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If you’re going to build professional value with each passing year, the best way to do it is to continually master new knowledge. The challenge is how to learn quickly, effectively, and “on demand.” The solution is to understand how you learn.
 
Basically, we’re talking about learning styles. Although there are many approaches to learning styles, generally, you’ll want to figure out which type you are within three main categories: senses, reasoning types, and learning environments.
 
Which of these descriptions best align with your learning experiences so far:
 
Senses
 
  1. Auditory, or listening (you find verbal instructions easier to follow than written ones);
  2.  
  3. or
  4.  
  5. Kinesthetic/tactile, or moving, writing, doing (writing down concepts helps you understand them, you like to graphically “draw” relationships such as ideas and processes);
  6.  
  7. or
  8.  
  9. Visual, or seeing and reading, (you easily absorb information by reading about it, whereas you have difficulty understanding verbal instructions).
 
Reasoning Types
 
  1. Deductive, or approaching a topic from a high-level subject overview before focusing on a specific topic (you need to understand how an idea fits into the broad subject area before mastering the idea itself, when you write a paper you prefer to first state your main premise then draw your conclusions);
  2.  
  3. or
  4.  
  5. Inductive, or approaching a new subject without any broader overview (you can start learning about a new subject just by seeing some examples, you’re comfortable learning the rules of a game as you play it).
 
Learning Environments
 
  1. Intrapersonal, working on your own (you enjoy the challenge of figuring things out on you own, you find working as part of a student team on class projects wastes too much time);
  2.  
  3. or
  4.  
  5. Interpersonal, working with a group (you like to talk through personal and professional decisions with friends and family, you enjoy group projects and team-based activities).
 
Understanding your personal learning style will help you shape how you most effectively structure your learning approach. For example, will you tape a lecture and then review by playing it back multiple times? Or will you draw concept maps with different-colored pens to master a key lesson? Will you read, highlight, and re-read sections of a text or manual, or do you prefer (and learn better) listening to instructions? Determining whether you are an inductive or deductive learner, on the other hand, will tell you whether or not you’ll need to be able to understand a topic’s broader context before you can engage with its specifics. And understanding your optimal learning environment will help you understand whether a group dynamic will help or hinder your learning effectiveness.
 
Exploring your personal learning characteristics will also help you evaluate the many continuing education options available to LIS professionals in terms of their effectiveness for you. Online courses? Teleconferences? Self-directed tutorials? How-to books? User groups? Conference presentations? Classroom-based instruction? Each of these options aligns with specific learning styles, although they can be tailored to support a broader range of learning “interaction.” (For instructor-led classroom or online courses, the key may be working with your instructor to identify ways you could tailor your assignments to more effectively support your learning needs.)
 
If you’re not sure which of these approaches best describes how you learn most comfortably (and quickly), try each of them out and then assess the results. This can be via a formal approach, e.g., a classroom setting, or an informal one, perhaps where you’re teaching yourself a new language or a technology tool. Your goal can be not only to learn the knowledge or skill itself, but also to learn through experimentation the most effective techniques and processes for improving your “time to mastery,” as the training pros say.
 
 
Information Resources:
 
Online
 
Learning –Style Inventory

http://pss.uvm.edu/pss162/learning_styles.html
An exposition of the learning style inventory originally developed by David Kolb, with references to multiple intelligence theory and checklists to help you identify your own intelligence categories.
 
Learning-Styles-Online.com

http://www.learning-styles-online.com
An easy-to-understand overview of various learning styles with links to more in-depth information on each.
 
Further Reading
 
Galbraith, Michael W. Adult Learning Methods: A Guide for Effective Instruction. 3rd ed.  Krieger Publishing Company, 2003. 478p. ISBN 157524232X.
Galbraith treats two aspects of adult learning: Part One, “Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning,” covers both characteristics of adult learners and broad issues in teaching them. Part Two, “Methods and Techniques,” focuses on practical classroom applications geared to build on adult learners’ particular strengths. Although the book’s emphasis is on teaching adults, it’s equally valuable for helping you understand what you need from an instructor to learn effectively.
 
Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. 2nd ed. Basic Books, 1993. 440p. ISBN 0465025102.
The classic work on the seven intelligences: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and personal. Gardner’s work was ground-breaking when first introduced, and many have built upon his theories to further understand how learning takes place. An excellent resource for understanding how to structure your learning processes, techniques, and environment to learn most easily and quickly. Gardner has recently updated this work with Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons (Perseus Books, 2006).
 
Knowles, Malcolm S. III, Elwood F. Holton, and Richard A. Swanson. The Adult Learner. 6th ed.  Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005. 390p. ISBN 0750678372.
Knowles has long been recognized as the most authoritative voice on the special characteristics of adult learners. Although the focus of this book is on how corporate trainers can most effectively structure their organizational training programs, its information is applicable for anyone working with adult learners, or wishing to more clearly understand their own adult-learner characteristics and motivators.
 
Wallace, Marie. “Climbing the Learning Ladder,” LLRX.com, Nov 4, 2002; access at http://www.llrx.com/columns/guide69.htm.
This article by LLRX columnist Marie Wallace provides an engaging introduction to and overview of individual learning styles. See especially her treatment of “Making CE Choices,” which coaches you on how to find continuing education opportunities that best align with your personal learning styles.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Mastering Your Learning Styles