Many university teachers do not realize that students vary dramatically in the way they process and understand information. These differences in learning, called "learning styles," refer to students' preferences for some kinds of learning activities over others. It is important to stress that we are discussing how students learn, and not what they learn.

Researchers have examined various types of learning styles and these can be organized into the following categories:

Personality - basic characteristics or predispositions, e.g., extrovert/introvert

Information Processing - how students tend to interact and behave in the classroom, e.g., concrete experience/abstract conceptualizing.

Instructional Preference - which teaching methods are preferred by students, e.g., lecture/small group discussion.