The Quad

Issue date: 10/10/06 Section: Features

It is 3 a.m. on a brisk October night at West Chester University, and Joe Studant is busily going over class materials for his exam today. He already has revived 100 pages in his text book and still has 50 more to peruse, as well as lecture notes and slides from his professor.

Meanwhile, his eyes are growing heavy as fatigue is starting to kick into full gear and his head is beginning to slump forward. With his body tired, his mind weak and the stench of coffee on his breath, Joe begins to wonder if he can draw similarity between his current situation and that of an accused terrorist at Guantanomo Bay.

Although Joe is by no means a real WCU student, his crisis is one that many college kids can identify with during the midterm period of a semester. During this period, students are expected to prepare for exams (sometimes accumulative) in certain classes while at the same time keeping pace in other subjects. With all the stress caused by this period of labor, an important question to ask is "How to study effectively?" in order to grasp material at a pace quick enough to meet other demands. As The Quad discovered, different sources proposed different answers to this question.

Nick DiDonato, the coordinator for math tutoring at the Learning Assistance and Resource Center (LARC), maintained the position that the key to good studying is "knowing what type of learner you are" and using methods of study that correspond accordingly. As a result, he said he felt that there is no one correct way to review material.

"It is true that some things {ways of studying} do work better then others as there is no universal method that will work for everyone in every situation. The most important thing is to go online or ask someone to take a 'learning styles test' to figure out what kind of learner you are," he said.

According to DiDonato, people have an easier time learning through one of four ways: visual textual (learning best through words), visual pictorial (learning best through pictures), audio (learning best through sound) and kinesthetic (learning best through feeling and touch). He advised that those who learn best visually should thoroughly read their notes and text book or organize information in diagram form if they need pictures, and those who learn better through audio should try reciting their notes out load when they review. Kinesthetic learners have a rougher time studying because some subjects don't have a "hands-on" aspect. For these courses, DiDonato advocated using "feeling patterns" to occupy your need to touch while studying.

Continued...

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