Learning and Knowledge: Personal Assessment - Essay Example

?Learning and Knowledge: Personal Assessment Part One Introduction In the process of the academic process, a series of skills will be developed through which the student will find context for daily life and daily administration of the aspects of a career. Learning skills are not always indicative of learning how to utilize them in a meaningful manner. According to Blooms Taxonomy of Learning, there are levels of comprehension that must be mastered to achieve a depth of learning that can be applied after the formal educational process has ended.1 These levels are basically defined as knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.2 In essence, first one is given the knowledge of something and then you understand what it means. Learning is a series of levels of understanding in which the student gains the ability to further the advancement of knowledge within the human experience. The following assessment will provide context for the knowledge that has been learned and assimilated during my academic career. Through the application of Bloom’s Taxonomy, the different aspects of personal development can become a framework in which the learning experiences I have undergone can be seen as having been preparation for applying the structures of the learning experiences to a future career. In creating this assessment, I have been able to analyze the way in which I learn and have discovered that differences that have evolved since I first entered my academic goals at the university level, but also see that although some areas have had progress they are still indicative of weaknesses that I need to work towards overcoming. From the perspective of a learning style analysis, or an LSA, I have a responsible and motivated foundation. I prefer structure and tend to conform to the expectations that apply to the tasks that are put before me. In creating relationships, I tend to prefer to work alone, but have been more than compliant in learning how to be a part of a team. I respect authority and have made friends that are both social and professional. In creating relationships I believe I have found a healthy attitude and balance. Overall, my attitudes have developed, I believe, in ways that will best facilitate a good working and social life. The environment in which I best accomplish is not defined by the standards that are normally considered the most conducive to achievement. However, according to Prashnig, the austere environments that have most often been considered relevant to learning are not always the best.3 I prefer a stimulating environment with music and activity in which I can then create focus on the work that I am attempting to complete. Focus does not require stillness, but rather activity in which I can move, express, take in, and feel like the learning is within an active framework. However, the one thing that I do need is an organized work space. Even though a bit of chaos in the learning environment with sound and medium light is best, an organized work space is crucial. A warm comfortable temperature and comfortable surroundings also contribute to learning outcomes. The need for organization comes from the tactile nature of how I tend to learn. I learn from both a visual and a tactile basis of learning, thus if a work space is not organized the result can be chaos from which I cannot focus. Where the auditory stimulus must be defined by chaos, the tactile and visual spaces must be organized and make sense in order to organize and make sense of the objectives that have been set. Outcomes are dependent on how organized the tactile and visual space is in contrast to how disorganized is the auditory space. I tend to learn from a global/holistic point of reference in which I must first understand an entire concept before learning how to master the skills within the learning objective. Once I have comprehension about the whole, I can divide the sub-texts and learn the individual parts of the objective. Through this type of learning style, the concept is understood before the facts can be absorbed.4 For me, learning the individual points of a concept make no sense and have no meaning until I understand the overall concept. In coming to an understanding of the overall concept, the rest falls into place far more easily. Part Two I have selected three skill sets that I have developed with an eye to the importance that they will have during my chosen career: personal effectiveness, building relationships, and communicating effectively. These skills will contribute to the overall success that can be achieved post-graduation. I will discuss these three skills in context with Kolb’s Model. 1. Personal Effectiveness Gaining knowledge is an initial level of learning experience that can be achieved by most individuals who attempt to pursue a higher education. However, in learning how to effectively manage the tasks that have been given in order to create the best possible outcomes. Techniques such as brainstorming, only an idea on the surface, can be developed to best create outcomes that have the highest levels of achievement attached. In gaining knowledge about a topic, brainstorming is one technique in which effective use of that knowledge has been developed and applied to necessary solutions to problems. Whinstanley states that “One of the reasons for brainstorming being so effective is that it mirrors or compliments how the brain stores its ideas and also how it prefers to work”.5 Using techniques such as brainstorming have provided ways in which to effectively assert inspiration and control over intended outcomes. In finding ways to create innovative ideas, the implementation of those ideas has provided ways in which goals and deadlines are reached. Learning how to set aside everything else and focus on controlling the desired outcome through structure and strategy has meant that personal effectiveness has been developed through purposeful and meaningful action. Theories of personal effectiveness are most often concerned with time management.6 Often, however, it is the ability to assert leadership, delegate to others, and to create good communication strategies that will lead to the best possible outcomes in time management, which will then fold into personal effectiveness.7 The following skills are listed by the UK Research Council as vital in achieving personal effectiveness: 1. Demonstrate a willingness and ability to learn and acquire knowledge 2. Be creative innovative and original to one’s approach to research 3. Demonstrate flexibility and open-mindedness 4. Demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to identify one’s own training needs 5. Demonstrate self-discipline, motivation and thoroughness 6. Recognize boundaries and draw upon sources of support as appropriate 7. Show initiative, work independently and be self-reliant8 In assessing these seven frameworks for personal effectiveness, it is clear that not every student can achieve