Section A
Part 1 – Who am I as a learner?
1.1 What is learning?
Nowadays, people believe that learning can enhance their status or values (Beagrie 2007). They trust that learning is a part of their lives (Beagrie 2007). Learning is related to the process of knowing and understanding information (Bransford, Sherwood, Hasselbring, Kinzer and Williams 1990). Student can create and evolve the knowledge structures by learning (Bransford, Sherwood, Hasselbring, Kinzer and Williams 1990).
Learning style can allow learners to choose the right skills on learning (Gagne 1984). In order to learn more easily and efficiently, people should understand their learning style (Gagne 1984). The learning style is an individual’s personality
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The highest marks are Read/Write and Kinesthetic.
The Read/Write learners like to learn by reading and writing (William and Richard 2004). I am agreed that I am a Read/Write learner. When I learnt how to use the new mobile phone, I read the instructions and then tried to use. In my learning experience, when I had the test or examination, I wrote the contexts for many times in order to remember them.
The Kinesthetic learners like to learn by action (William and Richard 2004). I am agreed that I am a kinesthetic learner. For example, I learnt cooking when I studied in secondary school. I ate the new dish before I learnt to cook this new dish. Then, I cooked this new dish by different methods. In the cooking process, I continuously improved my cooking skill. Finally, I found the best method to cook this new dish.
According to Neil D. Fleming, the author of the VARK questionnaire, the teachers can teach better when the teachers can match the learning style to the students (Canfield, 1988). In the other hand, the critics of VARK say that “knowing one’s learning style does not improve learning.”, e.g. someone knows the height does not help to be taller (Fleming and Baume, 2006).
3. Personality
In the real world, personality is the process of continuous self-definition that manages the processes of perception, act and experiences (Leontiey 2006). Moreover, personality is related to the action and consciousness (Leontiey 2006). Beside
Burton, western & Kowaslki (2015) describes Personality as the enduring patterns of thought, feeling, motivation and behaviour that are expressed in different circumstances. In other words it can be defined as differences in characteristics in a person, including their way of thinking, likes, dislikes, sociability, openness, feelings and behaviour, which make them the person they are and differentiates them from others. All these traits when brought together is known to be the personality of that particular person.
The word personality is known as quite a diverse concept and can be described differently in accordance to different people, it comes from the word persona which is a Latin term and is referred to as a mask which actors use when performing. Based on this it could be concluded that characteristics which are visible along with external characteristics (the aspects of us in which can be seen by others) is what personality refers to, (Schultz and Scultz, 2004). Another definition of personality by a different psychologist is “The dynamic and organized set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and behaviours in various situations.” (Rychman, 1999: 5). There are many areas of personality
For years, there have been many theorists who have shared their views on how individuals learn. Such research has determined that individuals have different learning styles. It is important for teacher to understand the learning styles of both themselves and their students because it helps them to relay the subject knowledge to the students. The teacher is in a position where they must be able to assess the learning styles of their students. This means that the students and teachers are both in a process of learning.
A learning style is a particular way in which the mind receives and processes information. There are four types of Learning Styles: Visual (Sight), Auditory (Talk), Tactile (Hands-on),, and . I am an auditory learner which means I'm a talker. My weak learning style is
This student’s preferred learning strategy has always been that of the read/write category. She takes advantage of handouts, textbooks, and dictionaries when studying for quizzes and exams. She also prefers going to the library due to the atmosphere provided by this institution. To enhance learning the use of outlines and note cards have also been useful when studying. Visual aids accompanying the read/write category have been useful in obtaining good grades throughout advancement in education (VARK, 2011).
It is practical to assume that students will do better in tasks that reflect their particular style of learning, so knowledge of students’ learning styles, including a variety of tasks will make teaching more inclusive. A learning style questionnaire could be handed out at the start of a course which, once completed will inform the teacher about the learning styles of the students.
i. Understanding the learners learning styles can make my course to be engaging. Flemming (1987) noted three different styles of learning; visual, kinaesthetic and aural. In order to know which method(s) to use to benefit my students the first lesson on my course will centre around discussions on what they already know, the resources they are familiar with, and a learning style questionnaire which will provide me with information on preferred learning styles. Effectiveness can also be enhanced if I adapt my teaching style to give maximum benefit to learners.
Understanding learning styles can help in the development of self-learning and influence the teaching strategies that may be used in helping others understand new matter. For example, when teaching the VARK learning style having the learner complete the VARK questionnaire so that they can develop an understanding of how they learn would be great. In the real world life application, it completing a learning styles assessment is just not practical. It is the responsibility of the teacher to develop multimodal ways to deliver information. It would include something like a lecture with a handout in a possible power point format that include diagrams of how the information may be applied and complete it with a discussion to cement the information. The lecture appeals to the aural learner. The power point aids the reader along with the visual learners. How to apply the information stimulates the kinesthetic learner and the completion with an open discussion cements the information and gives the aural learner a chance to
“Just as students have different personalities, they also have different ways of learing (Slavin, 107).” Learning styles are another important factor to incorporate when implementing the best learning environment. Learning styles are defined as an individual's mode of gaining knowledge. The most common learning styles addressed are auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory leaners understand information through hearing. Visual learners need more visual aids in the learning process, such as diagrams, webs, or pictures. Kinesthetic learners learn better by using manipulatives or by being physically involved in the learning process. Learning styles is a piece of the “backbone” of differentiated learning. Both are used to individualize instruction to help students achieve the most success.
A kinesthetic learner learns best by moving their bodies to activate their large or small muscles as they learn. This definitely fits me to the T. I never sit still; my hand and mouth have to be constantly moving in order for me to focus and retain any information. It also explains why my first grade teacher sent me home with multiple letters stating that I needed to be put on Ritalin. But that’s not all. I also learned from
Education benefits individual mentally, emotionally and physically by placing them in better place than they were previously before. Everybody would agree that learning something new would take place throughout the life. Learning style defined as "A term that describes the variations among learners in using one or more senses to understand, organize, and retain experience" (Reid, 1987, p. 89). Furthermore, Felder and Henriques (1995, p. 21) explained learning styles as "the ways in which an individual characteristically acquires, retains and retrieves information". However, different learners possess different characteristics and different preferred learning styles to perceive, process, take in and understand information.
Learning styles and barriers to learning can be by the VARK to give a profile of learning preferences of how a person takes in and gives out information or Tidwell and Rodgers Practical learning styles Questionnaire. The VARK learning styles determines if the person learns by being a theorist, reflector, activist and/or pragmatist. The practical learning styles questionnaire looks at how people learn by their orientation, whether they are a realistic or creative, by their interaction, are they a doer or a thinker, by how they represent things, either by words or pictures, and how they process information, whether they are a surface or deep processor. There are many other
What is a learning style? Well a learning style is the way a person tends to learn best. It involves your preferred method of taking in, organizing, and making sense of information, Lake Washington Institute of Technology (2012). Some people prefer to learn by doing and touching, others prefer to learn by seeing, or by hearing the information. Still others learn using more than one learning style. If a person was interested in finding out what their particular learning style is would be to take the VARK questionnaire for learning styles. The most common learning style is the multimodal, but the learner
As a read and write learner, I like taking notes in class and I read over these notes or copy them out. I take my time to study at my own pace and in a quiet environment, I love studying ahead of time to gather and collect all the information needed to understand and also learn a new task to achieve new skills I require. When I’m listening to a lecture for instance, I like to take notes, make bullet points for my reading, and I also turn illustrations into words and check the dictionary for word meanings for me to understand when I study. I check out information in library, textbooks and handouts for better
Personality denotes a person’s distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to various stimuli.