Reflective Essay on Learning Styles and Theories

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

Learning is the lifelong process of continuous improvement. Human being learns new things throughout its lifetime. It is necessary for the overall development of human being. Only the person who is keen learner can survive and grow in today’s competitive environment.

We always continue to learn from the day we born till the day we die. Life without learning is like stagnating water.

Human being learn everything that comes to him i.e. learn from its actions, its experience etc.

In Reflection module I am going to summarize the reflection of what I learnt. Reflection and learning are explained through various models and theory in this assignment.

ASSIGNMENT 1

When I am doing this project I was under the intuition that it is going to be another industry module where we will be showing to only abstract ideas. But I came to know that it is more about molding an individual into getting prepared to a organization career. Mostly PASS overlaps the trained and academic skills that are needed by individuals to struggle in this mutually dependent world.

The first day of joining my institute is basically different from my assumption, the college give us the right knowledge and a key to success. But when I came to know about this module (PASS) my falsehood was nowhere to be found any more within me. It provides me the professional knowledge and help us to improve my skills.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

Collaboration:-

This section collaboration was introduced where we implicit the need for collaboration for the team work. Basically collaboration is to gather a variety of different skills among team members and utilize them to ensure the success of the project. In this i introduced the Tuck man’s Group Development Model and Belbin’s Theory

TUCK MAN’S AND BELBIN THEORY

Tuckman’s model is that it helps us understand that teams evolve. It also helps us to consider how they may encounter different problems at different stages of their development

There are four stages in Tuckman’s model: forming, storming, norming and performing.

In the first stage we read about forming. In this firstly the base level is established. In this stage the individuals are not yet gelled together and everybody is busy in finding their place in the team. Also the trust is developed between the team members in this stage. The team members agrees on common goal. This stage is very important because in this stage members make goods contacts and strong bonding towards each other.

In the second stage we focused on storming. In this stage members feel themselves as a part of a team. They are identify with the powers, control issues and the resources that are to be used. In this stage members express different ideas, feeling, and opinion, however they may challenge themselves and the team leader about what the team is doing and and how the work should be done.

The third stage is norming. The members come together. They agrees about roles and processes for solving the problem. We can say it is the characteristic of togetherness. Decisions are made through negotiation and agreement building. The team is engaged in various activities.

The final stage is performing. Members find solutions to problems using appropriate controls. They work collaboratively and care about each other. The group established as a unique identity and the members are interdependent and they have increased focus on the task.

Co-ordinator

The co-ordinator is a person-oriented leader. This person is trusting, accepting, dominant and is committed to team goals and objectives. The co-ordinator is a positive thinker who approves of goal attainment, struggle and effort in others. The co-ordinator is someone tolerant enough always to listen to others, but strong enough to reject their advice

Shaper

The shaper is a task-focused leader who abounds in nervous energy, who has a high motivation to achieve and for whom winning is the name of the game. The shaper is committed to achieving ends and will ‘shape’ others into achieving the aims of the team.

Plant

The plant is a specialist idea maker characterised by high IQ and introversion while also being dominant and original. The plant tends to take radical approaches to team functioning and problems. Plants are more concerned with major issues than with details.

Resource Investigator

The resource investigator is the executive who is never in his room, and if he is, he is on the telephone. The resource investigator is someone who explores opportunities and develops contacts. Resource investigators are good negotiators who probe others for information and support and pick up other’s ideas and develop them. They are characterised by sociability and enthusiasm and are good at liaison work and exploring resources outside the group

Team worker

Team workers make helpful interventions to avert potential friction and enable difficult characters within the team to use their skills to positive ends. They tend to keep team spirit up and allow other members to contribute effectively. Their diplomatic skills together with their sense of humour are assets to a team. They tend to have skills in listening, coping with awkward people and to be sociable. sensitive and people oriented

Company worker/ implementer

Implementers are aware of external obligations and are disciplined, conscientious and have a good self-image. They tend to be tough-minded and practical, trusting and tolerant, respecting established traditions. They are characterised by low anxiety and tend to work for the team in a practical, realistic way. Implementers figure prominently in positions of responsibility in larger organisations. They tend to do the jobs that others do not want to do and do them well: for example, disciplining employees.

