6 Learning Strategies To Apply in the Workplace

Updated February 3, 2023

Learning strategies are methods developed by experts to improve your overall studying ability. They are designed to help you absorb, retain and recall study content in a self-dependent manner using resources like thoughts, memories, logic processes and emotions. Understanding effective learning techniques is helpful to different types of learners and helps in different ways, such as improving memory and concentration abilities, enhancing reading and writing skills and achieving improved problem-solving abilities.

In this article, we discuss six learning strategy types, list the key attributes of learning techniques and examine how they can benefit you.

6 learning strategies types

Here are six important learning strategies you can use to maximize your learning potential:

1. Active learning

Active learning is an instructional learning method. With this strategy, the teacher and students actively engage in the learning process. It's the opposite of the one-way passive learning process, where the tutor alone participates while the students remain inactive listeners. Apart from the classroom environment, you can apply this technique to open sessions, group interactions, education contests or weekend activities. The main advantages of the active learning strategy are:

Experiential learning: This is where students learn through participation and experience. Active learning can extend to various practical situations, like study tours, outdoor expeditions or education exchange programs.
Collective learning: This offers students the advantage of learning from each other through interactive means and methods. These can include brainstorming sessions, peer reviews, role-play games and puzzles.
Inquiry-based learning: This prompts individuals to explore their teachings more deeply through self-assessment, reflection, motivation and inspiration, like students pose questions or challenges and obtain answers independently from their knowledge base. This learning strategy is important because it develops abilities like critical thinking, problem-solving and self-evaluating.
Paired learning: This is when pairs engage in activities like puzzles, quizzes, question-answer games and written or oral tests. This learning strategy offers students the opportunity to build on their strengths while reducing their weaknesses.

The active learning approach empowers people to learn in a collaborative, shared manner since it focuses on learners rather than teachers.

2. Mnemonic learning

This learning strategy helps students recall series, groups or collections of learning elements through their mnemonic representation. Convenience and prompt recall are the two distinct advantages of this technique. Students can better memorize material that has a chain of information using this technique. Effective ways of mnemonic learning are:

Keywords

This technique is useful while learning new words. Keywords create an alternate mental image of study content by relating it with more familiar objects or aspects. This association makes the content learner-friendly. For example, while learning the names of body organs, you can associate the kidney with the image of kidney beans, the brain with walnuts and the eyes with almonds for easier recall.

Pegwords

These words provide a reference point to the new learning content. It's an alternative to keyword-based learning. This difference is you can apply pegwords to multiple subjects, such as math, history or social studies, apart from the learning of vocabulary that keywords enable. An example is the numeric value 10, which students can learn by creating its mnemonic representation as one-oh. Similarly, for 101, they can create a one-on-one mnemonic device.

Short forms

These are acronyms created for long-form content to remember and recall them conveniently. For instance, a student might create a short form to represent a neurocognitive-behavior study like "NCBS." Likewise, you can remember complicated formulas and technical terms by using this simplification technique. You can also combine mnemonic strategies to create effective learning methods. For instance, you may be able to memorize a country's geographical map by giving acronyms to different states and keywords to cities.

3. Text-visual combination

Text-visual combination or dual coding merges the textual study content with a matching visual element to create a mental relationship between the two. When text is challenging to remember, a learner-friendly visual association is a popular way to make subjects easy to learn. You can take visuals from your past life experiences, such as your favorite TV shows or video games, memorable events or visuals from your daily routine. These visual representations can also be infographics, conceptual drawings or photos.

You can apply this learning strategy in different situations:

Classrooms
Virtual classrooms
Internet-based tutoring sessions
Student-to-student interactions
Group interactions
Informal learning sessions

This learning strategy helps learners relate to the study content, creating a familiar learning environment.

4. Spaced learning

This technique encourages learning in small amounts that are spaced uniformly throughout your schedule. Sometimes, individuals focus on studying immediately before an exam, but spaced learning can offer more benefits than cramming. For instance, when you pace yourself through your studies, you may have an easier time retaining information. Studying hastily can also make learning feel like an obligation, which may decrease your interest.

Spaced learning offers a sustainable learning strategy that instills a positive approach to learning. To study effectively, distribute your education over a uniform learning calendar.

Related: 26 Memorization Strategies

5. Revision without books and notes

This method helps you revise your studies from memory rather than rereading from textbooks or notes. It requires you to form a habit of understanding the study material, steadily transferring it to the brain and practicing revisions without the assistance of study material. Such effective memorization of the content has several benefits:

Longer retention: You may be able to remember what you studied for a longer time.
Simplified recall: These revisions may help you recall what you studied easily. It also makes the remembering process faster.
Better performance during exams: Since your brain is preconditioned to recall information independently, you may perform better in tests and exams.
Improved overall brain functioning: This learning strategy can make your brain more efficient and help it perform better in other situations.
Flexibility: You can access your brain anytime for revisions, wherever you are, without carrying the study material with you.

Revision without the help of study material is key to better exam performance and improved overall brain power.

6. Mixed study subjects

This technique, also known as interleaving, involves studying multiple subjects at a time. It can benefit you by helping you:

Avoid monotony: You may become disinterested in a subject if you study it for a long time. Interleaving helps you avoid this tendency.

Improve your skill set: Interleaving can improve organizational and problem-solving abilities.

Hold information long term: Mixing study subjects can help you remember course materials for longer.

Enhance interpersonal transfer: This learning strategy can enable the better transfer of knowledge from one person to another, so your coworkers can benefit from it.

Note that interleaving may be challenging initially, but once you are familiar with it, you may be able to attain the above long-term advantages by practicing the technique.

Key attributes of learning strategies

The three key attributes of any learning strategy are:

Improving declarative or descriptive knowledge: This attribute relates to the knowledge of absolute facts that you can't change, such as Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States, or a period marks the end of a sentence. Improving declarative knowledge helps students recall facts and other types of absolute knowledge faster and easier and improves word-based expressions, like writing and speaking.
Increasing procedural knowledge: This form of knowledge answers the operational mechanisms of different objects. For example, it demonstrates knowledge of operating a machine or repairing a gadget.
Enhancing conceptual knowledge: Improving theoretical knowledge can lead to a better understanding of abstract concepts, theories and principles. Competence in conceptual knowledge is essential for math, science and technology.

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Strategies for lifelong learning

According to these strategies, learning doesn't only take place in the classroom. They help you to be a better learner during the various phases of your career and throughout life. Some strategies include:

1. Learning management system

An organization can use learning management systems throughout. They help in vital areas like continuous learning, skills and knowledge upgrade and soft skills development. They benefit employees by improving their performances, bridging knowledge gaps and increasing competitiveness.

2. Individual learning program

Such programs focus on the individual strengths and weaknesses of employees as assessed by human resource (HR) leaders. HR leaders can offer various learning plans that improve employees' abilities in their chosen fields or areas assigned by managers. This can encourage employees to take ownership of their education and work on their weaknesses while continuing to build their strengths.

3. Data-based learning strategy

This strategy uses data to design programs that improve corporate and employee performance. This strategy employs many data types to achieve the desired results. Various data types can include:

Employee appraisal charts
Sales figures
Competitor data
Employee feedback data

4. Learning through interaction

This strategy promotes continuous, meaningful interactions between teams and departments in an organization. You can implement it through talks, discussions, contests and collaborative activities. An interactive strategy can create a better understanding of employees' functions and build a harmonious workplace.