Learning Styles and Me
The Article for EDC665 - "Learning:The Critical Technology" has caused me to spend quite a bit of time this week reflecting on my own learning styles. Before I post on Bb - I'd like to record something of this journey in here. I've often suspected that I have multiple-learning styles, but I've never really spent a great deal of time attempting to confirm it or reflecting on why it might be the case. Perhaps I thought it was arrogant to even presume that I have multiple learning styles. Why should I be different? If the literature suggests that most people have one or two dominant learning styles, then what makes me think that I'm special enough to be different in that respect?
Reading this article has inspired me to spend some significant time this week both observing myself and reflecting on those observations. When I filled out the chart in Appendix A, I found that I placed about an equal number of marks in each column. This has happened before (other times when I've tried little self-assessments on learning styles). My first reaction when this happens is generally thoughts such as: "well, this can't be right... The literature says that I should have one dominant style... So I must not have been honest with myself when I filled this out." As I've done in the past, I looked at the self-assessment again, filled it out again, and ended up w/ very similar results.
So - I assigned myself a mission - to spend some time each day watching how I approach different tasks and challenges and watching what my approach is to leisure activities as well.
As I observed myself this week (at work, at home, and in between), I found that I do indeed approach different situations with different styles. In addition, I often approach one situation with several styles. For example, when working on a particularly frustrating bit of Flash programming I will move back and forth between looking at example of others work (pictures and diagrams), asking questions of my more capable peer, and just trying various things until they work. I don't prefer any specific method, I use them all and a move between each sort of laterally rather than linearly (meaning that I don't work through these approaches in any order, I don't abandon one for the other, and one approach is not subordinate to the other). This intrigued me, so I took a deeper look at some of the other items on the Learning styles assessment and realized that for many of the "When you..." Comments I truly do view the various options as equal or nearly equal in preference.
Why? What might cause this? Was I born with a pre-disposition toward multiple-learning styles? Somehow, I don't think that's the case. This brings me to the question of nurture and nature.
As a child, a young adult, and even now as an adult I pursue interests that fall into each of the main categories (visual, auditory, kinesthetic/tactile). I'm passionate about photography and other visual arts, I've spent years practicing, performing, and teaching dance (kinesthetic.. But also auditory as it depends so much on the music), I am both a musician and an avid audience member (many different genres of music) (interesting that I did not add music to my U101 course page), I am a voracious reader (fiction and non-fiction) and as a reader I prefer both description and dialogue (I don't think I can rate one above the other). When I choreograph a dance, I visualize the way it will look, I listen to the music and even the sound the dancers make on the stage, and I work with the way specific movements feel. When I teach dance, I "describe" how movements look, how they fell, and even sometimes how they sound (if you are wearing a hip scarf w/ beads or coins and you do a hip drop w/ the accent on the down it will sound different than one w/ the accent on the up). As far as communication is concerned, I enjoy dialogue and conversation (both the listening and the talking) and I do tend to use a lot of gestures and expressive movements (when I'm in an environment where I can do that). Even when I deliver online instruction to remote attendees, I find that I use physical expression while I'm talking. When I'm working on my own projects (professional, for school, or personal) I prefer to listen to music or news on the radio (or have a movie on in the background). When I'm listening to something (instruction or entertainment), I like to doodle and draw patterns on paper. Throughout all of this I tend to want to move physically as well, bounce my foot on the floor, tap a rhythm against my hand with the other hand, etc.
So - my suspicion is that because I actively pursue interests in each of the "areas" and because I've done this since I was a child (and was always encouraged by parents, relatives, and teachers to do this) - I was able to develop and continue to practice each style.
Reading this article has inspired me to spend some significant time this week both observing myself and reflecting on those observations. When I filled out the chart in Appendix A, I found that I placed about an equal number of marks in each column. This has happened before (other times when I've tried little self-assessments on learning styles). My first reaction when this happens is generally thoughts such as: "well, this can't be right... The literature says that I should have one dominant style... So I must not have been honest with myself when I filled this out." As I've done in the past, I looked at the self-assessment again, filled it out again, and ended up w/ very similar results.
So - I assigned myself a mission - to spend some time each day watching how I approach different tasks and challenges and watching what my approach is to leisure activities as well.
As I observed myself this week (at work, at home, and in between), I found that I do indeed approach different situations with different styles. In addition, I often approach one situation with several styles. For example, when working on a particularly frustrating bit of Flash programming I will move back and forth between looking at example of others work (pictures and diagrams), asking questions of my more capable peer, and just trying various things until they work. I don't prefer any specific method, I use them all and a move between each sort of laterally rather than linearly (meaning that I don't work through these approaches in any order, I don't abandon one for the other, and one approach is not subordinate to the other). This intrigued me, so I took a deeper look at some of the other items on the Learning styles assessment and realized that for many of the "When you..." Comments I truly do view the various options as equal or nearly equal in preference.
Why? What might cause this? Was I born with a pre-disposition toward multiple-learning styles? Somehow, I don't think that's the case. This brings me to the question of nurture and nature.
As a child, a young adult, and even now as an adult I pursue interests that fall into each of the main categories (visual, auditory, kinesthetic/tactile). I'm passionate about photography and other visual arts, I've spent years practicing, performing, and teaching dance (kinesthetic.. But also auditory as it depends so much on the music), I am both a musician and an avid audience member (many different genres of music) (interesting that I did not add music to my U101 course page), I am a voracious reader (fiction and non-fiction) and as a reader I prefer both description and dialogue (I don't think I can rate one above the other). When I choreograph a dance, I visualize the way it will look, I listen to the music and even the sound the dancers make on the stage, and I work with the way specific movements feel. When I teach dance, I "describe" how movements look, how they fell, and even sometimes how they sound (if you are wearing a hip scarf w/ beads or coins and you do a hip drop w/ the accent on the down it will sound different than one w/ the accent on the up). As far as communication is concerned, I enjoy dialogue and conversation (both the listening and the talking) and I do tend to use a lot of gestures and expressive movements (when I'm in an environment where I can do that). Even when I deliver online instruction to remote attendees, I find that I use physical expression while I'm talking. When I'm working on my own projects (professional, for school, or personal) I prefer to listen to music or news on the radio (or have a movie on in the background). When I'm listening to something (instruction or entertainment), I like to doodle and draw patterns on paper. Throughout all of this I tend to want to move physically as well, bounce my foot on the floor, tap a rhythm against my hand with the other hand, etc.
So - my suspicion is that because I actively pursue interests in each of the "areas" and because I've done this since I was a child (and was always encouraged by parents, relatives, and teachers to do this) - I was able to develop and continue to practice each style.
posted by susan | 10:20 AM
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