Completer finishers

The completer finisher dots the i’s and crosses the t’s. He or she gives attention to detail, aims to complete and to do so thoroughly. They make steady effort and are consistent in their work. They are not so interested in the glamour of spectacular success.

Specialist

The specialist provides knowledge and technical skills which are in rare supply within the team. They are often highly introverted and anxious and tend to be self-starting, dedicated and committed

Team Management

Artifical barriers between leaders and led are only one obstacle to true teamwork. Interdepartmental and cross-functional rivalries – what Americans call ‘turf wars’ – are other serious hurdles, made worse by the fact that they are seldom overcome. They’re known in sport, too. Try to persuade rugby forwards that they can learn from backs, or vice versa, and you’ll usually get no more change than when persuading marketing to work (as it should) hand-in-glove with production, or either to cooperate willingly with finance.

The skills essential to the modern manager thus include the ability to work with other functional talents in teams – and to lead, not by the authority of command, but that of expertise. Team leadership, paradoxically, includes knowing when to hand over the lead to others, as their expertise moves to the fore. In games, this stems naturally from the functional demands. Only the quarterback can call the plays in American football: in rugby, lineout tactics are equally an expert function.

A team relies on its leader to get them through.

Team benefit

All teams are groups of individuals but not all groups of individuals necessarily demonstrate the cohesiveness of a team. Teams outperform individuals because teams generate a special energy. This energy develops as team members work together fusing their personal energies and talents to deliver tangible performance results.

There are a number of benefits for teamwork, among them are:

Distributing the workload

Reinforcing individual capabilities

Creating participation and involvement

Making better decisions

Feeling like we play a part in the work being done

Generating a diversity of ideas, etc.

Teams have become the latest management obsession. They’re the corporate equivalent of a Visa card: they’re everywhere you want to be. Managers, school principals everywhere in the world are striving to set up efficient teamwork procedures in their establishments.

Trouble is that despite their ubiquity and their omnipresence, teams rarely achieve breakthrough results. Instead, they sink to the level of the weakest performer and keep digging. The fault lies not with the team or its members, but with those who took a group of individuals, charged them with improbable goals, staffed them with uninspired leadership and expected them to function as a team.

Contrast that to an organized, well-oiled, and disciplined team, one in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Such groups allow members to achieve results far beyond their individual abilities. The irony is that when the needs of the group take priority, the needs of the individual actually are enhanced.

High performance teams do not result from spontaneous combustion. They are grown, nurtured and exercised. It takes a lot of hard work and skill to blend the different personalities, abilities, and agendas

COMMUNICATION

Communication

Communication is an exchange of facts,ideas,opinions by two or more persons.

Communication is the process of passing information & understanding from one person to another.It is the process of imparting ideas & malking oneself understood by other.

Communication is the transmission & interchange of facts, ideas, feelings, or course of action.

The interchange of thought or information to bring about mutual understanding and confidence or good human relation.

In communication model we use the concept of Berlo’s Model

Concept of Barlo’s model:-

Source

Does he have a command over language?

What is his attitude towards the receiver?

Thirdly what is his level of knowledge?

Does he speak as a member of a group; religious,political, or commercial?

Does he belong to a highly advanced culture or he comes from some primitive tribe

Message : A message contains content or matter. It appears in some language from such as English or French or in picture form.

Channel : Channel stands for the medium in which the message reaches the receiver. It may be natural, one of the senses – seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting.

Receiver : The receiver too, like the source has skill, attitude, knowledge and culture context. If the receiver and the source have positive attitudes towards the topic, communication become easy.

TIME MANAGEMENT

This is the most important concept in this assignment as well as our day to day activity.

The “Three Ps” of Effective Time Management:-

Planning

Priorities

Procrastination

Ten Myths about Time:-

Myth: Time can be managed.

Myth: The longer or harder you work the more you accomplish.

