How Knowing Your Learning Style Can Help You

Isabel Briggs Myers, the psychological theorist, tells us that "the understanding of (your learning) type can make your perceptions clearer, your judgments sounder and your life closer to your heart's desire." Taking the time to find out about your best learning style will help you to reap benefits in the educational, professional and personal aspects of your life.

Learning Styles

Psychologists appear to be divided about the terminology and aspects of learning styles. Some theories boil it down to how a person best perceives information; others focus on how a person processes data and his or her personality traits. Even the name of the concept varies: "learning styles," "learning preferences," "multiple intelligences," "cognitive style," and "learning modality" all describe essentially the same thing: how individuals gain knowledge.

Effective Learning

By focusing study efforts on your dominant learning style, you will learn the material more quickly and have an easier time remembering it later. "Students begin to see how they learn most effectively and efficiently" explains Kathi L. Hand in her article published in the journal Educational Leadership. Knowing your preferred learning style also opens a door to talking to your teacher about your study habits. When presented with a larger problem or project, that knowledge can give you a better way to plan appropriate strategies.

Career Choices

Another benefit of knowing your learning style is to help you make good career choices. In her article "Focus on the Basics," Jan Mantzaris writes: "Once students became aware of their strengths, career possibilities abounded." Your learning-style preferences will lead you to ask fundamental questions about the types of careers that interest you and their work environments. Knowing your learning style will help you identify good career options for you and will help you avoid careers in which you might struggle.

Improve Collaboration

Throughout your life, you will need to work people who have different learning styles. By clearly identifying your own strengths and limitations, and recognizing that other people will have other preferred learning styles, you will have the vocabulary and information needed to work more effectively with different people. Even just recognizing your weakness can motivate you to improve and help you become a more productive co-worker.

Build Confidence

Kathi L. Hand also shares that people "gain confidence in their strengths and develop diverse strategies for coping with the challenging situations that inevitably arise." Knowing about your learning style reminds you that you are smart even when your test scores or difficulty with some subject areas indicate the contrary. It will help you better understand the situation and empower you to communicate your concerns with a teacher or supervisor and seek an appropriate solution.