If you want to be a successful college student, you must have a curriculum. Your old high school habits probably won’t work in college. You must begin your college career with a complete understanding of how you learn. Many students have not given much thought to their own learning style, but you should take a minute and examine your approach to your daily experiences.
Do you prefer to have your work assignments written to you, or do you prefer someone to just tell you what to do? That can make a big difference in the successful completion of a job! If you are a visual learner, you would like to see a written explanation of your assignment. If you are an auditory learner, you prefer to be told what to do. A visual learner with an auditory boss must adapt to the situation. A good way to strike a balance is to carry a notepad or jot down the information on a sticky note for later. A visual student in college needs to make sure that the grades are good and that the handouts and PowerPoints are printed and organized. Taking notes in actual PowerPoint is a very effective way to learn your material.
An auditory learner in college should plan to record the lectures on a digital recorder, so that he can listen to the lecture over and over again on the computer or MP3 player. The auditory learner should also make sure to study aloud. Hearing the information will reinforce the details in your memory.
Some people are tactile / kinesthetic learners. Those people need to run the equipment to see how it works, try things out for themselves, and generally stay active and physical whenever they do something. If you are a tactile / kinesthetic learner, then you need to find a way to study that allows you to use your energy when you study. One way a tactile / kinesthetic learner can study is by getting a white board or chalk board at home to use for problem solving. This is especially effective for math classes where the work can be especially challenging. A tactile / kinesthetic learner can also benefit from a collection of important fact sticky notes taped to a wall or mirror!
The ideal college student will combine all of these approaches when going to class and studying for exams. We all have a learning style preference, and using that learning style to study will lead to an A + in student success in college.