Understanding your learning style is important to students, as it can show the most efficient ways to learn. Especially when it comes to SAT and ACT test prep, students need to make sure they are using their time wisely. You have so much going on in your life, between school and homework and family and friends and sports teams and clubs and organizations and community service! Make sure you aren’t wasting your SAT study hours!
Visual learners are students who prefer to learn by reading and looking at pictures. You may be a visual learner if you are very neat and easily distracted by messes in your learning environment. Even messy students can be visual learners, however! Visual learners picture images in their heads while reading, and draw graphics when explaining things to their friends. Students like this typically can benefit from color coordinating notes, using flashcards, reading passages and taking notes. To maximize your SAT and ACT study time, use flashcards to memorize vocabulary terms, and read guides like on this blog in order to strengthen your skills. When attending an SAT or ACT prep class, take notes while your instructor is talking, because you will gain more comprehension from reading your notes than listening to a lecture. Maintaining eye contact with the speaker can help you understand more as well.
Students that are auditory learners prefer to learn by listening to lectures and having others explain things to them. If you find yourself singing, humming, or talking out loud to yourself when you’re bored, you might be an auditory learner. Some suggestions for your study times are listening to music while you study, reading your notes out loud, and having a parent or friend ask you questions out loud and while you answer. When studying for the SAT or ACT, attend lectures or have a tutor go over material with you, so you can hear an explanation for how things are done. While taking the reading portions of the test, you may have an easier time comprehending the passages if you move your lips while reading. Don’t talk out loud, as you’ll disturb those around you!
Tactile learners, also sometimes known as kinesthetic learners, are the third type of learner. If you find yourself fidgeting a lot and have a hard time focusing for long periods of time, you may be a tactile learner. Athletic students are also very often tactile learners. These students benefit from “doing” things; study by working through practice problems in math or science, and allow breaks for physical movement during study sessions. The best way for these students to prepare for the SAT or ACT is by working through as many practice problems as possible. Teaching another student the strategies you learn as you learn them can help them stick in your brain better, as well!
No matter what learning style you are, it’s important to make sure you’re starting early with test prep! You don’t want your first exposure to the SAT or ACT to be when you actually sit down to take it!
By: Catherine Martin
Victory Step Education Team
