Author: Julie Watson, eLanguages, University of Southampton
Research into learning suggests that we all have preferences for particular ways of working and as learners, tend to use the same techniques and strategies repeatedly. Understanding our own learning strategies and finding out about different techniques that we do not normally use can help us to look at things in new ways and improve our learning skills.
In these activities you will explore the characteristics of different types of learner and their preferred learning styles. This will help you to think about your learning style and consider the benefits of some different approaches that might enhance your own learning.
In this activity you are going to consider how learning style can be recognised and do a quiz in order to identify what role your brain has in your own learning.
Look at the information below about the two types of learner, holists and serialists, and then open the exercise and decide whether each statement refers to a holist or a serialist learner.
Work carried out in educational research on the way that students learn suggests that there may be two types of learners: holists and serialists.
Students of the 'serialist' type like to study by taking one step at a time. They look at a topic or a subject and work through the different parts of that subject one by one. It is only when they have fully understood one part that they move on to another.
The other type of learner, the holist, works in a very different way. They prefer to consider many different topics at the same time. For these students, having a very broad understanding of the overall subject is more important. They find it easier to study and learn if they have an idea of the big picture; where their study is leading them or the direction in which they are going.
(Macdonald-Ross 1972, cited by Dunleavy 1986:17)
Which type of learner do you think you are?
Now spend a moment or two thinking about these three questions before you check the answers.
1. What do you think holists and serialists may have in common?
2. How well do you think holists could adapt to a serialist approach to study, and vice versa?
3. How do you think holists should approach their course of study when it is organised in a serialist way; e.g. each week of the course is devoted to one aspect of the subject only.
Another way to look at the question of learning style is to consider how you use your brain to solve tasks. The left and the right hemispheres of the brain are used differently by different people.
Go to the following website and do the quiz to find out how your brain works:
Brain
Works
http://www.planetpsych.com/zInteractive/brain.htm
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web pages]
What did the end-of-quiz evaluation tell you about how your brain works and the kind of learner that you are?
Make a few notes on what you have learnt about your own learning style in the box below:
In the activity below answer the questions in each section about different learning activities and behaviour. Answer each question about yourself by selecting the tick symbol for yes or the cross symbol for no.
As a learner, do you...
prefer it when teachers give detailed explanations and interpretations?
like the use of clear criteria for judging work?
like going to lectures?
dislike practical tasks?
As a learner, do you...
like working in small groups on projects?
like dealing with practical problems/problem solving generally?
dislike lectures?
dislike being told what to do by lecturers?
dislike lecturers determining what is right and wrong?
As a learner, do you...
like working alone and reading about theory?
dislike working in a group?
have any interest in how skills can be related to practical problems?
dislike discussing feelings and receiving personal feedback?
As a learner, do you...
like personal feedback from tutors and students?
like talking about your feelings?
like relying on your own skills to deal with real problems?
dislike theory or reading theory?
To find out what kind of a learner you are, count the number of ticks in each section and record them below. Then check the answer.
Section 1:
Section 2:
Section 3:
Section 4:
Use the exercise below to find out more about the four types of learner. Read each description and try to identify which type of learner (A - D) it applies to.
Produced for the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics
and Area Studies Materials Bank www.llas.ac.uk/mb
Author: Julie Watson, eLanguages, University of Southampton