You may know that you learn best in a typical type of environment and respond well to certain teaching strategies. However, you may not realize that there are specific types of preferred learning styles and that knowing your preference can help you to determine the kinds of study skills that will be most effective for you. If you suspect that you’re a logical learner, it’s important that you understand the kinds of actions you should take in your time outside of the classroom in order to maximize your understanding and retention of the course material. These study tips for logical learners will help you to get the most out of your review sessions. A proactive approach to studying will increase your success and lessen your frustration.

About the Logical Learning Style

Sometimes the logical preference of learning is also referred to as the mathematical learning style. Learners with such a preference depend on their skills of logic to guide the intake of information. If you’re a logical learner, you probably excel at seeing connections and relationships between concepts. You may also be excellent at making various kinds of calculations. Using deductive reasoning to solve problems and find solutions is an enjoyable challenge for you. Games of strategy like chess or battle simulation games may be some of your favorite. Though this style may also be considered mathematical, that doesn’t mean that you are necessarily good at math, though many logical learners are due to a strong understanding of sequence, connections and patterns. You are also probably very investigative. You like to investigate further to find the reason or inner workings behind a concept.

Preferred Teaching Methods

While you have no control over the ways in which your professor chooses to structure lessons, you should be aware of the kinds of instruction that may be of most benefit to you. With this knowledge, you can choose to incorporate instances of such teaching into your study sessions and use these types of strategies to your advantage when teaching yourself new material. Logical learners thrive on organization and will appreciate a lesson that is well structured, going from one point logically into the next.

Lessons that utilize problem solving and allow students to develop conclusions based on the information provided will be fun and easy for you. This type of progression capitalizes on your strong deductive reasoning abilities. Graphs, charts and spredsheets are helpful, as well, because these tools visually demonstrate a pattern or calculation that makes information easy for you to follow. Information presented in a timeline will be easier for you to process than paragraphs in a textbook, and you should utilize any opportunity to analyze information such as statistical review or scientific data analysis.

Study Tips for Logical Learners

Based on the ways in which you like to take in and process information, there are some very valuable strategies you can put to use in your study sessions for better comprehension and retention. When it comes to truly understanding the material presented to you in your online lessons, you will have your best results by breaking large amounts of material down into segments and finding ways in which these segments relate. Look for patterns, associations and relationships between concepts in order to maximize understanding. You can even make the information personal to your own life, if possible. If you are able to see a pattern and compare it to personal experience in some way, you will begin to make sense of the information. Having a clear understanding of a concept also makes it more likely to remain in your memory.

If you don’t have visual representations available to you in your textbook to help you organize the information, you can always make your own. In fact, creating your own graphs, charts, outlines and maps is a tangible way to personalize the information, cementing it further into your memory. Lists are another good tool for learners who are logical because you can categorize information in this way. Hands-on activities are also appeal to your logical side. For example, building models can help you to make connections and see patterns in how something works. These don’t have to be actual models. They can be representations such as using poker chips for math problems.

Your preferred learning style can greatly affect your approach to college. Understanding your preferences and using them to your advantage will be of great benefit to your overall academic success and satisfaction.

Contact a Brighton College representative if you’d like to learn more about the types of programs that may be of interest to you.