every one of these goals at the highest level. In assessing these sets of skills, I have been able to best demonstrate flexibility and self-awareness, while having a high to medium sense of self motivation. Through the brainstorming techniques, I have found ways to integrate concepts and create innovative research. Weaknesses are often demonstrated through reaching out to sources for support, having a reluctance to give over control of any aspect to an outside source. However, reluctance does not mean unwillingness and I have found that I can use outside resources when needed, even though that is outside of my normal personality. Part of becoming personally effective is in learning how to utilize problem solving skills. Through my studies in college, I have found that through using good problem solving theories, personal effectiveness can be increased. In an experience during an on-the job training moment, I ran across a problem that seemed to be insurmountable. The manager helped me to utilize a theory of problem solving by Herbert A. Simon and Associates in which a diagram of three stages of decision making theory was utilized. This theory provides for a three pronged assessment of the problem: selection of the appropriate issues, goal setting in which appropriate courses of action are determined, and choosing through evaluation the alternative actions that will provide for a solution.9 Another theory that has had a personal impact on building personal effectiveness through problem solving is in using the General Problem Solver Theory. This theory provides for an individual to identify those aspects of the problem that can be divided into sub goals.10 These sub goals, according to Gagne, are then used to create strategies towards the overall solution.11 2. Building Relationships Mathews suggests that “knowing how information is distributed allows us to enter the conversation”. 12 He goes on to say that “characteristics, charisma, and credibility of the person delivering a message factors significantly into whether the content is believed, accepted, and passed on to others”.13 The way in which these ideas can best be used in order to facilitate movement through influencing or motivating action is in creating relationships. Relationships are the method in which the activity of a career is brought into the public sphere, the nature of the work becoming meaningful through its introduction into use. The only way in which to create this usefulness and meaning is through the relationships that are cultivated in order to promote the work. One of the primary relationship types that I have learned to understand is the concept of a relationship of reciprocity. According to Ng-A-Fook, relationships of reciprocity are designed for “mutual negotiation of meaning and power”.14 Where relationships were once primarily defined by their social nature, creating relationships in which business, even when academic business, can be accomplished, the concept of reciprocity has been a core element of understanding in which meaningful relationships have been built. Relationships that are built with mutual benefit have the best possible balance and outcomes in that they are defined by advantages to both sides. Finding good and meaningful mentoring relationships has also been a great benefit to my academic efforts. Mentors have provided a context to my efforts. Both structured and unstructured mentor relationships have enriched my learning experiences and have inspired me to pay it forward to those who are coming up behind me.15 In this instance, the relationships are not between two people, but become a linear relationship in which information is passed down from one to the next, helping the generations develop.16 Creating relationships that are based upon collaboration has also been a relevant and vital development in the way in which I now approach relationships. In creating relationships in collaboration with students, teachers, and members of the various communities that have been central to my efforts, I have been able to achieve at a higher level than I could have on my own. Collaboration becomes both reciprocal and goal oriented, creating a space in which outcomes are achieved through more than that which an individual can achieve. In collaborating with others, it has become essential to see problems and solutions through multiple perspectives, giving a broader foundation to the end results.17 I have become better at forming meaningful relationships and attending to them in such a way as to have honesty within them as well as find ways in which benefit is reached. While many of my social relationships are not built towards outcomes, I have learned to create academic and professional relationships that benefit all the stakeholders involved in one project or another. The goal is to create overall benefit so that using someone or being used are not a part of the equation. Finding ways in which to wisely choose who one comes into a relationship with and what meanings will develop is an important and valuable tool. 3. Communicating Effectively Communication is one of the skills I have had to work hard towards fully achieving meaningful and effective abilities. Communicating is not something that I do naturally, in the sense that conveying my meaning towards a goal to others in an effective manner. While personal effectiveness and relationship building have come relatively easily, finding ways in which to effectively communicate within those relationships has been more of a struggle. The nature of communications is to provide a way in which to share goals and motivate outcomes. Three potentials are hoped for during communications: ensure quality, generate ideas, and understand objectives in order to work together to achieve those objectives.18 The power dynamic is the essential key to finding ways in which to effectively communicate. In trying to communicate in situations where the power dynamic is shifted in one direction or the other, it is best to approach the situation with open and honest information so that both sides are fully informed on how the information is relevant.19 Initially, I was under the impression that handling communications effectively was a skill that a person either had or did not have and the power balance was something that was not managed, but just accepted. However, I have since learned that it is possible to have potentials expanded and to learn how to effectively communicate.20 One of the more relevant theories in regard to learning to communicate effectively is through Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. This theory was taught to me during a course in effective communications at my college. This theory is built upon the principle that people understand the world through seven ways of intelligences: the ability to use language through verbal and written words, the ability to reason, the ability to use inductive and deductive thinking, the ability to use visualization techniques to envision