Myth: If you want something done right, do it yourself.

Myth: You aren’t supposed to enjoy work.

Myth: We should take pride in working hard.

Myth: You should try to do the most in the least amount of time.

Myth: Technology will help you do it better, faster.

Myth: Do one thing at a time.

Myth: Handle paper only once.

Myth: Get more done and you’ll be happier.

As I got closer to the end of this assignment, I realized that we were actually trained how to utilize the resources to become a better leader as well as manager. As a manager it is very essential to make optimum use of the limited resources that will be provided for ones task. At the same time, a manager should also have equivalent skills and make sure his/her employee is up to the mark to gain better competitive advantage and a higher market value for the purpose of development and success of the organization. For a manager, a department with the lowest staff turnover is always better for the management and shows the excellence of the manager managing his/her team.

ASSIGNMENT 2

Learning Style

‘The process of increasing knowledge and skills and developing our attitudes or beliefs so that we have the opportunity for increased choice’ (Thorpe and Clifford, 2000).

This approach to learning emphasizes the fact that individuals perceive and process information in very different ways. The learning styles theory implies that how much individuals learn has more to do with whether the educational experience is geared toward their particular style of learning than whether or not they are “smart.” In fact, educators should not ask, “Is this student smart?” but rather “How is this student smart?”

Different type of learning style

Inguistic

This type of learner loves to read, write, and tell stories. They tend to memorize places, dates, names, and trivia very easily, and are always mesmerizing you with their incredible tales. They have a remarkable ability to repeat back everything you have ever told them, word for word.

2.logical

This child is very mathematically inclined. They enjoy solving problems, particularly if they are math related.. They will plague you with questions on how things work, how things relate to one another, and why things are here. Their favorite toys as young children were likely building blocks, and pattern puzzles.

3.spatial

These are the visualizers. They spend most of the day dreaming, watching movies, and staying as far away from reality as possible. If they seem particularly “down”, asking them to draw a picture will get you much further into the nature of the problem, than asking them to tell you about it.

4.musical

if your child is always walking around the house humming a tune, or always needs music to study by, then he/she is likely a musical learner. This type of learner is best at noticing details, pitches, and rhythms that escape the normal listener.

5.bodily

This type of learner is always on the move. They constantly walk around, they have to touch everything, and they use body language to convey their feelings. They would rather play sports or do a craft than sit down and read a book. They need active education! Keep them moving.

6.interpersonal

These are the “social butterflies”. They adapt easily to any type of social situation, have many friends and are excellent leaders. They are patient, understanding, and very empathetic, which makes them a favorite among their playmates. They generally make good leaders because of their ability to mediate conflict, and are often referred to as “the Peacemaker” of the family.

7.intrapersonal

iunderstanding of themselves. They pride themselves on being independent and original, and they tend to stand out from the crowd without even trying. They are the “strong, silent type”.

Kolb’s Learning theory

Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience”

Kolb (1984, 38)

“a comprehensive theory which offers the foundation for an approach to education and learning as a lifelong process and which is soundbased intellectual traditions of philosophy and cognitive and social psychologyklb4kind

Divergers – view situations from many perspectives and rely heavily upon brainstorming and generation of ideas

Assimilators – use inductive reasoning and have the ability to create theoretical models

Convergers – rely heavily on hypothetical-deductive reasoning

Accommodators – carry out plans and experiments and adapt to immediate circumstances

David Kolb stated that for true learning to take place, we need to have an experience, reflect upon this experience, make sense of it (often through creating theories) and finally apply our theories to our lives by planning what we would do next time we were in the same or similar situation.

HONEY AND MUMFORD’S LEARNING STYLES

There are four type of honey and mumford learning style

Activist

Reflector

Theorist

Pragmatist

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Activist

Activists are people who learn through doing and prefer activity-based development. They dislike sitting still for long periods and will therefore not respond well to lectures or highly reflective activity. Activists are chatty, lively and like to be involved – they enjoy the ‘here and now’.

The methods through which they will prefer to learn involve exercises, problems, tasks, drama and excitement.

