Learning Habits
My learning style was difficult for me to pinpoint. I've always picked up on (most) subjects fairly quickly, and I taught myself from sixth grade on for the most part (which is another story). If I absolutely, positively had to label my learning style, I would call it "reading/writing with a dash of audio/visual and sensing." To elaborate a little, reading and writing is the easiest way for me to learn, and my audio/visual learning is fairly balanced. Part of the difficulty of discerning this was that I was home schooled almost my entire life, so I really have no other student's learning styles to compare mine to.
The easiest way for me to retain information is to write it over and over. Second to that would be seeing/hearing it. I can picture things I've seen in my head pretty easily, or I can also replay conversations. But I am slightly restricted in that it's hard for me to look at the big picture, everything I do is very methodical (I always stick to tried-and-true methods) and very much in tiny steps. It's also easier for me to focus when I'm working on a big problem with lots of little steps than on a big problem with a few simple steps. In math especially, if I have a simple problem with big steps, I am much more likely to make a mistake than in a much more complicated problem with lots of intricate steps and details. I am also a more of a sensing learner as opposed to an intuitive one in that I care much less about solid facts and much more about theories. This is probably apparent in my major (astrophysics) because almost the entirety of the field is theoretical. I love unknown concepts and open-ended theories. When it comes to being an active learner verses a reflective one, I'd say I'm right in the middle. I like to balance studying with my peers with studying alone. Both are equally helpful, but I feel like I couldn't have one without the other.
As far as this class goes, I feel that my learning style will fit in well. There is plenty of class discussion, but also reading on our own. And it looks like there will be plenty of writing to help me retain information. So far on our readings, I've written formal outlines just because that is the easiest way for me to take notes in reading as well as lectures. The only possible problem I see myself encountering in this course is when I'm asked to analyze a piece of text as a whole. Analyzing small chunks of a piece of fiction is one of my strongest points, but it's sometimes difficult for me to step back and look at the big picture. This probably comes from being more of a sensing learner than an intuitive one, and also consequently from being highly detail-oriented.
The easiest way for me to retain information is to write it over and over. Second to that would be seeing/hearing it. I can picture things I've seen in my head pretty easily, or I can also replay conversations. But I am slightly restricted in that it's hard for me to look at the big picture, everything I do is very methodical (I always stick to tried-and-true methods) and very much in tiny steps. It's also easier for me to focus when I'm working on a big problem with lots of little steps than on a big problem with a few simple steps. In math especially, if I have a simple problem with big steps, I am much more likely to make a mistake than in a much more complicated problem with lots of intricate steps and details. I am also a more of a sensing learner as opposed to an intuitive one in that I care much less about solid facts and much more about theories. This is probably apparent in my major (astrophysics) because almost the entirety of the field is theoretical. I love unknown concepts and open-ended theories. When it comes to being an active learner verses a reflective one, I'd say I'm right in the middle. I like to balance studying with my peers with studying alone. Both are equally helpful, but I feel like I couldn't have one without the other.
As far as this class goes, I feel that my learning style will fit in well. There is plenty of class discussion, but also reading on our own. And it looks like there will be plenty of writing to help me retain information. So far on our readings, I've written formal outlines just because that is the easiest way for me to take notes in reading as well as lectures. The only possible problem I see myself encountering in this course is when I'm asked to analyze a piece of text as a whole. Analyzing small chunks of a piece of fiction is one of my strongest points, but it's sometimes difficult for me to step back and look at the big picture. This probably comes from being more of a sensing learner than an intuitive one, and also consequently from being highly detail-oriented.