Learning Habits Assignment

This was one of the first assignments of the course, designed to get us thinking about how awareness of our personal learning habits could allow us to get more out of the course.  I received a grade of an A.  

My learning style is mainly visual, but I have found that auditory tactics can also be helpful when I need to learn something.  In the past, I always found it easier just to read a lesson and related subject matter in order to absorb the information I needed to.  However, I have recently found that auditory tactics, such as listening to a lecture and taking notes on it, or repeating terms I need to learn out loud can also help me to absorb information.  Typically, if I need to memorize a set of terms, or an equation or something, it is better for me to use auditory tactics.  On the other hand, it is easier for me to understand how something works if I read about it and think it through on my own.

Perhaps my predilection for visual learning can be traced to the fact that I was an early and avid reader.  From an early age, my parents encouraged me to stick my nose in a book, and so I came to regard books as the best sources of information and knowledge.  Another contributing factor could be the fact that, since I was homeschooled in grade school and middle school, my lessons typically consisted of reading, rather than listening to lectures.  Even in high school, my teachers rarely lectured without providing a significant amount of notes or powerpoint slides for the students to read.  For this reason, until college I was unaccustomed to learning from lectures.  Over the past semester, however, I have discovered that I can usually learn just as much from listening to a lecture as I could from reading the same information. 

I tend to learn best by getting a big picture understanding of the topic I am learning about, and then delving into details in greater depth.  I am far more likely to remember the basic themes or ideas of a book than the small details.  If I have difficulty understanding a concept, I am more likely to spend a lot of time trying to make sense of it by myself than to ask someone for help.  However, I do know my limits, and if I have struggled too long in vain to understand something, I will seek help, first from other students, and then from an instructor if necessary.