Different student study habits and styles

Christina Fong, Issue 13, Campus Life - By Christina Fong on Thursday, December 9, 2010 - 04:43

With finals coming up, more and more students are hitting the books in order to prepare themselves for upcoming tests and assignments.

However, not all students are alike and therefore, not all their study habits are either. Different things, such as being commuters or residents on campus can affect how and where students study, as well as a student’s learning style. According to www.worldwidelearn.com, there are three different types of learning styles, which are: listening learners, visual learners and touch/experience learners.

Of course, there are some study habits that all people must utilize in order to do well, www.bookrags.com had a list of “bad study habits” and how to fix them. The article on the site listed several key study habits that they say are crucial to all students’ success, one being, study in a good environment, one in which you are comfortable and study in (relative) quiet. A little bit of background music, such as classical with no lyrics is fine, but too much noise can prevent one from comprehending new information and distract a person from the task at hand.
Listening learners would do best hearing a professor give a lecture and study by repeating things to themselves to retain information, as well as discussing or teaching the material to others. Since these learners are prone to sounds, they also might study best in quiet places so no background noises will interrupt their thoughts.

Seeing learners, like the name implies, learn by seeing the same material, again and again. Junior Mariela Flores is an example of this, “I look over my notes, I’ll go over the chapters we recently did, and if I have time I’ll go over previous chapters.” These techniques are very helpful for seeing learners, because re-reading and reviewing information is one of the best ways for them to study.

Then, there are others who learn best by doing, these are the touch/experience learners. “Normally, I make a study guide and review a few days before an exam,” senior Kaya Halemano said. By re-writing material in her own words, Halemano takes a much more active role in her study routine. “It forces me to re-read the material as I make it,” Halemano said.

Location too, plays a big role in helping students study. There is no wrong or right place, and it is up to a person’s personal preferences, which locations work best for them. “I study at school, most days I stay till 7 p.m.” Flores said. “One, it’s easier since I’m already here, and I can ask for help from professors as well. Also, I have younger siblings at home, so it’s hard to focus there.” Her study location of choice was the IT section in CAAS.

Whether studying in rain or shine, day or night, what is most important is to be consistent and stay on one’s schedule.