From:
[email protected]
Date: 2018-04-14
Subject: Learning Styles
What is the most effective way to get information into our heads?
Like most things, I imagine this varies from person to person. I
used to say that I was a "visual learner," but I don't think that
completely captures what works best for me. Today, I think of my-
self as an intuitive person. Being intuitive doesn't mean that I
wear long robes and traverse the spirit realm with a magical pocket
dragon named Regex, but it does mean that I'm more comfortable rec-
ognizing patterns in information and relationships among ideas.
I have a hard time accepting something concrete unless I can under-
stand its relationship to other ideas and what it represents in the
abstract. The downside to this is that it's tempting to premature-
ly apply a mental model and gloss over its inconsistencies with the
data. I have to make sure I check and test my assumptions and in-
ferences.
I came across "Learning Styles and Strategies" by Richard M. Felder
and Barbara A. Soloman and a lot of it clicked with me.[1] They de-
scribe eight learning styles, examined in pairs:
* Active/Reflective
* Sensing/Intuitive
* Visual/Verbal
* Sequential/Global
The authors note, in a couple places, that learners are not exclu-
sively bound to one style or another. I like to think of these as
learning modes because modes can change as circumstances require,
but styles are relatively inflexible.
I want to talk about my experience with these learning modes so
that readers can think about how they might apply to them. You'll
want to read "Learning Styles and Strategies" so that you have the
necessary context. It's a quick read.
Active/Reflective
I definitely use both of these modes. I prefer to reflect, first,
before I try to make use of new information. This gives me time to
absorb the information and make sense of it before I have to demon-
strate what I've learned or apply it. Ultimately, it's best for me
to take time to both absorb the information and then do some prac-
tical exercises.
Sensing/Intuitive
When I'm learning on my own, I can jump around in the material and
develop a sense for the bigger picture. Once I have a framework in
my mind, I can drill down into the details and I'll be able to link
them to more fundamental ideas. When I'm in a classroom, or learn-
ing through a course online, I just have to take notes furiously
and trust that things will click later.
Visual/Verbal
Felder and Soloman say that all learners benefit from having a va-
riety of learning materials. My experience agrees with this. If
the course materials don't provide visualizations, I'll create my
own and them check them against the textual information. This
method helps me internalize course information and establish rela-
tionships among ideas. That said, visuals are of limited value
without well-organized text.
Sequential/Global
I'm definitely a sequential learner. I learn best when ideas are
progressively layered so that each new idea provides a foundation
for the next one. That said, I want to first understand the
breadth of the material and, at a high level, the kinds of applica-
tions it has. Basically, I want to know why I should care.
Reasoning by Analogy
For most of the people I work with, software is difficult to relate
to. (It's getting to be difficult for actual developers!) I use a
lot of analogies when explaining the methods, capabilities, and
limitations of a given product or service. I, too, benefit from
analogies when I'm trying to understand something new. One of my
favorite analogies is the hot dog stand. It's a fun context for
exploring relatively abstract ideas. As the business scales up,
more business concepts become applicable, and the rationale for
each one is evident.
References
1.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILS-
dir/styles.htm
