Learning Styles & Learning Strategies
Now that you've identified your style, what do you do with the
information?
Two things. Play to your strengths, and address your weaknesses.
Play to Your Strengths
Capitalize on your learning style whenever possible. Use it,
use it, use it! It's like money in the bank that you can draw
from.
And Address Your Weaknesses 
Why focus on things we're not good at?
- Not every learning situation gives you a choice. (Math classes
almost always require that you use your left hemisphere. Or your
boss may bring a consultant to train you who couldn't care less
about your learning style.)
- Teachers with a learning style different from yours give
assignments they find naturally appealing.
- Flexibility = Freedom. The more ways you can learn, the more
options, the more choice, and the more power you will have over your
life.
- It's not clear whether learning styles are inborn or the result of
experience. In
many cases they may be the result of circumstances or explicit training over the years. Conscious attention and practice can
often change your style.
How do I address a weakness?
Just as you build muscle in a gym, work out. Systematically.
Repeatedly. But realize that it will take conscious, deliberate effort
and may even be a little painful at first.
Never-Fail Strategies
Regardless of your learning style, certain study strategies will
always pay off.
Repetition.
Practice, practice. Review, review. Even when you think you know
the material, keep reviewing it. An increase in anxiety during a
test can swamp your memory banks.
Personalize.
Awareness of your learning style is the first step in improving the
effectiveness of your study time. Since different learning strategies are
more or less effective with different learning styles, how you study
should be the result of reflection and systematic
experimentation.
Find a Compatible Teacher
Professors have learning styles too. When a professor has the
same style that you do, everything in the class clicks for
you. As much as you can, take classes from faculty who learn like
you do.
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