WRITING
For College Students with Learning Differences & Disabilities
Visual Learners
Images. Diagrams. Flowcharts. Maps. Pictures. Visual learners thrive when information can be reorganized into concrete, conceptual packages. If you fit this category of learner, try out some of the techniques illustrated below next time you have a big test to study for or a paper to write:
Learning Styles.
Everyone learns differently. Some people do their best work by drawing pictures and labeling diagrams. Other people just need to listen and to talk - for them, simply hearing information out loud is enough to make it stick. And then there are people who have to do something in order to learn: make a model, conduct a lab experiment, or explore a topic through the process of trial and error.
Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles are all equally valuable. Many students have a strong preference for one type of learning, while many others work best with a combination of styles. But when it comes time to study, it helps to know which way(s) you work best. Personalizing study habits and writing practices boosts grades and reduces the overall anxiety of assignments. To discover your own learning style, click the link below. Then, read through the specific tips and strategies below.
Auditory Learners
For auditory learners, the keys to remembering and understanding are listening and talking. Reading words (like the ones in this paragraph) isn't nearly as helpful as hearing a lecture or explaining a new concept to a friend. So, instead of looking through a list of tips, try clicking play on the twenty-second audio clip pasted below:
Kinesthetic Learners
Kinesthetic learners retain information that is tangible, manipulable and useful. Doing commits knowledge to memory. To learn some techniques for integrating motion into everyday studying, flip through the slideshow. Each image depicts a particular strategy for maximizing a kinesthetic learning style.
Highlight
Create Flowcharts
Graph Data
Illustrate Diagrams
(For a transcript of this audio file, click here.)
Slideshow of images. First, hands making a clay bowl on a pottery wheel. Second, a wall of colorful sticky notes. Third, a red-and-white checkered model rocket. Fourth, a man practicing the violin. And fifth, a cartoon silhouette, looking up at the sky.
