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Use Learning Preferences in Your Courses

Now that you understand more about your learning preferences, apply that understanding! Use it to select learning strategies that will help you succeed in all kinds of classes and environments — from labs and lectures to discussion groups and solo research in the library. Mix it up a bit, too; find strategies that make sense based on your learning preferences, but also try out strategies that nudge you outside your comfort zone. Remember: You don’t have to be limited by your strongest learning preferences. In fact, it’s better to stretch yourself beyond those preferences. The more you experiment with different strategies, the more flexible you’ll become as a learner.

Use Your MBTI Preferences

As you saw earlier, the MBTI model contains four separate dimensions: Extravert/Introvert, Sensing/Intuitive, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving. In Table 4.2 study tips are paired up with each of these dimensions. Use these tips to strengthen the learning strategies that align with your existing preferences or to develop alternative learning strategies.

Table 4.4: TABLE 4.2 Learning Strategies for the Myers-Briggs Dimensions

Extravert	Ask a family member, friend, or classmate to listen as you explain concepts from class. Find a study group of other Extraverts and meet regularly. Meet with your instructor, teaching assistant, or tutor to discuss important concepts from class.
Introvert	Set aside quiet study time. If you join a study group, learn topics in advance so you’re prepared to discuss them. After class, write a summary of what you’ve learned. Refer to your summary when sharing your thoughts in the next class.
Sensing	Study with an Intuitive learner who can help you understand the big picture. Outline the details of your study goals and strategy. Combine facts in ways that help you tell a story about the big picture.
Intuitive	Study with a Sensing learner so you don’t miss details. Focus on the what-ifs, possibilities, or applications associated with the material you’re learning as a way to help you organize the facts. Rather than feeling frustrated by the repetitive tasks associated with some classes, consider how these tasks help you better understand the big picture.
Thinking	Go with your preference to focus on the logic of arguments and theories. But in group work, remember that Feeling learners prefer to focus on how arguments or theories affect people. If class material seems unorganized and illogical, reorganize it so it makes sense to you. Identify principles in material you’re learning, and apply them systematically to new situations.
Feeling	Go with your preference to focus on the impact of arguments and theories on the people involved. But in group work, remember that Thinking learners prefer to focus on the logic of arguments and theories. You’re most comfortable in study groups in which students agree with one another, but disagreement and debate are a natural part of learning. Step out of your comfort zone, and learn from different perspectives. To feel personally connected to course material, find ways to make it relevant to your life.
Judging	Create binders for each of your classes. Help other students (especially Perceivers) by sharing your organizational plan with them. Create structured study schedules based on deadlines. When you finish a task, reward yourself by doing something enjoyable.
Perceiving	Instead of putting off studying until the last minute, use spare moments to review class notes and headings in your textbook chapters. Break down large assignments into smaller, more manageable chunks. If you start many projects, prioritize them, and deal with the most important ones when deadlines are approaching.

Use Your VARK Preferences

According to VARK, do you have a strong Visual, Aural, Read-Write, or Kinesthetic preference? Review your VARK scores from earlier in the chapter; find the strategies in Table 4.3 that correspond to your strongest preferences. How might you use these to learn more effectively? Also see the suggestions paired with your less preferred categories. Would you like to test any of these tips?

Table 4.5: TABLE 4.3 Learning Strategies for VARK Learning Preferences

Visual (V)	Underline, highlight, or use other tactics to mark up printed course materials. Draw pictures or diagrams in your notes to illustrate examples. Reference these images when you study. Ask your instructor for copies of visually complex materials presented in class.
Aural (A)	Study in groups, and discuss concepts with others. Record lectures (with your instructor’s permission), and listen to them later. Use word associations to learn terms, and repeat newly learned terms out loud.
Read-Write (R)	Revise and reorganize your notes after every class to understand and remember concepts. Find alternative written resources on a topic to supplement class-assigned reading. Write out answers to possible test questions before taking exams.
Kinesthetic (K)	Find hands-on ways to learn course content (such as trying computer simulations or conducting lab experiments). Incorporate movement into your note taking by drawing charts or diagrams of important relationships covered in class. Take breaks from studying and move around. Use the exercise to review or rehearse material that you’ve already learned.

