How to Identify Your Best Learning Styles

同学们对爱因斯坦的公式W＝X＋Y＋Z不会陌生吧，其中W代表成功，等式右边有三个变量：X代表勤奋，Y代表方法，Z代表不浪费时间，少说空话。他的经验告诉同学们三者综合运用才能成功。由此可见学习方法、方式的重要性。掌握科学的学习方法，是同学们形成学习能力的重要环节。下面来看看如何确定你最好的学习方式。　　Key Point
　　To be more effective, determine (确定) your best learning styles (学习方式).
　　People learn differently. Some prefer using pictures. Others like working in groups. How do you learn best?
　　Here are the three major factors (因素) making up your learning style.
　　● 3 senses—auditory, visual and kinesthetics
　　● 2 reasoning types—deductive and inductive (演绎与归纳)
　　● 2 learning environments—intrapersonal and interpersonal
　　Check these factors as they apply to different subjects to discover your learning preferences.
　　The 3 senses
　　Auditory—listening
　　◆ I prefer to follow verbal instructions (口授) rather than written ones.
　　◆ I find it comfortable to add spoken numbers mentally.
　　Visual—seeing, reading and visualizing
　　◆ I score high on tests that depend on reading comprehension.
　　◆ I can read formulas and understand them.
　　◆ I prefer maps to verbal directions when I am trying to find a place.
　　Kinesthetics—moving, touching, writing and doing
　　◆ When I write things down, it clarifies (澄清) my thoughts.
　　◆ I have to manipulate (巧妙地处理) formulas in order to understand them.
　　◆ I like to draw pictures.
　　◆ I am good at using my hands. I enjoy lab classes.
　　The 2 reasoning types
　　Deductive reasoning
　　◆ I like to look at the big picture first, then get the details.
　　◆ When learning a new game, I like to know all the rules before playing.
　　◆ In an argument, I state my premises (预述) first, then draw conclusions.
　　Inductive reasoning
　　◆ I like to see some examples when first learning a new subject, before developing an overview.
　　◆ I prefer to learn the rules of a new game “as we go along”.
　　The 2 learning environments
　　Intrapersonal—working alone
　　◆ When solving word problems, I have to figure it out for myself.
　　◆ Doing school work with a group often wastes a lot of time.
　　Interpersonal—working with others
　　◆ Before making a decision, I usually discuss it with my family or friends.
　　◆ I like to do my homework with others.
　　What are you best at?
　　Ideally (理论上地), we are good with each learning style. However, what we do best can depend on our mood, the subject matter, our friends and the teacher. Our goal is to monitor(监控) our learning effectiveness (效果) and to adjust our learning styles for maximum advantage.