Learning characteristics
Explore our resources to discover the study style that works best for you.
Go to: What are learning traits and characteristics? | Memory | Time | Focus | Motivation
It’s useful to know about our own learning traits and characteristics.
When you start at university, the approaches you’ve used to study in the past might not be a good fit for your new course. Or your new course might ask you to do tasks you’ve never encountered before, so you need to work out the best way for you to tackle those tasks.
“going from A levels, where I would literally write everything down, handwritten, to going to university, handwriting notes just wasn’t an option.”
Leah, Psychology
What are learning traits and characteristics?
When we talk about learning traits and characteristics we mean each person’s unique pattern of strengths, weaknesses and preferences for how and when we learn most effectively.
For example you may:
- have a strong preference for the time of day when you study best
- be aware that you need to revisit new information several times before it makes sense
- know that having an overview of a topic before you start to look at the detail works well for you
“One thing I would like to do when I revise the anatomy would be to make my own notes with lots of colours ... and lots of diagrams. I'm a very visual learner and I found that this really helps the information to go into my brain ... And that's because I could picture the page once I had written it and drawn it, but also the process of drawing and writing things out yourself is proven to be helpful when it comes to remembering information"
Rebecca, Medicine
Many traits and characteristics have an impact on how we learn. Explore the different interactive resources below to find what works for you.
Neurodiversity, medical conditions and our wellbeing can all impact how we study most effectively. If you’d like to discuss your learning needs, there is dedicated support available.
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Memory
How you store and retrieve information.
This is important for how you prepare for exams or make notes.
Using effective memory strategies can improve how much you remember of what you learn, make it easier to recall what you’ve learned and then use the information.
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Time
How you understand and manage your time.
This has a big impact on how you manage your workload. At university you are often juggling several modules and assignments along with relationships, hobbies, caring responsibilities or work.
You may need to adjust the way that you manage your time to suit that complexity.
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Focus and attention
How easy you find it to direct your attention and sustain your attention on a task.
This affects areas like procrastination and the environment you like to study in. Many factors impact your ability to focus and pay attention when you study including sound and light levels, your state of health, neurodivergence and stress levels.
There are many tools and strategies that can support you to focus when you study.
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Motivation
What motivates you to start and stick with studying.
It’s normal for your motivation to vary across a course, a term or even from day-to-day but if you understand what motivates you, then you can use that to keep yourself on track.
For example, some students are motivated by rewards, grades and external recognition; others are motivated more by their love of a subject or enjoyment of particular activities.
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