Identifying Your Learning Style
There's a lot of information and resources available to help you identify your learning style, just as there are a lot of different types of learning styles. From the more traditional verbal vs. auditory vs. tactile learning styles to Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, which includes things like musical intelligence and sensitivity to nature.
There are a lot of learning styles out there, but the main thing to remember is that you take some time to reflect and figure out how you learn and work best. Do you get distracted when you're around lots of people? Try finding a quieter place to study. Does music help you think? Make a study playlist. Do visuals help you learn? Try drawing maps and images in your notes.
Here are two types of learning styles placed in comparison: The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Felder-Soloman Index. Read more on Felder-Soloman here: Learning Styles and Strategies
These two learning style theories use different terms, but the basic breakdown of concepts is the same. Both are concerned with the following areas:
By being aware of how your best work and learn, you can develop good work habits and study skills.
What is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator?
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, is an psychological assessment test that measures how you experience the world and how you make decisions. You can use the MBTI to identify personality traits that influence your learning style and work habits.
MBTI is adapted from the work of psychologist Carl Jung, who identified four ways we experience the world: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking.
Myers-Briggs types can be broken down into the following categories:
Click the picture below to see a larger version.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Taking Notes to Suit Your Learning Style
By understanding your own learning style, you can be a better note-taker.
The list goes on! Think about how you like to process information and interact with people, and then adopt a note-taking and studying style that best suits you.
General Note-Taking Tips
Check out Drury University's Study Skills and Academic Success guide for links and resources.
Read this excellent LifeHacker post about taking notes
Image courtesy Neil Conway, via Flickr and the Creative Commons
There are a lot of tools out there to help you keep organized. See more at the Managing Your Research guide.
Organization and Productivity Tools
Knowing more about your learning style can also help you tackle bigger research projects. Research is a process that tends to involve the following steps:
You can think of a research project a bit like a recipe. You need to gather up ingredients (or sources) and complete certain tasks in order to make something (in this case a final project or paper). But how you go about those tasks can be up to you.
Based on your learning style, you might find that making outlines helps you stay organized or that you have a visual way of organizing your sources, by creating a chart or a map, for example.
Read more about the research process at the Getting Started with Your Research Guide.
Identifying and Using Your Learning Style Preferences
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Study Skills Tips and Resources
Learning Styles and the Research Process
Take the Myers-Briggs Test
Myers-Briggs in Pop Culture
Get help with assignments and study skills at the following places:
You can learn more about Myers-Briggs types and download an infographic for your type at www.opp.com
Wondering who your MBTI Harry Potter equivalent is or which state has the most INFJs? Check out these links for Myers-Briggs types in pop culture.
Blog post: Your Pop Culture Myers-Briggs Personality Type, including Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Star Trek Next Generation
What's My Type? Blog, exploring MBTI in pop culture
The Myers Briggs States of America at The Atlantic
Adventure Time MBTI chart at Deviant Art (pictured below)