Learn the importance of good study habits and prevent your grades from sagging. Developing good study habits can help you achieve your life-long goals and dreams, especially if you are a college student.  To develop good study habits, first, you need to figure out what kind of learner are you, a visual learner, an auditory learner, or a kinesthetic learner.

Knowing how you learn best is the keystone for successful studying.  Do you remember the most after seeing and reading?  Listening and speaking?  Interactive activities that involve touching and doing?  If you aren’t sure, there are a number of quizzes available online such as these from How to Learn and Educationplanner.org.

Visual learners can:

• Rely heavily on flashcards.
• Write down notes. Don’t record or highlight everything. Stick to keywords, page numbers, core ideas, and basic diagrams.
• Draw sketches to explain new concepts.
• Color code things.  Break out the neon post-its and highlighters!

Auditory learners can:

• Read flashcards and notes out loud.
• Tape lectures (with permission) to listen to on their commute.
• Talk about the material with their study group.
• Recite public speeches ahead of time in front of a mirror or friends.
• Try to come up with mnemonics, rhymes, or songs for difficult concepts.

Kinesthetic learners can:

• Chew gum, fidget or walk around while reading.
• Do hand-on activities such as acting out stories or creating art projects.
• Fidget, tap a pencil, or hold on to a stress ball while learning.
• Take frequent short breaks for physical activity in between bouts of studying.

Be Prepared to Study

Getting your head in the game and your environment set up for studying is a vital step.  Here are some tips.

• Get enough sleep, eat healthy meals, and drink plenty of fluids so your brain functions at its best.
• Limit distractions and test out different areas to study.  Some popular choices include at a quiet corner of your hose, in a study group at a friend’s, or in the library.

Get Organized

• Buy a day planner and write down every coming test or report due date as you are told them.
• Don’t forget to block in time for holidays, household errands, and visits to friends.
• Schedule when you’ll actually study.  People tend to learn best if they do a little studying every day.  Hint: Cramming doesn’t get the information into your long-term memory.  You might need these concepts next semester!

With that in mind, try memorizing notes with a spaced repetition system.  These allow you to study your notes, put them away, and come back at longer and longer intervals.  Eventually, you won’t need the SRS because you’ve fully learned the material.

If you would like more information about becoming a college student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin or you would like to learn about how you could begin the process of training for this career, reach out to a Milwaukee Career College advisor. We would love to help you change your life and get your education.

Contact us to learn more about classes and how MCC can help you get started on your new career!