Learning Log Section - Essay Example

Log Section Reflection The readings from this past few weeks have been very powerful in helping me to better understand how I fit into the culture of the university. I have learned that culture isn’t something that is fixed. Nor is it something that is just handed down to me. I realize that I can actively shape culture and that I am a part of many cultures simultaneously. This is important to me because I have never felt that university was a place that I would fit in. I have a great desire to get an education but have always wondered if I could still be myself and be successful at school. I realize now that it is OK for me to identify myself with all the parts of my culture I currently possess and that I can add to these by being successful at university. This knowledge is empowering to me because I have never identified strongly with academia as I envisioned it. This has at time made me wonder if university was really right for me. I now realize that succeeding at university adds another layer to who I am. It does not destroy the experiences I have had so far. It doesn’t have to change who I am unless I want to. I understand that at the university there are many cultures coming together. I have the power and opportunity to help shape the university culture in a small way by bringing by personal strengths and abilities to add to all of the other students. Log Section 1 (Reflection 2) This past week has broadened my understanding of culture at university and how I fit into it. This week I discovered that there are many different ways to look at what it means to be a literate person. I always thought that I had to have read lots of books on all kinds of different subjects and that’s what literate meant. I have discovered this week after reading some of the assignments and interacting with my classmates and communicating with some professors, that I am a literate person even though I haven’t read the classics. I can see that I am entering a very specialized, professional type of education. And what I realized is that I am going to be very literate within that field. I want to have a broad understanding of how the world works and how to analyze the things that are happening in the broader world, but I don’t need to feel guilty if my focus is on my studies in my specific field at this point. This new understanding is helpful to me in the sense that I don’t need to worry about the things I don’t know yet. I don’t need to feel less than someone else simply because they have read a book that I haven’t or if they understand a concept that I have not been exposed to. I am becoming an expert in a small part of all of the information that is out there. I know I can study hard now and learn all within my specialty. I can then opt to broaden my learning in the future. This is one definition of being literate. Learning Log Section 2 (5 Learning Activities) Activity 1 One informal type of informal learning I have participated in is learning how to change the oil in my car. This takes some work but saves a lot of money. I had to learn how to use some new tools, such as the wrench that loosens and tightens the oil filter. I also had to learn about which type of motor oil would work best with my car. I think I liked this project so much because it gave me a sense of independence. I felt like learning this process and acquiring these new skills allowed me to better take care of my own needs. Activity 2 The condition that helped me to learn in this situation was necessity. I needed to change the oil in my car so that I didn’t damage the engine. I didn’t have the money to pay someone else to do it, so I had to figure it out myself. I think I can transfer this to my studies by viewing my education as a necessity for getting along better in life. A secure position isn’t just a want it is a necessity for me and this education will enable me to reach this goal. Activity 3 In my log I identified the following characteristics and skills as strengths: *memorizing, communicating with others verbally, *using visual organizers and making friends. I identified using visual organizers and memorizing as being really important to my studies. I have always needed to memorize things in school and I would think that this would never change. I can memorize things quickly, especially if it is something I like, such as song lyrics or a poem. I also can take better notes if I can figure out a way to organize the notes visually into a graph or flow chart. I think that if I need to adapt any of these skills for university, I will need to learn how to make friends in different ways and for different reasons. Now, my friends are just social. Maybe making friends that are helpful for studying would be a good idea at university. Activity 4 I think a gap in my learning deals with knowing literature. I haven’t read many books and my perception of university is that everyone else has read them. I plan on trying to catch up on this lack of knowledge by spending more time in the library discovering the classics. If I can, I will take a class that will introduce me to these authors and give me a sense of what they are talking about in their books and why they wrote them the way they did. Activity 5 The lifelong learner keeps an attitude throughout life that embraces new learning. The best way to do this is to never think you have got everything figured out. There is always something new to learn, even if the subject is outside of your normal academic studies. I learned to change the oil in my car because I had to. I am certain that in the future, I will learn things out of necessity I never dreamed I would need to know. This especially applies to marriage and raising kids. I think the lifelong learner never stops learning because they recognize that new information is necessary to a happy and fulfilling life. Log Section 3 (First Reading Review: Concept Map) Avruch, Kevin. 2002. Culture and Conflict Resolution. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press. Part 1: Culture, 5-7; 14-17 Log Section 3 (Second Reading Review) Kolb, David A. “Learning Styles and Disciplinary Differences.” Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom. Ed. Kenneth Feldman and Michael Paulsen. Las Vegas: Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), 1998. 232-237 In this essay, David A. Kolb argues that the different disciplines studied on a college campus actually develop their own individual cultures. Early specialization in higher education ensures that these various disciplines stay insular from one another, heightening their cultural differences. This insular culture eventually leads to a specific style of instruction that may not be suited to all students that sign up for study in that discipline. The author advocates a broadening of the meaning of education and a turn towards a more classical approach to education to counteract the influences of specialization in higher education. He recounts experiences he had as an advisor at MIT. Freshmen that arrived and studied in the engineering department would often rethink their majors once they got to the university. He learned after time that their interests had not changed. Instead, they were having a difficult time learning because the instruction was all delivered in the same way. Students that had a different learning style dropped out of the department. This only added to the homogenous nature of the engineering department. Kolb feels that higher education must switch to an experience based style of teaching. Students need to be exposed to many different opportunities to learn in and outside of their majors. Essentially, he feels that the primary purpose of education should be to teach students how to think. Then they can specialize in their chosen technical or humanitarian fields of study. The ability to think, form a hypothesis and research are important in all fields of study. He calls for a more integrated approach between the disciplines so that a broader knowledge can be taught to students in higher education facilities. I really think that David Kolb has the right idea about education. Learning to think and understanding how we learn is essential for having a broad understanding of the world. My concern is one of practicality. If we include this type of instruction, how log will it take to get a college education in a technical field? Our knowledge in areas such a pharmaceuticals, computer sciences and astrophysics is expanding rapidly. As it stands now, just specializing in these fields takes 5-8 years to become a competent possessor of knowledge. If we add requirements on top of these students to read The Republic and ethnography of the Xhosa, how much expense in additional years of tuition will be passed on to students. Broadening education sounds like a wonderful idea. But specialization is the best way to educate in fields rich in technology and the sciences. Most students go to college to get a good job. They are the consumers of education. Colleges need to provide what the consumers want if they are to stay relevant. Learning Log Section 4 (Glossary Entry) heuristic- involving or serving as an aid to learning, discovery, or problem-solving by experimental and especially trial-and-error methods. The author was using this word as he described different ways that people learn and different ways that teachers teach. The professor added heuristic techniques in her instruction when she felt learning by trial and error was best for students. arrayed-ordered in a regular manner-or-a regular order or arrangement. The author was using this word to describe the order of evolution of cultures in the scheme introduced by Lewis Henry Morgan. The numbers were arrayed from least to greatest. fecundity-fruitful; prolific –or- intellectually productive or inventive to a great degree The author was using this word in association with the growing popularity of Taylor’s definition or culture. The inventions of Edison found fecundity as they were applied to solve everyday problems. homogeneous-of uniform structure or form throughout The author was using this word as a way of describing what a culture is not in a society. The weave of the parachute formed a homogenous layer for wind resistance. derivatives-a product of something else –or- not an original The author was using this word in a definition of culture that was very hard to understand. He said culture was made of the “derivatives of experience.” Steel is a derivative of iron ore, heat and coke. Read More