Imagine that you're getting ready to hit the books for a big test. You have your textbook, notes, a pen or pencil…and room where there is absolute silence.
Sound like the ideal study setting? Or, does the above scene sound like a modern-day torture chamber?
Remember how I talked about in my last article about how everyone needs to find a study system that works best for him/her? Where you study has to be a good fit with how you study. So, how do we find out the all-important information that can lead us to the Studying Promised Land? Well, there's both good news and bad news when it comes to discovering you learning style.
Let's get the bad news out of the way, first. (Fortunately, it's not really that horrible.) Student learning styles have been studied by many educational and psychological experts for years. Believe it or not, many teachers are also trying to find out how their students learn best so they can adapt their lessons and make it better for kids in their classes. Of all the experts and studies one man, Howard Gardner, stands out from the crowd when it comes to theories about how people learn. In 1983, Gardner announced his Theory of Multiple Intelligences to the world. Without getting into a lot of education "mumbo-jumbo", Gardner's theory is this: each person has the same capacity for learning; the difference is HOW they learn. All people have a strength in one (or a combination) of the following seven intelligences:
- Linguistic: interpreting words help them learn best
- Logical/Mathematical: math, numerical or logical processes help them learn best
- Movement/Kinesthetic: action or “doing something” helps them learn best
- Musical: musical patterns and/or performances help them learn best
- Spatial: using the patterns of open or tight spaces helps them learn best
- Interpersonal: understanding the meaning and intent of others helps them learn best.
- Intrapersonal: understanding one’s own feelings and motivations help them learn best.
As you can see, educational theory can be a little wordy and leave most of us scratching our head. By the way, not everyone agrees with learning style/multiple intelligences theories. There will be a more detailed discussion of this controversy in my next blog.
(I will offer one bit of caution, though. Just because everyone has their own way of studying doesn't mean that there aren't some common do's and don'ts relating to homework and study. That list will come up in a future article: The Ten Commandments of Successful Studying.)
For now, I want to give you a tool to help you discover what kind of learner you are. It's sort of my own adaptation of Gardner and other readings about learning styles. A lot of the experts' work can be broken down into three basic questions:
- How does my brain work? (or How do I think best?)
- How do I process or retain information best?
- How do I share what I’ve learned best?
Answering these three questions can reveal a lot about what type of learner you are, where a good location is for you to study, and how you can get the most out of your work time. This doesn’t have to be a long exercise. Let me give you my answers to these questions:
- As a writer and teacher, it’s pretty clear that my thinking is based on words. I am NOT a math person or someone who likes to work out complicated puzzles.
- I process information best by working with it in a hands-on way. When it comes to words, I either have to write it or say it for it to stick. Sometimes I even walk around and talk. In other words, I can read a list of something silently a million times, but unless I take it and DO something with it, it will never stay in my brain.
- I share my learning best through essays, articles, papers and performances.
See how they all tie together? Based on that information, I know that I need a space that offers me some flexibility in movement and noise--a place where no one will look at me funny because they think I talk to myself. Seriously, though, I like places where there is some noise, especially music, and I can get up when I want without disturbing others.
Your job between articles is to sit down (or stand or walk, whatever works for you) and really ask yourself the 3 questions. Jot down your answers and keep them someplace you can easily get to, because you're going to need them as we work more on finding a study plan that works for you. Also, feel free to post your findings on the discussion boards. It's great for students to share strategies with one another. You may find something there that you've never tried before.
In the next article you are going to be given a "large sum of money" and be able to spend it however you like! See how money and studying are a match made in heaven!
