UPSC Exam Preparation: What type of a learner are you?

Once you start preparing for the IAS Exam, there would be a plethora of information that you need to gather and retain. You can be of the opinion that there is only one way to learn something, but let me tell you that you are wrong. Each one of us has a different way of learning things faster, some have their visual faculty stronger than the auditory ones or vice versa. However, there are many more ways to learn. This article will do its best to elaborate.

Types of learners for the UPSC Exams

The following are the learner traits usually seen in the UPSC Exams:

• The Linguistic Learner: The linguistic learner is someone who learns best through linguistic skills like reading, writing, listening, or speaking. It can also be a combination of these methods. So, for example, if a linguistic learner wanted to learn a new skill, their best method of learning would be to read about it, then listen to an audio recording and take notes on it. Finally, concretizing it would require speaking about it and, also, writing about it extensively. Not surprisingly, some of the best teachers and professors are linguistic learners. It’s in the nature of the profession.

• The Naturalist: The naturalist learns by working with nature. This sounds a lot like a scientist and that’s exactly how scientists learn. The naturalist loves experiences and loves observing the world around them, they capture the best information or knowledge through experimentation.

• The Musical/ Rhythmic Learner: The musical learner is someone who learns by using melody or rhythm. This would be like a musician learning how to play by listening to a piece of music or a drummer who hears beats in his head and on the street. It can also be a person who learns best while humming, whistling, tapping their pencil on the desk, wiggling, or listening to music in the background. For this person, music isn’t a distraction but instead actually helps the learning process.

• The Visual/Spatial Learner: A visual or spatial learner is someone who learns best if there are visual aids available for the learning process. For example, someone who can learn best from diagrams, pictures, graphs, videos would be a visual or spatial learner. These people tend to be technically-oriented.

• The Kinesthetic Learner: A Kinesthetic learner is someone who learns best by doing something. These people are also scientific in nature and must interact with objects in order to learn about them or learn about them in the best way possible.

• The Logical/Mathematical Learner: The logical/mathematical learner has a need to classify or categorize things. They also tend to understand relationships or patterns, numbers and equations, better than others.

• The Interpersonal Learner: The interpersonal learner is one who learns by relating to others. Often, these people are found sharing stories, they work best in teams, and compare their ideas to the ideas of others. In a sense, others help them think of new ideas of their own. They are often naturally good leaders as well as team players. You often see these people in various fields of psychology or social sciences.

• The Intrapersonal Learner: The intrapersonal learner unlike the interpersonal, learner is someone who works and learns best when they are alone. They set individual goals which are challenging but not impossible. They are also motivated by internal forces, rather than external ones. They are mostly introverted individuals, but not always.

Understanding what type of learner you are will take you a long way in your preparation and can help you immensely.

You can find more articles through the links given in the table below. For more topics of similar nature, visit the UPSC Syllabus page:

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