Chapter Three Learning About Learning

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1 F O C U S Challenge Reaction Insight Action Chapter Three Learning About Learning Reading Assignment pages PowerPoint Presentations Chapter 3 FOCUS on Community College Success Resource Center includes great resource tools 1. Challenge Quiz 2. iaudio Chapter Summaries 3. Inside the FOCUS Studio Assignments - Always check: Syllabus, Blackboard (Bb) Assignments, Bb Assessments & Bb Announcements for open assignments and due dates Discussion Board Postings - Discussion postings are required with each chapter. Check Syllabus and Bb Discussion Board for open discussions Web Links Always check Bb Web Links for hot links to websites connected with this chapter. Quotes to think about Learning how to learn is life s most important skill. Tony Buzman, memory expert It s not that I m so smart, it s just that I stay with problems longer. Albert Einstein My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength. - Michael Jordan Challenge Case - Tammy Ko Chapter 3 begins with the Tammy Ko s challenge case on pages Read Tammy s story then review the REACTION What Do YOU Think? questions on page 50. Does Tammy s story relate to your own experience in some way? Before you begin this chapter, understand one thing clearly no one learning style is better than another learning style. No personality preference is better than another. No VARK result is better than another. No Multiple Intelligence profile is better than another. I am an ESTJ (Extrovert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging), AURAL, LINGUISTIC, LOGICAL/MATHEMATICAL, INTERPERSONAL Learner. What does all of that mean? By the time you get to the end of Chapter 3, you too will understand what each of those mean and be able to write a similar sentence about yourself. Before you begin this chapter, I would like for you to complete a few inventories that will help to identify your learning style. First, take the Personality Assessment in TypeFocus (part of Career Assignment #1). It will help you to understand your personality PREFERENCES. I stress preferences. Also, note that the Personality Assessment results equal a Myers Briggs Type. You will find more information on MBTI later in this chapter. We will use the results from the Personality Assessment to identify your learning style in this chapter, and we will also use it to reflect on your career choice. Second, on pages you will find Exercise 3.2 Multiple Intelligences Self-Assessment. Take these inventories and tally your scores.

2 Third, take the VARK. You will find the link to the VARK assessment in Web Links located in Blackboard. The VARK online version will automatically score your assessment. After receiving your results on the VARK site connect to the resources for your learning style. Be sure to save your results. There is also a paper and pencil version of the VARK on pages in your textbook. Once you complete the various learning styles assessments, write your results on the I AM worksheet on page GTC 32 of the College Skills Resource Guide found in your text. This will provide you a one-page reference for your learning styles information. Go to the Head of the Class: Learning and the Brain (Staley 50) Use It or Lose It Will Rogers once said, You know, you ve go to exercise your brain just like your muscles. Staley follows that thought by emphasizing the importance exercising your brain. She states that repetition is vital to learning. You must use and reuse information in order to hardwire it. Ask Questions and Hardwire Your Connections Your instructors will typically be an expert in their field. You are coming to the material as a novice. You will grow in the material by asking questions, checking, probing, and clarifying until you understand. Don t be afraid to ask questions! Take Charge and Create the Best Conditions in Learning (Staley 52) Best state of learning (pg 53) Learning does for your brain what food does for your body. Nourish yourself! 1. You re intrinsically motivated (from within yourself) to learn material that is appropriately challenging - What motivates you? - How challenged are you? 2. You re appropriately stressed, but generally relaxed - How do you manage your stress level? - Are you taking care of yourself? 3. You re curious about what you re learning, and you look forward to learning it - Are you looking back and ahead as part of your learning? - Are you focusing on what you can learn versus outward appearances? 4. You search for personal meaning and patterns - What s in it for you? - How do your courses connect? 5. Your emotions are involved, not just your mind - Are you checking your emotional connection? - Are you turning negative feelings to positive? 6. You realize that as a learner you use what you already know in constructing new knowledge - Are you engaged in your learning? - Are you blending what you already know with what you are learning?

