Personal Learning Style - Essay Example

Personal Learning Style One of the fascinating concepts, that an individual can ever engage in, is to take time in order to figure out what attracts their passion out of life. People participate in different aspects and activities such as reading, sports, creating crafts and so forth (Ellis &Toft, 2012). The subsequent paragraphs will reflect on my personal learning, styles, my ability, growth opportunity and improvement strategy that will help improve on my areas of weakness. My best learning style is social. I am a great person of the people and so whatever I deem fit can make an individual's day. I have a tendency of going beyond my scope of duty to impress those around me. Social learning style is my primary strength. I prefer operating in groups than alone because I am talkative. Getting instructions and working hands on suits make me better because that way, I can see what I am required to do. The other learning style that favors me is Auditory. I love listening to music, while tapping on things while listening to my music, humming and dancing short of conscience. My other favorite learning style is verbal because I believe I talk a lot in some instances. I appreciate communicating with people I come in contact with. It is quite difficult for me to stay around people without having to say anything. I understand visual and physical learning style because I tend to remember things and events more quickly after an observation. Research indicates that learning methods vary from one student to another, and, for this reason, it is a universal recommendation the teachers should learn and appreciate of their student’s learning styles. I always understand sitting in front of the classroom in order to get an eye to eye contact with the lecturer; that way I can quickly learn much about the teacher as much as he/she can learn about me. Nothing eludes me in terms of the content the lecturer passes on. The physical learning method is another one of my favorite learning styles. I engage mostly in sporting activities, especially the sports that involve many people. The types of games that I engage in are those that require teamwork. I prefer conducting solitary learning to a certain extent. However, I have never been in a lonely situation because I come from a family of many. Everybody needs some space to unwind and recover, and I do that once in a while although it quickly gets annoying. Everybody has a weakness; my weakness is with mathematics. Where a situation arises that I have to deal with numbers, I will gladly hand it over. However, I am an expert in putting things in their perspective. Critical thinking University students will not realize success in their education without the development and application of critical thinking. The purpose of critical thinking is where a thinker improves the quality of his thinking through skillful command of systems inherent in thinking and applying intellectual principles upon them (Brookfield, 2012). A critical student can recognize the essence of alternative expectations and approach new ideas with uncertainty while consistently using strategies to reveal the meaning. A critical thinker does not just accept information without initially examining it from diverse perceptions. The crucial thinking of a student includes complex amalgamation of skills and attributes (Brookfield, 2012). Truth-seeking and rational Standard critical thinkers do not jump to conclusions; instead they consider obtaining the most appropriate explanation for the subject at hand and understanding the logical and truthful association amid concepts. Self-awareness Self-awareness is the ability to acknowledge our thoughts, biases and preconceptions and establishing methods of handling the concerns. It is important to determine the reason for believing in a given concept; find the balance regarding the accuracy of attitudes. It is also important to determine the importance of one’s idea. It is essential to ask a number of questions because the answers to those questions may influence beliefs. Open minded Open mindedness is the identification, construction and evaluation of arguments and the ability to appreciate alternative versions. Critical thinkers ought to institute attempts to find and elude prejudice in their perceptions and the opinions of others (Brookfield, 2012). When conducting research, it is important to examine multiple sides of an issue and arrive at a conclusion using the available information. Reflection Reflection is his instance where the critical thinker weighs justification of personal perceptions, beliefs, and values. A key thinker, in this case, compares his/her attitudes and opinions with others and establishing correct and rational answers. Analytic and judgmental The ability to identify the significance of alternative perceptions and ideas is being analytic. The ideas and opinions in this respect undergo the thorough research, and all the prospective standpoints are taken into consideration. Self-confidence Some learners have massively grown their self-confidence since they have realized their capability of embracing the new learning instrument. Self-confidence is the instance where the students have personal confidence to tackle learning challenges and the ability to establish solutions for the same. Inquisitive and mature attitudes The learner in this regard has the tendency to seek further and sufficient information and proof about a given topic. Examination of various perceptions and ideas will help identify the most appropriate information