LSC: Learning Styles & Strategies

At the Learning Success Center at MWCC, we use the VARK model to understand how individuals learn:

The VARK model is a framework for understanding individual learning preferences, developed by New Zealand educator Neil Fleming. The acronym "VARK" represents four distinct sensory modalities: visual, aural (auditory), read/write, and kinesthetic. Each modality describes a different way individuals prefer to receive and process information. Visual learners excel with graphical representations, while aural learners thrive in auditory environments like discussions and lectures. Read/write learners prefer written information, and kinesthetic learners learn best through hands-on experiences.

For further information on the VARK model and/or to take the VARK Questionnaire, please visit the links below.

Some learners prefer a visual approach to gaining skills and knowledge. Click this link to discover traits of visual learners and study tips to implement.

One primary strategy for implementing visual activities into your learning includes color coding notes, slides, and books; highlighting notes as review, and using color-coded post-its in your book. Click this link to view color-coding strategies in action.

Here, we provide resources for auditory and listening methods. "Listening" is a conscious decision to understand another person's communication efforts. Listening improves relationships, enforces personal growth, shows respect to others, and helps you to develop a professional rapport:

• Listening is not an automatic response (that would be "hearing"). Listening is a learned, voluntary activity that you must choose to do. 
• Listening involves full attention and the ability to filter out distractions, emotional barriers, cultural differences, and religious biases.  

Visit the links below to hone your listening skills in the classroom and beyond, as well as identify different "listening obstacles" and "types of listeners."

• Learning About Listening
• Identifying Listening Obstacles
• Active Classroom Listening
• Identifying Your Listening Style

Reading is a fundamental - and often taken for granted - practice. There is a distinction between reading for pleasure and reading to learn: or, active reading. At the Learning Success Center, we often use the SQ3R method (Survey, Question, Read, Recall, Review) to assist with active reading and reading comprehension. The SQ3R method is particularly useful for reading your textbook. To learn more about SQ3R and reading your textbook, please visit the links below.

Kinesthetic learning is a learning style in which learning takes place by the students carrying out physical activities, rather than listening to a lecture or watching demonstrations. Students who learn this way require whole-body movements to process new information. Below is a video on how to utilize this way of learning.