Daily Prompt: Learning Style

object. (Photo credit: Photo Extremist)

Even though I graduated from the halls of academia many years ago, I have not stopped learning. The most important lessons learned are in real life. My style of learning has evolved over the years, but me being me, it does not fit any one particular definition. I just can’t be pigeonholed or stereotyped.

I started off by subscribing to the school of thought that promotes learning by observing and doing. Not that my brain really gave me much choice in the matter. I could never synthesize, or engage in inductive reason, the way that great scientific minds like Hawking or Einstein could, in the seeming absence of clues. No groundshaking leaps of logic for me. To borrow a bit of hockey lingo, deduction was my go-to goalie.

einstein_relativity_20 (Photo credit: nathan x. sanders)

Math and science (with the exception of biology) were my Waterloos, but I found that provision of an example (or examples) helped build deeper convolutions in my brain and set the synapses firing more frequently–even for these subjects. Repetition is good for the ol’ noggin, and reading books that provided slightly different perspectives on the same subject matter was often the way to increase my retentive potential.

I also learn best when it’s a subject matter that I have an interest in, and/or can make an emotional connection with. Brain and Behaviour, with its examination of neurochemicals, psychotropic drugs, and study of neural disorders, was so much more interesting to take than the dyed-in-wool tedium of Psychology 101. Of course, I can also learn the technical stuff independently if the job calls for it, although working with Javascript, Flash, CSS, and (D)HTML usually leaves me with the equivalent of an alcohol-induced hangover and day-long migraines.

low-serotonin-symptoms-01 (Photo credit: Life Mental Health)

Although I probably do learn better in a group and in an interactive setting, where I can observe the responses of others, I prefer the none-on-one, self-taught approach with lots of visuals. I did a brain test a few years ago, and say what you will about the accuracy of such things, but it revealed that my brain processes visual elements first and foremost. Meaning I am drawn to images–but I am also drawn to words, especially words that have been artistically rendered, expressed with a certain hierarchy or alignment, or employ a clever turn of phrase.

According to the David Kolb learning styles model, I am a Diverging-Accommodating-Converging-Assimilating Learner. Does that make me scatterbrained, or a strong candidate for the name of the next comet that comes through our solar system? 🙂

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