Learning Issues and Differences

Despite the well-established fact that we all learn differently ("different kinds of minds" as the late Dr. Mel Levine said), you have probably experienced mostly "one-size-fits-all education." The more you know about your own learning and the expectations and assumptions of a course, the better you'll do.

• David Kolb has designed a four-part representation of learning stages. According to Kolb, most students have preferences for one or two of the four. Reflect on the types of activities that you enjoy most (and least) as you read the following descriptions.
• "In-class demonstrations, simulations, storytelling, newspaper articles, and films are examples teaching techniques that provide students with concrete experiences. students who want concrete experiences also appreciate such techniques as role-play and peer feedback. Students, who, instead, learn primarily through perception most enjoy reflective observation. Techniques that engage the reflective observers are discussion and brainstorming sessions, answering questions on assigned readings, and keeping journals of their learning experiences. They need plenty of time to consider what they are learning as they watch others as a means of better understanding what they are learning. Abstract conceptualizers benefit from model-building assignments and writing critiques of theories or models. Instructor can ask students to point out the assumptions within a model for analysis or to analyze a model using a different set of assumptions. Abstract conceptualizers prefer to study alone so that they can organize, structure, and logically analyze ideas and theories. In contrast, students whose preferred stage is doing, which Kolb terms active experimentation, want to participate by immediate application of the material or practice of the concept. Active experimentation activities include labs, field work, projects, assignments, case studies, individualized learning activities, and model testing." [Source: David Royce, Teaching Tips for College and University Instructors: A Practical Guide (Allan and Bacon, 2001, pp. 122-23].
• Most classes require all the above activities and approaches.
• Pay attention to your assignments. Ask yourself, what are the cognitive skills I'm being asked to display? What part of Bloom's taxonomy of thinking skills are called into play?
• If you have identified some learning difference or "disability," then get some help. See the Coping with College page for campus- and web-based resources.
• Have a look at Learning Outside the Lines by Jonathan Mooney and David Cole (2000). "Two Ivy League students with learning disabilities and ADHD give you the tools for academic success and educational revolution." While the book includes a fair amount of juvenile and "pseudo-subversive" BS, it makes a few good points about succeeding in college. Here are a few [bracketed comments added by Dr. Slatta]:
  • "People process information and in turn learn in multifaceted and individual ways. Some alternative learning styles are tactile and kinesthetic, verbal, visual and spatial, and project based. Again, as a result of the structure of most schools and their underlying assumptions and values, our teachers teach to a universal learning process for all children: own teacher, one way of presenting the information, one way to learn" (p. 69).
  • "There are kids now who are learning to be ashamed of how their mind works or losing their creativity to conformity. By finding success outside the lines, for our reasons, we challenge everyone to reevaluate the standards we hold and judge people by. We force people to rethink how we define success, how we define intelligence, and ultimately how we define education" (pp. 83-84).
  • "Don't fear failure. We grow up fearing the big 'F-word.' When we get F's, we do not get the gold stars, right? But the irony is that without risking failure, we will never achieve anything that is truly ours" (p. 256). [That's why in my courses, you cannot suffer "catastrophic failure" and why you have several chances to do similar tasks. If you fail at an early effort, use that experience and the feedback from it to improve in the future.]
  • "You can use your education as a means to redefine yourself or pursue an identity that is an honest reflection of who you are. When you do this, you free yourself from the past and from having to be what now defines you, and you open up your future--the essence of what it means to be empowered" (p. 23).
  • "Much of school past and present is about reacting to external pressure, other people's definitions of us, and about other people's expectations of who we should be. Our first and biggest step to making the most of this opportunity is arriving at a place where we look inward for direction to chart [and take responsibility for] our own education path" (p. 71).