Learning successfully
Learning is an individual process. There are no general learning strategies that work well for every single student. Therefore, your first task is to find out the conditions under which you learn best and to determine which learning methods can help you to take in material and be able to recall it easily.
You learn most effectively when several different senses are involved in the learning process. Try and incorporate a number of different approaches into your personal learning process.
Here are some of the different types and ways of learning:
- Auditory learning: You learn well when you listen to the material, e.g. in lectures, during presentations, or from recordings. It helps to have a quiet workspace so that your concentration isn't disturbed.
- Communicative learning: If you're a communicative learner, you respond well to discussing the subject matter. Talking to others about the material is the best route to understanding it. You find explanations, discussions and questions useful when taking in new subject matter. Spoken discussions trigger your thought processes and help you to memorize the material.
- Visual learning: Reading texts is important to visual learners. You take in new material more easily if you make diagrams, charts and tables.
- Motor learning: You learn best when you're moving or doing something with your hands, such as making a model or conducting an experiment. You may be able to remember new material better if you encounter it while standing than if you do so while sitting down.
The Counselling Centre offers information, tips and work materials (PDFs, in German) about learning as a form of information processing. Read more here (in German) and find out which methods and ways of learning are right for you:
More information (in German)
