Megan Traylor

September 22, 2013

Everyone uses different techniques to help them learn, study, and take exams.
There are the VARK learning preferences which stand for visual, aural, read/write, and
kinesthetic. Visual learners are people who use pictures, diagrams, symbols, and graphs
to help them study. Using these methods they can then recall the pictures theyve made or
practice turning their images into words. The next types of learners are aural learners who
learn in their classes, through tutorials, and in-group discussions. They read notes aloud,
listen to voices, and spend time reading alone. Some people prefer to read direct notes,
textbooks, dictionaries, and essays these people are read/write learners. People who use
the read/write techniques write out their notes and practice for exams by writing and
rewriting their notes. Lastly, there are the kinesthetic learners who work better when their
senses are involved in their studying. They like to take in information in laboratories,
field trips, exhibits and hands-on learning approaches. Kinesthetic learners should act out
their scenarios or write practice questions to study. There are also Lahey suggestions to
help you study, read, and write. The Lahey techniques aid you in absorbing all of the
information as you read, then help you use devices to study effectively, and finally give
you skills to help you write well. Both the Lahey and VARK learning styles will increase
your ability to study and learn for examinations.
I am a multimodal learner, I benefit from using a variety of visual, aural,
read/write, and kinesthetic studying tools. Being a multimodal learner I can switch
between the learning styles that are being used in class. Some teachers prefer to use
kinesthetic approaches while others solely use read/write. It is beneficial to me being able
to use multiple techniques but it also has its negatives. For example, I may not be
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Megan Traylor
September 22, 2013

satisfied if I only use one type of studying technique, I may need to incorporate all four
just to learn. I can adjust easily if I need to in class though because I am a multimodal
learner.
Some techniques I can start using to help me are highlighting, underlining, and
using books with diagrams to recreated the images or replace words with symbols to
perform well on examinations. Re-writing notes or writing out reactions and gestures can
help me have a good outcome on my tests because I will have practice writing out exam
answers, putting information into lists, and writing out paragraphs. The main learning
styles I should focus on are the aural and kinesthetic approaches because I scored the
highest on those two. I can increase my test a performance is by talking with others about
the notes or read them aloud. That will help me remember the notes if I hear them and
listen to them. Next, I can relate all my notes to real things and recall back onto the trips,
laboratories, and lectures of real-life examples. I need to be able to understand the labs
and make them sound realistic to me to help me understand.
After studying the Lahey suggestions I have learned that there are many devices
set up in the textbooks designed to help you recall as much information as possible.
Textbooks have chapter outlines, chapter prologues, section reviews, and visual reviews
all to help you remember key information at different points while reading. After, you
can refer back to the key points to get the overall message from the text. Next, they have
designed the SQ3R method: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. This will help
you study a lot of information with out having to re-read everything. Also there are
strategies that suggest studying in effective places and spacing out the study time.
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Megan Traylor
September 22, 2013

Finally, the Lahey approach suggests to relate information learned to your personal life in
critical thinking. Critical thinking helps you remember information through deep
processing.
After learning about the VARK and Lahey strategies, I can now study using
methods I previously had knowledge of and these new ones I learned about to make
studying more efficient. Now I will focus on studying aurally and kinesthetically to help
me personally focus and remember the content. Also, I will use the methods set up in
textbooks to review key points, stop and take short breaks in between readings, and
review the test sections to check my learning. These will all help me study and learn the
most I can in this class to succeed on my exams and do well on essays.

























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