in any where near as well then.

This, also. I don't like when someone is repeating something too many times, what I don't get at first I'll get later myself. Also, I don't like things too chewed down because then I get the feeling that there is nothing left for me to do and lose inspiration for learning.

 

[LadyINFJ]

Mainly audio, I learn a great deal from straight lectures. But i've also learned that the most effeective way to learn something is through engaging as many of your senses as possible. So wathching a power point combined with the professors lecture plus taking notes seems to be the most effective for me so far. I have not yet found a way to encorperate taste and smell into a class lecture(but i'm work'n on it).

You can eat and smell specific food during different lectures? For example chocolate for lectures in A, fruits for lectures in B, something to drink for lectures in C and so on

 

[Barnabas]

I just remembered something my NJROTC instructor taught me that you guys might find useful.

"What the hand writes, the eye see's, the brain remembers."

 

[NeverAmI]

Ideally the teacher would have the capabilities to combine visual, audio, and at times kinesthetic to teach. Perhaps kinesthetic by telling you to write down certain notes or to copy some diagram they draw. They should use proper body language to provide emphasis and also proper inflections for emphasis and to kill the monotony.

However, the ability to metaphorically link things together and create understanding through various examples and explanations is invaluable. Conceptual competence linked with excellent communication and some humor tossed in is key. Lack of ego on the part of the teacher helps too so I can ask my questions without them getting defensive.

 

[IndigoSensor]

slightly off topic but do you think it's possible to read words on a screen without "hearing" them in your head?

I would think it's impossible. I am unable to do that, and I cant think of anyone that I would know that would be able to do that.

Think about it this way. Have you ever read something, then realise a page later you don't remember anything you just read because you were thinking about something else? In your mind you are "hearing" your thoughts, not the words in front of you. As such, you didn't actually read it.

 

[Jasmine85]

Lack of ego on the part of the teacher helps too so I can ask my questions without them getting defensive.

Nor do we want to hear BS answers like "That's not on the syllabus. You just need to be able to list these twenty things; you don't need to understand why they are relevant."

 

[Siamese cat]

Nor do we want to hear BS answers like "That's not on the syllabus. You just need to be able to list these twenty things; you don't need to understand why they are relevant."

And I like to hear that s/he doesn't know the answer to question but will look for it, and really produce at least an effort to find an answer. Ego maniacs among profs will never admit that they don't know something I presume from fear to not appear weak.

 

[Siamese cat]

I would think it's impossible. I am unable to do that, and I cant think of anyone that I would know that would be able to do that.

Think about it this way. Have you ever read something, then realise a page later you don't remember anything you just read because you were thinking about something else? In your mind you are "hearing" your thoughts, not the words in front of you. As such, you didn't actually read it.

Would that be the same for writing, because if is, supposedly there are some students in India who managed to write with both hands simultaneously, two different topics in two different languages. I can't even try to comprehend the noise in their heads.

The first link that I could find about this doesn't look to valid, but I can't look any further now, and this was something that I've heard on the news some two years ago (not that that means that the story is true )

http://jonty.instablogs.com/entry/india-where-pupils-write-with-both-hands-simultaneously/

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1753515.html?menu=

 

[Gaze]

I am an audio-visual learner - a combination of both. In terms of the visual, its video, pics, color, etc. as long as it doesn't compromise content. It can be entertaining but should compliment learning. I also prefer learning by discussion and participation if it's possible. I learn more from a thought provoking discussion than a lecture, as long as everyone participating knows enough to have a thoughtful discussion. I also learn more if the person teaching is passionate or engaged, but I understand that this is not always possible.