3 7. You re given a degree of choice in terms of what you learn, how you do it, and feedback on how you re doing. - Are you making the most of the choices and opportunities? - Are you using feedback given or asking for feedback when it is not? Multiple Intelligences: How are you SMART? (Staley 56) Staley begins by asking have you ever noticed that people are smart in different ways? She later asks, how are you smart? (58) Gardner formulated his theory of multiple intelligence based on observing patterns in different sets of skills. Individuals may have strengths in more than one area. Individuals can be strong in one area while weak in another. How is understanding your intelligence profile important to understanding your learning style? By understanding your natural preference to learning, you will understand the best way to choose a class, choose a major and/or choose a career. Within the Chapter 3 Learning Module you will find Gardner s Multiple Intelligence broken out into layman terms. (I actually found the explanations on an elementary school web site. However, after reviewing the explanations I found them to be a great summary of each intelligence profile. I have also included information from Clemson University s National Drop-out Prevention Center.) Be sure to review your Intelligence! Use the Intelligence-Oriented Study Techniques for the Gardner s Multiple Intelligence in the red chart on page 59 of the textbook to help you develop a study plan that addresses your smarts. Develop Your Weaker Intelligence? (Staley 60) When reviewing your intelligence results, focus also on your weaker intelligence score. Cultivating the weaker intelligence will make you a more well-rounded individual. How Do You Perceive and Process Information? (Staley 60-64) It is important to understand that we all learn in different ways. Create your own learning plan based from your learning style to increase your success. Think which classes in high school you seemed to learn the easiest or liked the best. It could have easily had something to do with your sensory preference to a particular instructor s teaching style. You will have instructors that lecture in a variety of ways from the instructor who never moves from behind the podium to the instructor who adds PowerPoint to the lecture to the instructor who includes tactile learning in the instruction. First understand the instructor will not change their lecture style to accommodate your sensory preference. However, understanding your sensory preference will let you know what you need to do to accommodate your learning style to the instructor s lecture. VARK (Staley 61) Let s look at how you perceive and process information from the perspective of the VARK instrument. Each chapter in the text will end with a VARK activity. These exercises will help you strengthen how to apply your learning style. Visual Some prefer to see the information and learn best through symbolic representations that explain what could have been said in normal text format. Prefer to see information such as pictures, diagrams, cartoons, demonstrations Picture words and concepts they hear as images Easily distracted in lecture with no visual aids Overwhelmed with intense visuals accompanied by lecture Benefit from using charts, maps, notes, and flash cards when studying Aural - Some prefer to hear the information and learn best through sounds by listening. Prefer to hear information spoken Can absorb a lecture with little effort

4 May not need careful notes to learn Often avoid eye contact in order to concentrate Read/Write - Some prefer to read/write the information and learn through words by reading and writing. Kinesthetic - Some prefer to do something with information and learn best through experience when all senses are activated. Prefer touch as their primary mode for taking in information In traditional auditory learning situations, they should write out important facts Create study sheets connected to vivid examples Role-playing can help them learn and remember important ideas Refer to Figure 3.1 (Staley 70) Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic Learning Strategies to find everyday study strategies, and exam preparation study strategies. What Role Does Your Personality Play? Myers Briggs (Staley 64-67) As part of Career Assignment 1 you took a Personality Assessment. The Personality Assessment produces results similar to a famous personality inventory, Myers Briggs (MBTI). The Myers Briggs (MBTI) is the most well-known personality assessment instrument in the world. As mentioned earlier, refer to the PowerPoint for the Myers Briggs found in the Chapter 3 Learning Module. The MBTI shows your preferences in four areas: 1. What energizes you and where do you direct energy? Do you get energy from other people (Extravert - E) or do you go within yourself to find strength? (Introvert - I) 2. How do you gather information and what kind of information do you trust? Do you trust your senses and facultybased information (Sensor S) or do you trust your gut feelings?(intuition N) 3. How do make decisions, arrive at conclusions, and make judgments? Do you think things through logically (Thinker - T) or do you care about how others react and feel? (Feeler F) 4. How do you relate to the outer world? Do you prefer organization and structure (Judging - J) or do you like spontaneity and going with the flow? (Perceiver - P) Metacognition: Take Charge of How You Study (Staley 68) What is metacognition? Metacognition is thinking about your thinking and learning about your learning. Understanding about yourself as a learner puts you in control of your learning. Staley states that metacognition is knowing the limits of your own learning and memory capabilities, knowing how much you can accomplish with a certain amount of time, and knowing what learning strategies work for you. Becoming an Intentional Learner: Make a Master Study Plan (Staley 70) Since you have learned more about yourself and how you learn now it is time to take those strategies to help you develop an effective study plan. Studying is an active process and will be required in order to successfully complete college. As you continue through your academic journey, you will find that you have to adjust your study styles according to the subjects. Exercise 3.5 on pages gives you samples of course material from Calculus, Psychology, and Music Appreciation. Thinking about your VARK, how would you approach studying for these different subjects?

5 Staley provides 12 tips on pages to help you develop a quality study plan. Master Study Plan Tips - Be sure to refer to your text for examples 1. Make sure you understand the assignments 2. Schedule yourself to be three places at once 3. Talk through your learning challenges 4. Be a stickler 5. Take study breaks 6. Mix it up 7. Estimate how long it will take 8. Vary your study techniques by course content 9. Study earlier, rather than later 10. Create artificial deadlines for yourself 11. Treat school as a job 12. Show up Study Right Make sure you have pens, pencils, highlighters and sticky notes when you study. These various tools can help you make the studying process active by marking in your textbooks, recording notes in the margins, and labeling important information. Have a dictionary available. When studying you may encounter new words, do not skip the words because they are difficult or unfamiliar. Look them up, this will help you expand your vocabulary and help you understand the context of the information you are studying. Approach your studying with excitement. If it is seen as drudgery, you will miss out on the value of the learning process. Sprinting to the Finish Line: How to Study When the Heat is On (Staley 76) Having a study plan is always the best option! However, there will be times when you may need to improvise. Staley gives a few tips on page 76 that will help you through that process. 1. Triage 2. Use ever spare moment to study 3. Give it the old one-two-three-four punch 4. Get a grip on your gaps A Final Word about Studying and Learning Never regard study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn Albert Einstein