There are an abundance of different materials available for exam preparation. Knowing how you learn can definitely help you to choose material that will complement your learning style. For example, if you are more of an active learner who best learns by hands-on experience, you probably don’t want to rely solely on written material.

So one of the things you can do to improve your studying is to identify what kind of learner you are. I learned many years ago that I learn best by seeing and I always look for exam prep material that uses lots of scenarios and real-world examples. You can talk at me for hours about a particular topic. However, unless there is something in front of me relating to the topic that I can see, chances are I won’t remember too much of what you were trying to teach me.

There are many different theories surrounding learning styles. Three of the common learning styles are outlined below.

• Visual - Visuals learners learn best by seeing the material.
• Auditory - These types of learners tend to learn best by listening and hearing the material.
• Kinesthetic - Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing.

So how can you use this information to your advantage when deciding upon exam preparation material? Well, if you are a visual learner, you are going to learn best by seeing the material. When selecting exam prep material, you will want to look for resources that use a lot of tables, diagrams, charts, and so on to present the various topics. If you are taking an instructor-led course, you will probably do better with an instructor that uses a lot of visuals as examples.

What if you are an auditory learner? Well, you probably learn best by hearing and listening. Instructor-led training would be an ideal choice since you can listen to a highly skilled trainer present the material. An alternative to this is to look for exam prep material that uses simulations to present various key topics. Many study guides now come with simulations on a CD-ROM that you can watch and listen to as the author walks you through performing different procedures.

Finally, if you are a kinesthetic learner, you probably learn best by doing. When choosing exam prep material, you will want to look for material that teaches a specific topic but then gives you the opportunity to practice it in some sort of lab exercise.

Now this is not to say that you are either one or the other. You may be a visual learner but have very strong listening skills. You need to determine what your strengths are and use this information to choose exam prep material that will work with your learning styles.

[tags]learn, education, certification, exam, study[/tags]