Work in a Group

Team Effort. In every group project you’re involved in during your college and professional career, group members will have different learning preferences and adopt different learning strategies based on those preferences. When all group members understand their own and other members’ preferences, they can take advantage of diverse strategies and work more effectively as a team.

Many instructors are big fans of group projects, and with good reason: Research has shown that group work contributes to learning and success in college.³ An added benefit is that many jobs require you to work effectively in groups. As beneficial as it can be, though, group work can also be challenging — you’ll be collaborating with other students, and many of them will have learning preferences that differ from your own. The good news? The more you understand your own learning preferences and those of other group members, the more you’ll all be able to leverage each person’s strengths. For instance, suppose your group includes Fadi, who’s a Visual, Intuitive, and Judging learner. Fadi gladly takes responsibility for creating a project plan during the kickoff meeting. This “big picture” takes the form of a chart outlining which tasks have to be done when, and by whom, so that the group can submit a high-quality project on time. Fadi would likely do a great job with this responsibility.

WRITING PROMPT: Have students think of a time when they completed a group project, either in school or outside of school. Then ask them to respond to these questions: Did group members have different learning preferences? What was challenging about this situation? What went well?

When the inevitable difficulties arise, group members can also use their understanding of one another’s learning preferences to resolve issues. For example, suppose you notice that Anatole, a Read-Write and Perceiving learner, has missed deadlines on some tasks he’s responsible for. To make it easier for him to fulfill his responsibilities, you translate the project plan chart into a written list of tasks for him to complete each day until the project is done. As a Perceiving learner, he’s comfortable without a plan, but you believe that the written list will appeal enough to his Read-Write preference that he’ll then complete the parts of the project he’s responsible for.

ACTIVITY: Before class, find a simple team-building activity (such as building a tower or solving a puzzle). In class, create groups consisting of students with different learning profiles (based on either Myers-Briggs or VARK). Were group members able to work together to complete the task? Why or why not? Do students feel the task would have been easier if everyone in the group had similar learning profiles?

Diversity in learning preferences and strategies can greatly benefit group work — especially when all group members understand their own and other members’ preferences.

Adapt to Differences in Teaching and Learning Preferences

In a perfect world, all instructors would teach in a way that matches your learning preferences. If you love listening, they would lecture. If you like talking, they would encourage class discussion. But in reality, teaching and learning preferences don’t always match up. You may want to work in groups or listen to guest speakers, but your instructors may have other ideas. You may wish that every test was multiple-choice, but your instructors may assign essay exams and term papers. To manage such a mismatch, become a multimodal learner: a learner who uses different strategies (even those outside his or her comfort zone) to adapt to different situations.

Multimodal Learner: Someone who uses many different learning strategies to adapt to the situation at hand.

By developing the ability to use different learning strategies, you boost your chances of doing well in all your classes — not just the ones you like best. You also demonstrate personal responsibility: Instead of passively expecting instructors to change their approach to suit your preferences, you take charge of your own education.

CONNECT

TO MY CLASSES

Identify the teaching preferences of the instructors you have this term. Which instructor’s teaching preference is least aligned with your learning preferences? Why? Write down two strategies that could help you learn successfully in that instructor’s class.

To see how becoming a multimodal learner leads to academic success, consider Jamar, an art major who prefers lectures combined with visual aids. Most of his art instructors teach in a way that matches his learning preferences, and he’s happy with the strategies he has developed to excel in these classes. But Jamar is also taking courses in mathematics, science, history, and the social sciences to fulfill his general-education requirements. Instructors in these classes want students to read large amounts of material and to do a lot of writing on exams. Jamar isn’t fully comfortable with these teaching approaches, and he sometimes struggles to understand the course content. He decides to build up his strength in the Read-Write learning preference from the VARK model. He also tries some of the strategies for adopting a Judging style from the MBTI so he can develop more structured plans for completing his reading assignments.

Flex Your Learning Muscles. How your instructors prefer to teach course content won’t always match how you prefer to learn. So you may need to go outside your comfort zone to adapt to your teachers’ styles. This takes practice — but it also makes you a flexible learner who can switch learning strategies as needed to get the most from your courses.

