How do you learn?

[King sns]

I was thinking about learning recently. I started taking an online course, a lot of the people are nervous not to have the groups/ lectures. I have found in the past that groups and lectures are the poorest way for me to get information unless I am leading, teaching, tutoring, presenting, or otherwise being very interactive.

I find that lectures go too slow and back up a lot and lose my attention after about 2 minutes and then there's an hour or three of my life down the drain- then I have to go home and learn the material on my own. If you just tell me what it is I need to find out, I like to go investigate on my own at my own pace with no one around to stand in my way unless I run into road blocks or have questions. That's the pure purpose of classroom learning, for me, to fill in a few of the fuzzy blanks that I couldn't seem to get by myself.

So basically, reading and somehow interacting with the topic, whether it's hands on, or if I'm just really thinking hard/ day dreaming on it, or rewriting it in my own words and analogies.

Some teachers/lecturers hated my methods and others loved it. (Could use me to help teach or whatever.) The haters just saw me doodling right through college, (which was a must-do if I was going to pay any attention at all- sometimes the doodling was even on topic) and thought I was being rude.

Does anyone else have any learning quirks that lie outside of the regular classroom? Anyone in here do really well with the way things are currently done?

 

[rav3n]

http://www.typologycentral.com/forums/online-personality-tests/21276-learning-styles-test-2.html

Didn't look to see if you'd taken this learning styles test but it's pretty good. Seen it on other sites, including INTPc.

 

[garbage]

I've tried online courses, but I didn't like the lack of interactivity. Small, relatively open-ended classroom environments guided by a professor work best for me. I loved graduate school because that's quite often the nature of the classes. I also like teaching at the graduate level more than the undergrad level for the same reason--it's easier for students to learn by engaging me and one another when (a) there isn't a classroom of 100 of them, and (b) they're all interested and actually there to learn, rather than just filling a space in the classroom to fulfill some requirement of theirs.

In the classroom, I virtually never touched the textbooks for classes because the professor often provided a distilled version of the subject anyway--and, well, he knew what we was going to test us on and what he thought was important. Outside of any coursework, though, textbooks have helped me understand subjects more completely--outside of the classroom, I'm free to skim over the material or traverse it in depth whenever it suits me.

I'll have to go off on my own and think about a subject after I've learned something about it. I like to then share these thoughts with other people who have gone through that same process and combine our understandings. I work best in groups when nobody is derisive or overly defensive of their own ideas, when we're all actually just working toward a better understanding of our subject.

Writing about a subject is a nice exercise, too. To capture a subject in language, in an ordered and understandable way, I have to understand it pretty well myself and continually revise how I think about it. Ordering a subject in such a way provides yet another way for me to view it, so that process helps my understanding. Developing lectures is much the same way--I learn a lot about something in the process of getting it out there in a way that students can understand.

I really don't get offended if someone doesn't come to my classroom, so long as they're actually trying to understand the material in their own way, though it would be nice to get feedback so I can hopefully better cater to them if I can.

 

[xisnotx]

My number one rule about learning is that you cant be taught.
I doodle in lectures too. What happens is the professor will say something that sounds flawed, and the ill think about that thing and let my mind go where it wants to. Amazingly, ill usually snap back to attention to find myself having already concluded what the professor is teaching the rest if the class.
If something seems fuzzy to me, i assume that there is something wrong with that information and look to discredit it. That way im not simply memorizing what some guy wrote..also, the things i tend to want to learn have rarely been thought of all in one place..so half the battle is simply knowing where to look for the information, which helps in understanding what you are studying.

I despise the learning that goes on at univsrsity, especially at the lower levels and the science classes. Its all just memorization and if im not feeling up to it, it can get tiresome. As a result, anything and everything i learn in "structured academia" is taken with a grain of salt. I havent really learnt biology/chemistry/math, ive learnt what some guy thinks he knows about those things. That distinction is always recognized and respected. It also gives another way of learning something, simply by knowing what type of people were relevant in the field.

Im the guy who never reads anything, bs tests and papers, and manages a decent grade. The funny part is, im probably the only guy doing any actual learning as well..its just academia gets in the way at times.

What I mean by "you cant be taught" is you mostly already know what they are trying to teach you..you just havent thought about it in the ways they want you to think about it. Real learning and knowledge comes from experience, and you cant teach that.

Finally, ive found myself many times trying to develop a way of solving a problem or make sense of an issue only to realize that its already been thought of. I remember
being young and asking myself what exactly is happening to a ball that is being thrown in a car..and years later being upset that einstein "stole my theory". But thats my point, learning doesnt come from text books, it comes from experience. Granted, id still struggle just as much with how he went about explaining his understanding..but much of what is "learning" is simply understanding how some guy went about understanding something you already know..but just havent thought of in ways that make it apparent that you actually already know it.

Ill stop here..i could go on for days lol

Btw, if the question is how do i remember things, then my answer is..not well. But i only need to remember something for the hour or so during the test..then i can go back to the blissful state of not remembering anything other than what actually matters..the stuff im actually learning.

 

[Qlip]

First, I'll research how nerves trasmit messages of pain to the brain, then I will stick my hand on a hot stove to confirm it. That's how I learn.

 

[ESFP]

I mostly learn by doing or listening.

 

[Coriolis]

I learn best on my own. I prefer to do some background reading, then have time to try things out myself. If something doesn't make sense, I will do more reading, or perhaps seek out an expert on the subject to offer advice. Of course, this works best with hands-on activities, but then I am an experimentalist.

 

[Glycerine]

I research the things that interest me and go through the motions for the rest of it.... I hate missing lecture because the profs basically give you the answers to the tests if you go...

Audio/visual/very conceptual learner.

 

[Betty Blue]

I am always learning, i love it!

Though sometimes i'm sure it can be annoying to the people i am questioning.... in a little kid asking "why" all the time, way.

 

[SingSmileShine]

In a school environment, I am a kinesthetic learner. But I'm also perfectly content to be self-taught!

 

[INTP]

I build new neurons to represent stuff and new connections between existing neurons, also strenghtening neural connections between stuff is a big deal

 

[garbage]

I've also found that I like the process of just gathering a bunch information on a subject (through experience, reading, talking to people, etc.), then trying to develop a 'framework' or 'mental model' or 'structure' or a set of generalities from it, then gathering more information, so on and so forth, ad infinitum.

 

[Beargryllz]

I am a kinesthetic learner

 

[M_Kirch]

As long as a person is interested and determined to learn, they will.

 

[garbage]

As long as a person is interested and determined to learn, they will.

'Interested' is key. Knowing full well what interested and determined people are capable of, I've really wanted to harness their ability and drive to learn. Give me anyone with a slight bit of intellectual curiosity, and I know I can teach them a thing or two pretty easily. For me, they're probably the easiest to teach.

 

[crayons]

I have to think about the concept and try to take it apart before I understand it (and usually while doing this I skip around rather than go in order). Also, when I was in college doodling on my paper was so helpful. I loved to draw cubes and shade them in while listening to a lecture about pretty much anything. Sometimes I drew eyes or sketches of people near me.