Learning_Styles

MAXINE RICKARD U122 10K B3737040 TMA02 Part 2 As part of an assignment to help me discover my learning style I completed a short activity consisting of statements regarding how one approaches, prepares and thinks about studying. The requirement was to provide a spontaneous response as to whether or not the statements reflected something I could hear myself saying. The exercise was divided up in to four groups, each implicating a style of learning. The results of my test show that I appear to fit into all of the learning style groups although I did show a preference towards two of the categories. My strongest option expresses that I am a practical person who may find the theoretical aspects of learning quite a challenge in contrast to my second dominant area which states that I prefer to apply logic to what I do and am likely to enjoy analysing and problem solving. At first I was surprised with the outcome of the activity as it appeared to show conflicting results, I believed that a person would fit in to one category or the other however, once I put the results in to perspective I could see that I did approach learning in different ways. The learning style test results suggest that I am a practical person, that I prefer to be clear about what I am doing and like to see results, I agree with this outcome as I do not like to spend a lot of my time researching before taking on new project or activity, as long as I have a lucid idea of what is required I will give it a try and learn as I go. For example, not long after leaving school I left home and got married, soon after I had children, I had no experience of either other than what I had observed through my childhood, I had watched my younger siblings develop and saw for myself how demanding they were of attention, I had also observed my parents through their ups and downs and watched my cousins and neighbours leave home to get married. I was offered advice from my friends and family on subjects such as applying for a mortgage or choosing the right school for my children however, I chose to gain my own experience by getting on with each new challenge and learning from my own mistakes. The second highest outcome I received from the learning style activity implies that I apply logic to what I do, I also happen to have the same opinion with this result. When I made the decision to sign-up for the Open Degree I set about organising myself in a methodical, orderly manner to ensure that I had the appropriate time and materials required to complete my studies. Preparing myself in this manner helped me believe that I could cope with the challenges of studying something new. On reflection, I can see that I do apply logic to learning, by adapting my methods to fit my new daily routine and planning how and when I will complete the coursework I am behaving in the style suggested in the learning style activity. This can also be compared to how I represent myself at work. I am employed full time as a Receptionist and Administration Officer which requires a lot of organisation and forward planning. I am particularly good at prioritising my duties in order to keep on schedule with my daily routine and any last minute requests from senior staff. I am responsible for managing the diary and booking of all appointments, likewise this requires a lot of organisation skills, however I hadn’t realised quite the amount of time and effort I put in to my work to insure that my routine is kept structured until I had digested the results of the learning activity and compared them to aspects of my work life One of the most important lessons I have learned from this activity is that by being too practical in my style of learning I tend to shut myself off from aspects of work that are open to debate. I am not entirely confident at posting comments to discussions on my tutor group forum even though I am aware that the idea is to communicate with other learners. I allow myself the time to read the comments posted in the forum and most of the time I agree with their observations unfortunately I analyse what I am preparing to say until eventually I consider it no longer a valid point. On the few occasions that I have posted a comment or a reply I have had very encouraging feedback and I believe that if I allow myself more time to participate in the forum discussions I will become more at ease at doing so. Another finding since completing the activity is the amount of time I spend analysing my work before feeling confident with the end result. I find myself doing this a great deal at work, on a few occasions I have spent so much time proof reading and checking my work that I have very nearly missed the deadline. On reflection I have come to realise that if I had spent more time and effort planning the project I would have had a clearer impression of the outcome and wasted less time making changes before it was completed. I referred earlier to the arrangements I had made prior to starting this course particularly the period I had set aside for study, in spite of this I believe that I should take another look at how much time I have allowed to complete assignments. I have not suitably calculated the time required for research and would like to allow myself some extra time to take advantage of the online resources offered by the Open University, having the means to access the online reference library should help me to save some time and free up the occasion for further work preparation. My learning style activity scores are as follows: • A’s 2 • B’s 2 • C’s 3 • D’s 4