As Jamar discovered, a time may come when the learning strategies you rely on limit your effectiveness in particular learning environments. To increase your range of learning strategies, try the following tactics.

Refer to the tips in Tables 4.2 and 4.3 and pick learning strategies different from the ones you typically use. Remember: Just like signing your name with your nonpreferred hand, applying new strategies may take time and practice.
Talk with students in your classes who have learning preferences that match the instructors’ teaching preferences. Use these students as models. Ask them to share what works for them; then try the strategies they recommend.
Visit a tutor associated with a course you find difficult. Ask for advice on how to develop learning strategies that work for that course.
Talk to your instructors. They won’t change the way they teach to match your learning preferences, but they don’t want you to struggle. Visit them during office hours and have a conversation. They may be able to suggest ways to master the course content using your preferred learning strategies. For example, Jamar’s math instructor recommended computer programs and supplemental resources that help explain math concepts in visual ways.

ACTIVITY: Students sometimes hesitate to visit instructors during office hours because they don’t know what to say when they get there. To help them prepare for an office visit, ask students to write down five questions they could ask one of their instructors during office hours. Then have them share their ideas with a partner.

Seek Help for Learning Challenges

As you realize by now, we all learn in different ways. Beyond differences related to learning preferences, however, some people experience differences in how their brain receives or processes information — differences that can cause significant difficulty in listening, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, and interacting socially. In such cases, these people may be diagnosed with what’s called a learning disability. Don’t let this term fool you: People with learning disabilities still learn — just not in the same way as someone without one. A learning disability is really a learning difference.

Because learning disabilities can affect how people work with course material, students with diagnosed learning disabilities may be eligible to have their learning environment adapted (or accommodated) to suit their learning needs. For example, a student might be able to record lectures or receive extended time in which to complete an exam. The purpose of these adaptations is not to provide an advantage but rather to “level the playing field.” That way, all students have an equal chance to learn the material and demonstrate their new knowledge and skills.

CONNECT

TO MY RESOURCES

Do you need to register for accommodations in the classroom? Do you know a friend who does? On your college Web site, find the name and location of the campus office that provides these services. Write it down. Then record the steps a student would need to follow to set up accommodations.

If you have a learning disability and need academic accommodations, visit your school’s disability services office. The staff will review documentation of your disability and determine your eligibility for services. You can also visit the disability services office if you suspect you have an undiagnosed learning disability. The staff will help you seek appropriate testing, which will determine if you meet specific criteria to be diagnosed with a learning disability. The disability services office is a valuable resource you can use to better understand learning disabilities — and to get any help you might need.

voices of experience: student

USING LEARNING STRATEGIES
IN COLLEGE

Courtesy of Terri Baskin Photography

NAME:	Brittnee Nicole Baskin
SCHOOL:	Western Carolina University
MAJOR:	Motion Picture and Television Production
CAREER GOAL:	Director or Cinematographer

“Sometimes you have to use more than one resource to make it through a class successfully.”

I definitely have a learning style. I learn best from classes with lots of group discussions and visual aids. I like group discussions because they give me a chance to hear other people’s opinions and understand where they’re coming from. It can be difficult for me to stay focused in large lecture classes, so I sit close to the front and try to get to know the other people that I’m sitting around. That way, when there’s time, we can have group discussions about the class material.

I’m a visual learner. It doesn’t matter what subject it is, ever since elementary school I’ve needed pictures or diagrams to help me understand concepts. When I’m writing a paper, I like to start by drawing a diagram. I use arrows to help me understand what is going on and what direction I want to go in. In classes where teachers don’t use lots of visuals, I’ve had to supplement with other material. Sometimes you have to use more than one resource to make it through a class successfully. I often use YouTube videos or find other visual information on the Internet. I’ve also found tutors who can help explain things using visuals.

One day I’d like to be a director or cinematographer. When I read books or hear things, I always visualize them in my head just like a movie. I hope my career will give me the opportunity to use my learning preference to help other visual learners see things in a way that they will appreciate and understand.

YOUR TURN: Brittnee’s strongest VARK preference is Visual. Have you ever used any of the learning strategies that Brittnee describes? If so, which ones? If not, will you try any of these in your classes this term?