BC3 Home, Student Services Home, Disabilities Services Home,
Careers Home, Tutoring Center, Developmental Education Services Home

Bucks County Community College

The Basics of Effective Learning
Learning Home, Topics Menu, Study Skills, Concepts of Learning,
Web Site Resources, BC3 Help Resources, Learning Site Map


Your Learning Style Profile

The table below represents some of the ways our learning skills, styles, and preferences may be categorized. This information is limited and will only provide a starting point for understanding how you learn best.

As you evaluate yourself, remember… there is no one best way to learn! As unique individuals, we all have different personalities as well as learning styles and preferences. Throughout our lives, we must adapt to a wide range of learning situations-- and it is highly unlikely that our strengths will always match the demands of the situation. So the trick is to build on our strengths while developing other strategies and skills that will broaden our abilities.

Print this assessment and evaluate yourself. Then go to the table on Strategies to Strengthen Your Learning Skills for information on how to improve your learning potential. Knowing Yourself as a Learner will give you additional information.

You may want to consider enrolling in the Study Skills course offered by the college to get more detailed information and assistance. Or you can check out some of the assessments available on the internet.


Study Skills: How would you rate yourself in the following study skills (high, medium, low)? Areas in which you rate yourself low may be topics of this web site you will want to explore; or you may wish to enroll in a study skills course to develop these skills.

  1. Managing your time and study environment.
  2. Reading textbooks.
  3. Taking class notes.
  4. Using information resources (library, internet, etc.).
  5. Writing papers/completing projects.
  6. Preparing for and taking exams.


Learning Style: The categories below represent ways that you process information. Assess your "style" by determining how you learn best in most classroom situations (high, medium, low). Regardless of how you rate in these areas, you should consider ways to develop "other" styles so that you will widen your range of expertise!

  1. Visual: You learn best by "seeing" the concepts-- diagrams, flowcharts, time lines, films, and demonstrations.
  2. Verbal: You learn best from reading, hearing spoken words, participating in discussion and explaining things to others.
  3. Active/Tactile: You need to experience learning by "doing" or by getting personally involved.
  4. Reflective: You need time to reflect on new information on your own and at your own pace.
  5. Factual/Linear: You prefer information to be concrete, specific facts and data. You find it easiest to learn material presented step by step in a logical, ordered progression.
  6. Theoretical/Global: You are most comfortable with "big-picture" ideas, symbols, and concepts. You need to see the whole picture before details make sense to you. You easily "get" the patterns and relationships between ideas.


Preferences: Considering these areas of preference will help you to determine where and when you should study for best results. (Rate youself; high, medium, or low)

  1. Persistence: This indicates your willingness to stick with a task even when you are uncomfortable or tired.
  2. Verbal risk: This indicates your willingness to speak up in class, even when you are nervous about doing so.
  3. Time: The time of day when you perform best: morning (low), afternoon (med.), or evening (high).
  4. Grouping: Low would indicate your preference to learn or work individually; medium, in small groups; high, in large groups.
  5. Mobility: Indicates your (low, medium, or high) need to move around and take breaks.
  6. Sound: Do you need to study in areas where sound is low, medium, or high?
  7. Lighting: Do you prefer low, medium or high amounts of light while reading or performing other study skills?
  8. Temperature: Do you prefer a cool (low), medium, or warm (high) temperature?


Learning Home, Topics Menu, Study Skills, Concepts of Learning,
Web Site Resources, BC3 Help Resources, Learning Site Map

Developed by Meg Keeley
Special Populations Office, Bucks County Community College
With funding from the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act
Designed and Produced by Chimera Studio

Copyright 1997 Bucks County Community College. All rights reserved.

Author: keeleym@bucks.edu