objects, the ability to control the physical body and movement, the ability to gain excellence in music and rhythm, the ability to develop interpersonal relationships and to comprehend one’s own motivations in doing so, and the ability to assess and reflect on emotions.21 In light of the nature of Gardner’s theory, I have worked with my instructors to create a better capacity for communicating through writing and in verbal communications. I have broadened my vocabulary and discovered how to effectively use reason in my speech building processes. Through visualization, I can develop my ideas and communicate to others what I envision. Music, emotions, and the rhythms of life all now contribute to the way in which I interact with others in order to get across different ideas. Learning to communicate effectively is not an easy task when initially one is having difficulty finding tools in which to facilitate solid transmittal of information. Defining what is arbitrary from what is meaningful is one of the first skills that must be mastered, which is not the most easily accomplished goal when so much information can be peripherally relevant.22 Learning how to construct communication through defining tiers of importance and relating those tiers to the receiver has become a goal and I have learned much towards this end. However, I feel that I still have a great deal of information to learn that will contribute to better methods of communication. One of the most important factors in communications is in realizing that it is the key to almost every interaction and potential outcome that will occur in trying to achieve a goal.23 According to Perkins, there is a series of steps of communication types that make up a person’s encounters: intrapersonal, nonverbal, small group/organizational, public, mass and intercultural.24 Communication begins with the way in which an individual relays messages to themselves, creating an inner dialogue, and then extends to the exterior world. Everything from the way one holds themselves in the presence of others to the way in which verbal cues are created through tonal qualities of spoken words can create a sense of the value of information, influencing the way in which an individual interacts with the world and how responses are created. Communications are the defining element in the success of any given project or goal. Conclusion The way in which my academic career has developed has lead towards my abilities to effectively lead and form team relationships in which communications, personal effectiveness, relationships, and ethics combine to create a method of understanding within global frameworks. In understanding these aspects of my skills and in providing context in which I have come to comprehend the way in which I look at my learning abilities in combination with my goals, I have found that I am working towards becoming an effective leader. Knowing one’s own abilities and understanding how best to manage them is the foundation of building skills that have meaning and importance for one’s career. I recognize that I have weaknesses, and have worked towards taking measures to balance those weaknesses against counterproductive personality traits that diminish my abilities to increase my skills and create outcomes that matter. Thus, it is essential to not avoid those weaknesses, such as some limitations in communications skills, but to address them with knowledge that they exist in order to purposefully make differences that counter those issues. Knowing how I learn and providing the best possible situations for learning have helped me to find ways in which to become the individual and professional that I have hoped to achieve. In knowledge comes the understanding that creates leadership and potential, which I hope I have come to a place in which to best use towards becoming the highest possible contributor in my field of choice. Bibliography Ayers, Susan. 2007. Cambridge handbook of psychology, health and medicine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Banyard, P. (2010). Essential psychology: A concise introduction. London: SAGE. Bayne, Rowan, Paula Nicolson, and Ian Horton. 1998. Counselling and communication skills for medical and health practitioners. Leicester: British Psychological Society. Cole, G. A. 2004. Management theory and practice. London: Thomson Learning. Dunn, Rita Stafford, and Shirley A. Griggs. 1995. Multiculturalism and learning style: teaching and counseling adolescents. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Fielding, Michael. 2006. Effective communication in organisations: [preparing messages that communicate]. Lansdowne, Cape Town: Juta Academic. Freegard, Heather. 2006. Ethical practice for health professionals. South Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Thomson. Gagne, R. M. 2005. Principles of instructional design. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth. Gardner, H. 1993. Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York, NY: BasicBooks. Gile, Daniel, Gyde Hansen, Andrew Chesterman, and Heidrun Gerzymisch- Arbogast. 2008. Efforts and models in interpreting and translation research: a tribute to Daniel Gile. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. International Conference on Computers in Education, Riichiro Mizoguchi, Pierre Dillenbourg, and Zhiting Zhu. 2006. Learning by effective utilization of technologies: facilitating intercultural understanding. Amsterdam: IOS Press. Hopper, Carolyn H. 2004. Practicing college learning strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Krathwohl, David R., Lorin W. Anderson, and Benjamin Samuel Bloom. 2001. A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: a revision of Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Longman. Ng-A-Fook, Nicholas. 2007. An indigenous curriculum of place: the United Houma Nation's contentious relationship with Louisiana's educational institutions. New York: Peter Lang. Marzano, Robert J. 2004. Building background knowledge for academic achievement: research on what works in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Mathews, Brian. 2009. Marketing today's academic library: a bold new approach to communicating with students. Chicago: American Library Association. Perkins, P. S. 2008. The art and science of communication: tools for effective communication in the workplace. London: John Wiley & Sons. Prashing, Barbara. 2006. Learning styles and personalized teaching. London, England: Continiuum International Pub. Group. Rubin, Hank. 2009. Collaborative leadership: developing effective partnerships f or communities and schools. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin. Shea, Gordon F. 2002. Mentoring: how to develop successful mentor behaviors. Menlo Park, Calif: Crisp Publications. Simon, H. A. 1979. Models of thought. New Haven: Yale University Press. Winstanley, Diana. 2005. Personal effectiveness: a guide to action. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Read More