CPA Review Course for Visual Learners

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The notion of learning styles has been around for a long time. The theory suggests that tailoring your study material to fit your preferred learning style will result in better outcomes. While there’s little scientific evidence to support this claim, many believe that the learning styles themselves are worth understanding because of the benefits they may offer. For example, visual learning, combined with other activities, has tremendous information-retention potential:

  • 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual.
  • Visual information is processed 60,000x faster than text.
  • There’s a very strong association between long-term memory and images (even detailed images). [1]

These findings suggest that for exams covering large volumes of material over significant lengths of time, visual learning should play a substantial role. This makes visual learning a critical piece of any useful CPA Exam prep course, as it could help you to retain more information and grasp complicated topics.

What Are the Different CPA Exam Learning Styles?

According to the learning styles theory, the primary CPA learning styles would be visual (spatial), auditory (aural-musical), reading and writing (verbal/linguistic), and kinesthetic (physical). Each plays a crucial role in grasping complex ideas and should be addressed in any good CPA review course.

  • Visual learners best understand content they can see. This might involve diagrams, color coding, or videos.
  • Auditory learners benefit from hearing a lesson or speaking themselves. They might prefer to listen to an audiobook instead of watching a video.
  • Reading and writing learners are similar to visual learners in that they excel by seeing physical words. “Old school” reading and writing formats are great for these learners.
  • Finally, kinesthetic learners enjoy being physically engaged in a task. They might need a hands-on approach implemented into their study routine, such as using flashcards.

Advantage of Visual Learning Compared to Others

As mentioned previously, the primary benefit of visual learning when preparing for the CPA Exam is the brain’s capacity to recall long-term information gathered from illustrations. This is essential for the CPA Exam given that there is much overlap among the four sections of the CPA Exam and that many candidates require over a year to complete these sections. Candidates are given an 18-month window to pass all four sections of the CPA exam. At the end of the day, though, what’s most important is to learn the material in whatever way works best for you.

Here’s one such example from the UWorld Roger CPA Review where a simple image cleanly conveys a concept that would otherwise require a large paragraph:

UWorld Roger CPA Review AUD Section - Reliability of Audit Evidence

Another factor to consider with the CPA Exam is the importance of being able to analyze tables and similar displays before answering questions. Having long-term familiarity with common tables and graphs will save you time when you take the exam. UWorld Roger CPA Review is among the best CPA review courses for visual learners because it includes high-quality illustrations, flowcharts, and diagrams that bring concepts to life. The following is an example from the UWorld CPA question bank. This image is part of an in-depth answer explanation of one of the questions:

Are You a Visual Learner?

Most visual learners know early on that this is their preferred learning style. Telltale signs of being a visual learner include:

  • Having the ability to recognize patterns
  • Working efficiently with charts and graphs
  • Having a photographic memory (or a preference towards seeing images)
  • Preferring videos over strictly listening
  • Having a good sense of direction
  • Operating well from written lists

Are There CPA Courses With Visual Learners in Mind?

There are plenty of CPA prep courses designed for visual learning. The trick is to find one with quality graphics and well-timed engagement. Even for visual learners, it’s best to balance this learning approach with other learning styles. Many UWorld Roger CPA Review students greatly appreciate this balance. Becoming one dimensional is never a good thing.

No matter what your preferred learning styles are, you should check to see that the CPA prep course of your choice incorporates a variety of teaching methods. Focusing on only one style can be a detriment to your study efforts [2]. For visual learners, you might consider: Is there a good balance between text and graphics? Do you need to draw your own charts based on the course content to review later? You might specifically search for a CPA prep course that offers live lectures or video reviews, as well.

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How Can You Increase Your Success on the CPA Exam as a Visual Learner?

There are several common tricks that CPA candidates who benefit from visual learning use to optimize their CPA study time:

  • Color code content: Many visual learners love to highlight or underline related concepts in specific colors. Doing so builds a visual association when reviewing content.
  • Create tables and graphs: Another way to organize content is to build tables and graphs. This helps visual learners associate topics with physical locations and trends.
  • Use flashcards: A flashcard is essentially two related images. One side depicts a term or question, while the other side depicts the answer. This is another way to build a visual connection between ideas.
  • Visualize success: Visualization allows a CPA candidate to better understand what it will take to achieve success.

Best CPA Exam Review Course for Visual Learners

Overall, UWorld Roger CPA Review is the best CPA review course for visual learners. The CPA prep course is designed from the ground up to be highly interactive and intuitive. Professionally-designed illustrations are paired with high-quality questions and rationales to help you retain information. All course materials undergo a meticulous development process by an acclaimed team of accounting educators and practicing CPAs that are dedicated to student success. These features and more have resulted in our CPA candidates achieving a 94% pass rate on the CPA Exam.

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