1.0 Learning Preferences and Strategies

Not all learners have the same learning preferences and learning styles. Although some students might work wonderfully in a noisy classroom, others will accomplish little. How we each learn affects our day-to-day experiences with our education, our jobs, and other roles. By analyzing learning styles, we can get a sense of our learning strengths as well as see where we might improve.

Our learning styles and learning preferences change continually, especially as we mature. You may learn differently now than you did two years ago. Two years from now, you may have different tendencies or approaches yet again! Because our brains are changing and growing constantly, establishing learning preferences is not meant to "label" anyone as one kind of learner. Instead, it shows where an individual may be currently on the "learning map" from which he or she can derive a sense of where to go and how to grow.

In the following activities, you will see that learning more about yourself can help you become a more independent and effective learner. Learning "how" you learn in school can be tremendously valuable because many of the same strategies can be applied to your life outside school. School is only one small part of life where you learn in life.