The learning strategy students choose in a course can determine the impact of a teaching strategy. In a required, resident genetics course, on-line lessons on 21 topics in genetics have replaced the use of a textbook for out-of-class reading. In addition to traditional textbook elements (objectives, text, glossary, and images), these on-line lessons contain animations that illustrate main concepts in each lesson. Each lesson also has a bank of multiple choice questions delivered as a randomized ten-question quiz. Assessment of student use of these lessons in the first semester they were assigned in the course suggested that strategies were adopted that varied from a more in depth to a less in depth approach. Therefore, for the next five semesters, students completed the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) early in the course to determine if they were a deep, strategic or surface learner. At the end of the semester, students self reported their approach in using the various elements of the on-line lessons. Students were grouped by learning style and the responses of groups could be compared. From this analysis, we are able to gain insights on student use of the lesson elements and the impact of learning style on the student's strategy for using the lessons. This insight prioritizes changes in current lesson design and helps guide future lesson development.