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UTMB WORK SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Creating Educational Opportunities for Employees

Study Tips

Students who have difficulty adjusting to college classes usually complain about the amount of information they are required to read and recall. For some it is overwhelming. It is a challenge, even for the best students. There is help available. Students can learn techniques that will save time and effort and help them prioritize key information. Most study techniques not only work for preparing for classes and exams, but also are useful in the workplace to help with organization and focus.

Knowing your learning style can be helpful. Are you an auditory learner? You could benefit from listening to a book on tape, or recording some of the text yourself and playing it back. You should also attend every class and ask questions about concepts you do not understand. Listen carefully to the responses to your questions and to the questions of others in the classroom. Noises may distract you and you may prefer background music to muffle interrupting sounds while you are reading or studying. Auditory learners make up about 30 percent of the population according to Cynthia Tobias, author of The Way They Learn.

Are you visual learner? You learn best from seeing things and probably respond to drawings and grafts. You gather information by looking, reading and watching. You may tune out the spoken direction and prefer drawings or illustrations. Mind-mapping may be a good tool for you to use. You can draw the information in a map that is meaningful to you. About 60 percent of the population are visual learners, according to Tobias.

Kinesthetic learners make up about 5 percent of the adult population. They learn by gathering meaning through touch and movement. We are not limited to one way of learning and may move between styles. However, working outside our preferred style may cause frustration and irritability. The visual learner may become restless during prolonged lecture. The auditory learner may struggle with reading for long periods. Self-awareness can help a student identify the best way to study information and be able to recall it for exams.

The following web sites provide information on learning styles and some have assessments you can do on-line. You can find out your preferred learning style and read about strategies for studying:

www.metamath.com//lsweb/dvclearn.htm

www.chaminade.org/inspire/learnstl.htm

www.studygs.net

www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/sq3r.html

Mind-mapping is a great tool that many people find helpful in prioritizing information. This tool may aid study for exams, narrow the focus of readings, or help with preparation for writing a paper. Check out these web sites for more information on Mind-mapping:

http://www.peterussell.com/mindmaps/mindmap.html