You’re never too old to learn. In fact, adult learners are generally the best learners around. Why? Because adults are highly motivated, very curious, and know how to apply their practical life experiences to new information.
Maybe it’s been a long time since you’ve been in a classroom, or perhaps you’re thinking about a self-study program. Whatever your choice is, you want to make sure that you know how to learn fast, efficiently, and to the best of your ability.
People have a variety of ways of learning, depending on the topic, their situation, and their personal preferences. Here are some examples:
- Joe likes to study with music on.
- Bill likes to brainstorm with a group of people.
- When Philippe sees a new piece of equipment, he'd rather start pressing buttons than read instructions.
- Anne prefers silence when she's reading.
- Simone draws pictures when she listens to a lecture.
What about you? Think or write about a learning experience (e.g., repairing a window screen; studying modern Canadian history) that you found easy/fun.
- What was the topic?
- Where were you?
- How did you do it?
- What kind of help did you use?
- How did it feel?
- Were you happy with the results?
Use the other sections to help you answer the question: "How do I learn best?"
My Learning Strategies. Once you know your learning style, you can build a set of strategies that will help you become a highly efficient learner.
Seeing, Hearing, Doing Quiz. This quiz is a good first step in exploring learning styles. It will help you determine whether you tend toward the visual, auditory, and/or tactile.
Multiple Intelligence Quiz. Research shows that people have eight different intelligences with strength in three or four. Use this quiz to find out about your unique style of thinking and understanding.
Kiersey Temperament. Your personality type affects your thoughts and actions. Take the quiz, find out your temperament type, and see how you compare with others.
Felder's Index. Are you more an active than reflective learner? Sensing than intuitive? Visual than verbal? Sequential than global? This questionnaire helps you understand your learning preferences.
Kolb's Learning Cycle. Explore how people prefer different phases of the learning cycle. Do you tend toward the learning preferences of the diverger, accommodator, assimilator or converger?
