Take a diagnostic test online or in print to discover your learning style. Locate a guidance counselor or a student tutoring facility to take a learning style test or to interpret the results of one. Find worksheets and websites for more details about your learning style and optimal studying methods.
Use note cards and diagrams to make course material more visual if you are a visual learner. Test yourself on vocabulary by writing a vocabulary term on one side of the index card and the definition on the opposite side. Take your notes in colored pens and rewrite them when you review after class. Sit up front in each of your classes and take lots of detailed notes.
Make the course material more hands-on and tactile if you are a kinesthetic learner. Do not always study at a work desk or table. Assist memory recall by moving around. Get up out of your seat and study while you walk, run or move about the room. Gesture with your hands as you read, recite or discuss the course material. Read the textbook in short sections rather than the entire chapter in one sitting. Close the textbook and create an outline based on what you remember, identifying the main themes. Teach the information to a classmate.
Read your textbook aloud if you are an auditory learner. Do the same with your lecture notes as you study. Go through the steps of how to solve a problem or the list of items you need to remember by repeating them aloud. Develop rhymes or short songs to remember detailed information. Review in groups, as talking through the material and listening to others' speak will help you the most.
Understand that most students are combination learners: auditory-kinesthetic, visual-kinesthetic or another combination. Use all the techniques that help you best. This may take some continual adjustment throughout your college years and different studying techniques may be needed for different courses.