You may have an intuitive sense of how you learn most effectively. Perhaps you've always noticed you learn things better when you have visuals, or when you can move around while studying. Perhaps you find you always do better on a test after you've studied alone in complete silence, but your best friend has always excelled after studying in a loud café with others. These traits point toward an individual's learning style.

It's fun to assess your learning style to get validation for what you think about yourself. A good assessment, based on the research of the prominent educational theorist Howard Gardner, can be found here:

http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz

A few of the classic learning styles are presented below, along with tips for optimizing them in study habits.

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After taking the assessment, think about your habits and how you might optimize your learning style going forward. For example, if you are a verbal-linguistic learner, how can you work to interpret visual data? Would translating it into a narrative help? Conversely, if you are a visual learner and your instructor uses presentations mostly composed of words, what can you do? Would drawing pictures, graphs, and charts representing the information visually help you grasp things better?

Kinesthetic or naturalistic learners benefit from movement and outdoor stimulation. Can you incorporate a walk through a quiet park or arboretum with your studying? (If you're an auditory learner, perhaps you can listen to recorded lectures or book-on-tape while walking!) If not, take that wireless tablet, smartphone or a good old-fashioned book out under a tree.

In short, it's important to note, a one-style-fits-all model is not appropriate for studying effectively. However, it's in your power as a learner to think strategically and adapt as necessary in order to succeed.