Reflectors

Reflectors enjoy reviewing and considering situations and events. When asked a question, they tend to sit back and think about the answer before responding

When they join a discussion their contribution will be well thought out.

Reflective learners like to consider issues from a range of different perspectives and will feel uncomfortable if they are put into the limelight without prior warning; when choosing methods for them, ensure that they will have the time required for reflection to take place

Theorists

Theorists like to know the theories behind a piece of learning or the ideas that back up comments that are being made. They prefer to learn from research, data, models and information.

They do not cope well when they are asked to do something without being told why and without underpinning evidence or theory.

Theorists like logic and are rational and analytical – in a learning situation, they like their development activities to have structure and purpose; they will be uncomfortable with high emotion and feelings.

Pragmatists

Pragmatists prefer practicality to theory and learn effectively when they are able to apply the learning to their situation and the real world.

They learn best when provided with true-to-life tasks, rather than being given ‘woolly’ concepts that they are unable to relate to their daily life.

They seek out new ideas and want to try them out, drawing links between the subject and their current job.

Vark model

The acronym VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read/write, and Kinesthetic sensory modalities that are used for learning information. Fleming and Mills (1992) suggested four categories that seemed to reflect the experiences VARK learning style shows that I am a reading/writing preference learner followed by visual and kinesthetic learner. The visual and kinesthetic learner characteristics are similar to the outcome of both the Belbin and Honey Mumford theory. According to the Honey Mumford learning style, Belbin’s theory and VARK theory, I am indeed a person who learns better when theories and techniques are put into practice. I specifically prefer to learn from new experiences as well, making me a person who likes to do more physical and hands on activities compared to learning new modules through theories. For example, teaching and training materials are absorbed faster and effectively when I perform them through tutorial or lab activities.According to the VARK learning theory, I learn best when theories that are taught are absorbed via lectures and notes written from lectures according to personal preferences. For example, during lectures, I learn best when I write lecture notes and rewrite it over and over again. A reading and writing preference learner would translate diagrams and charts into their own words to learn betterf the students and teacher.

Visual (V)

This preference includes the depiction of information in maps, spider diagrams, charts, graphs, flow charts, labelled diagrams, and all the symbolic arrows, circles, hierarchies and other devices, that instructors use to represent what could have been presented in words. It could have been called Graphic (G) as that better explains what it covers. It does NOT include movies, videos or PowerPoint. It does include designs, whitespace, patterns, shapes and the different formats that are used to highlight and convey information.

Kinaesthetic (K):

By definition, this modality refers to the “perceptual preference related to the use of experience and practice (simulated or real).” Although such an experience may invoke other modalities, the key is that people who prefer this mode are connected to reality, “either through concrete personal experiences, examples, practice or simulation” [See Fleming & Mills, 1992, pp. 140-141]. It includes demonstrations, simulations, videos and movies of “real” things, as well as case studies, practice and applications.

AUDITORY-learners who would love to sit reverse and pay attention. They don’t make a lot of notes

READ/WRITE- learners who need to read the information for themselves and they take a set of notes

CONCLUSSION

VARK model proved that I m a KINESTHETIC learner. I can sit long for focussed on a particular topic. But other than KINESTHETIC i am a weak learner. And I feel that this is my weak point and I want to resolve it. Now i am trying to deliberate on a particular topic by sitting actively like a visual learner. Now i am concentrating on the reading/writing part by reading more and more books and different journals or assignments. But I feel that kinesthetic is not an actual style which should be learned because kinesthetic is a person who cannot concentrate much more so I did not belong to it. I strongly believe that i should expand that particular learning theory along with the rest that I already practice. As a group member we should create some new ideas all the time and these ideas can be practical or theoretical. From Honey Mumford theory I came to know that I m a activist so I decided to learn the other learning styles that the VARK assessment showed as I do not see any harm in learning new theoretical modules.

I actually feel that with this module we will develop our skills, knowledge, training and many more. We know our value and importance in a group. This module also helps us to understand the team management, different communication skills, and time management and captures the different styles of learning.