Educational Resources and Learning Styles
Success Type & Learning Style: How They Can Help You Be Successful at KSUCPM
Welcome Class of 2027!
Why is knowing your learning style important?
You are a unique learner. No one else learns exactly the same way you do. There are many benefits to discovering how you process information best on an academic, personal and professional level. Knowing your learning style is not meant to limit you, but to expand you-by helping you to learn more efficiently! Please take some time to utilize the below resources to learn more about your Success Type and Learning Style Type to ensure that you hit the ground running once the fall semester begins:
Learn your Success Type and Learning Style:
- Success Types Learning Style Type Indicator developed by Dr. John Pelley at the Texas Tech School of Medicine
- To understand how to become an effective medical learner and how your 'success type' interfaces with your medical studies, please read Success Types for Medical Students: A Program for Improving Academic Performance.
- For an extra edge, see also his accompanying lecture on the neurobiology of learning: Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.
- Want even more information on how to learn effectively? Please watch these 5 short YouTube videos by Dr. Stephen Chew. Although originally developed for an undergraduate population, the techniques are extremely relevant to how to tackle our curriculum.
- VAK Learning Styles Self-Assessment Questionnaire. Being mindful of different learning styles, especially when working in groups, will improve communication and effectiveness. Although we have the capacity to use all learning modalities, we tend to rely most heavily on our preferred or 'default' style. Knowing your style and understanding the strengths of your colleagues' style will improve group performance.
Professional School is different from college and graduate school. Some major differences are as follows:
- The rapid pace at which material is delivered
- The sheer volume of material
- The level of detail we expect mastery at
- The need to move quickly into integrating and applying new knowledge and skills.
- Another major difference is that the curriculum is cumulative, quickly moving towards clinical application and problem solving in the patient care setting, mandatory national board examinations, clerkship selection, and the Residency selection process.
Both your Time Management Skills and Study Techniques will be your most useful tools for success in med school. I look forward to discussing how I can help you with both during orientation!
Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI): How the LASSI Can Help You Improve Your Learning Strategies at KSUCPM
Pre-Orientation this summer you will be asked to complete the online: Learning and Study Strategies Inventory.
What is LASSI? The LASSI is a 10-scale, 60 item assessment of students’ awareness about and use of learning and study strategies related to skill, will and self-regulation components of strategic learning. The LASSI assessment results will provide you with a diagnosis of your strengths and weaknesses compared to other college students, in the areas covered by the 10 scales and will also provide you with feedback on both your strengths and weaknesses within the 10 scales of: anxiety, attitude, concentration, information processing, motivation, selecting main ideas, self-testing, test strategies, time management, & using academic resources. More information to come on accessing the LASSI pre-test, “prescriptions” that you will be asked to complete for lower-scored areas and the post-test!
Gina Ralston, M.Ed.
Director, Educational Resources