Learning – styles and strategies

1. Learning – styles and strategies Lars Peter Jensen and Xiangyun Du

2. Agenda • Reflection on learning through exercises • Learning styles • Learning portfolio

3. Exercise 1: 3 minutes’ individual thinking • Wishful thinking - One thing you want to be good at • Braining writing - Thinking about a person you know who is good at this thing – why and how – list a few words

4. Group work (20 minutes) • Reverse brainstorming in groups • Share your thoughts with each other • Tell each other what you should DO in order NOT to improve your skills in doing this thing you wish to be good at • Individual reflection – what have you learned in order to realize your wish?

5. Learning – is it only about how brain works?

6. Experience Test Reflection Generalisation/ conceptualisation Experiential learning- Kolb’s learning cycle Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experiences - David Kolb Learning is a function of the activity, context, and culture in which it normally occurs, thus it is situated - Jean Lave & Etienne Wenger

7. Experiential learning – the Cowan loopy diagram P0-proces analysis ”P1-midway seminar” P1-process analysis on action Reflection for in Next project Eksperimental, testing Consolidating, verifying P0-project start Time

8. Everyday reflections – an enhanced Cowan loopy diagram Reflection Planned and joint ’grand’ reflections Incidential and personal ’small’ reflections Time

9. Meta-learning • WHAT?Learning about learning • WHY?Deeper, more lasting learning • HOW?Via reflection on own learning process • WHO?You, individually and in the group • WHERE? In the POPBL-course and in other learning situations • WHEN?When there is a need to improve learning processes

10. Experi- ence Test Reflection Genera- lisation Learning and meta-learning- the Pask model • Experiential learning = ’to find the way out of the maze’ by: • Gain experience by trying • Reflect on the result • Generalise • Test generalisation by new trials

11. Experi- ence Experi- ence Test Test Reflection Reflection Genera- lisation Genera- lisation Learning and meta-learning- the Pask model • Meta-læring = become better in ’finding the way out’ by having my ’observing self’ climb up and: • Observe my ’learning self’ in the maze, • Reflect on learning processes, i.e. my attempts to ’find the way out’ • Generalise learning processes, • Test new methods of learning.

12. Learning styles Individuals’ different ways of taking in and processing information - Richard Felder

13. Different learning styles 1 Visual Learners Remember best what they see - ‘Show me’ • Pictures • Diagrams • Sketches • schematics • Flow charts • plots Verbal learners Getting more out of words - ‘Explain it to me’ • Spoken words • Written words Everybody is both visual and verbal. Preferring one does not mean that you don’t learn in the other way. Your preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild.

14. Different learning style 1:Input modality

15. Different learning styles 2 Sensing Learners • Tend to like facts • Like solving problems by well-established methods and dislike complications and surprises • Be patient with details and good at memorizing facts and doing hands-on work • More practical and careful • don’t like courses that have no apparent connection to the real world Intuitive Learners • Prefer discovering possibilities and relationships • Like innovation and dislike repetition • Be better at grasping new concepts and more comfortable with abstractions and mathematical formulations • Work faster and more imaginative • Don’t like courses that involve a lot of memorization and routine calculation Everybody is sometimes sensing and sometimes intuitive. Your preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild.

16. Different learning style 2:Perception

17. Different learning styles 3 Active Learners • Retain and understand information best by doing something active • Like discussion or applying it or explaining it to others • ‘let’s try it out and see how it works’ • Like group work Reflective Learners • Think about it quietly before talk • Let’s think it through first • Prefer working alone quietly It is hard for both learning types sitting through lectures without getting to do anything physical but taking notes, particularly hard for active learners. Everybody is sometimes active and sometimes reflective. Your preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild.

18. Different learning style 3:Processing

19. Different learning styles 4 Sequential Learners • Gain understanding in linear steps • Follow logical stepwise paths in finding solutions • Feel comfortable explaining things Global Learners • Learning in large jumps, absorbing materials almost randomly without seeing connections, and suddenly ‘get it’. Need big picture to function • Solve complex problems quickly or put things together in novel ways once they have grasped the big picture • Feel difficult to explain Which is your preference? Your preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild.

20. Different learning style 4:Understanding

21. Exercise 2 (20 minutes) Post-it exercise • Brainstorming - Write down whatever possible strategies for this question: What makes efficient learning? • Write one on each post-it • When you are out of ideas, categorize them and put them into the chart

22. Highly efficient learning for the group Highly efficient for individual Not highly efficient for individual Not highly efficient learning for the group

23. 25 5 Highly efficient learning for the group 16 4 Highly efficient for individual Not highly efficient for individual 3 2 5 4 1 2 4 Not highly efficient learning for the group 1 1

24. High scoring methods Planning (16) Relating theory to practice (25) Subgroup teaching others (25) Problem based 25 Illustration 25 Time pressure 20 Discussion 20 Using facilities and equipment 25 Preparation before handing in 20 Learning by doing 25 Getting supervision 25 Peer teaching 20 Low scoring methods Google 4 Discussion (not efficient for individual) Taking notes in a lecture 9 Memorizing (repeating) 1 No exams – only beers 1 Learning by beating –physical punishment 1 Individual reading 5 Competition 5 Assignment 3 Only sitting still 1 Lectures 8 Individual learning 2 (readinig by oneself, etc.) Doing part of the task without knowing the rest 4 Results of your discussions