to arrive at a suitable conclusion (Brookfield, 2012). Critical thinking is self-motivated, self-disciplined, and self-corrective and self-monitored thinking. In order to perfect and acquire sufficient knowledge, the students must incorporate the skills of a critical thinker in their day to day life and develop their critical capacity. Critical thinking offers us the ability to substantiate and reflect on our principles and decisions. Considering that many tertiary institutions are now incorporating critical thinking courses into their learning systems, it is increasingly essential that the skills are necessary for everyone and not just the students and professionals alone (Matthews &Lally, 2010). I apply these standards in my private life as well as my learning practice because the skills have assisted me to challenge ideas and contemplate alternative prospects. When individuals learn how to apply critical thinking values to studying, then there will be an exceptional improvement in writing. These aspects are exceedingly consistent, and the improvement of one skill affects the development of another value (Matthews &Lally, 2010) Pursuing my degree is one of the most significant and efficient decisions of my life because, through that, I am now moving to the master's stage. I need to learn to manage my time effectively in order to achieve my objectives. The concern with the appropriate methods of managing time is how I can learn them and how to obtain the information regarding time management. There is a massive amount of information on the website as well the university library. I explored Google Scholar to get reliable information as well as time administration assessments to help establish significant solutions. I have to seek adequate information that has been tested and verified. There are multiple proven methods to manage time, but I selected one that best works for my situation and lifestyle. In order to plan my time correctly, I identify my goals because that will help me manage my activities. I have long term goals as well as short-term goals that I must work to achieve. I have to accomplish the short term goals first before embarking on the long-term goals; however, I cannot manage to handle the long term goals if I cannot achieve the short term objectives. There are four aspects that are useful for managing my time more efficiently (Matthews &Lally, 2010). I created a program for the entire semester; I planned workload for each week, adjusted plan for the whole day and evaluate work schedule. The above time management techniques have taken me through each stage of establishing an operational time administration system. I strictly adhere to the system, and it is working out well for me. According to my weekly work schedule, I have twenty hours and that is sufficient time for me to complete my assignments without interrupting the program. I have a gadget that I never leave behind, it has a calendar and uses it to record everything for the day to day activities, and in fact it notifies me when events are due. With regards to my approach to reading, I am not a solitary individual kind of person; I like engaging in vigorous activities that involve many people. I tend to understand concepts more when in participate in group discussions as it is easy to consolidate the events within together with the information from the activities. It is simpler for me to capture events than memorizing content. Sometimes, however, I prefer some space alone to find and reorganize myself, especially when I am conducting some research on a particular topic that I feel I have to do it alone. It is not my nature to undertake solitary learning. When I work with a number of individuals on a given project, as the saying goes, “two minds are better than one,” I collect different ideas from my partners and examine them properly from various perspectives before coming up with a correct assumption. That way I am able to understand numerous concepts without having to memorize them. To accomplish certain objectives, one must create a team. The goal is unachievable in a solitary condition. A group of persons should work together in accord to reach given a goal using an assortment of abilities such as effective communication, time administration, leadership designation, and task allocation. Another essential feature of teamwork is crew management. I depend mostly in collective studying, and it continuously transforms me into a better person as well as a better student. Communication skills As I said earlier, I am a talkative person and through this and frequent reading and group studying, I have been able to develop massively in terms of communicating. Right now, I am a group leader and on many occasions, I present oral projects to the class during lectures on behalf of my study team. I acquired my excellent communication skills through constant practice and reading of articles. The study of personal learning skills, as well as attributes of critical thinking, has enhanced my self-confidence and for this reason massively contributing to the improvement of my learning skills. References Brookfield, S. (2012). Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and techniques to help students question their assumptions. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Ellis, D., &Toft, D. (2012).Becoming a master student concise. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Matthews, R., &Lally, J. (2010).The thinking teacher's toolkit critical thinking, thinking skills, and global perspectives. London: Continuum. Read More