Learning to Learn - Put It All Together
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Learning Tips for Your Learning Style & Temperament


Now you know your learning style and your personality type. Take a look at the descriptions that are available from each of the tests you've taken. And then, perhaps more importantly for this (and other) courses, read Vee Sutherland's article that discusses personality types and distance learning. Again, there are suggestions for actions that you can take in order to make (distance) learning more effective for you.

Learning Prefences and Temperament

The chart below was created for teachers -- to give them hints about helping their students become more effective learners. Once you locate yourself on the chart, look at the various topics and discover if your personality type also describes your learning behaviours. This combined with all the other information you now have about yourself may also lead you to finding areas where you need practice.
TOPIC
SJ Guardian
SP Artisan
NF Idealist
NT Rational
Instructional
Mode		 Lectures;
Procedures and fast facts;
How tos (the "right" way)		 Performance;
Personal manipulation of materials to learn subject matter		 Lectures;
About real people;
Fantasy;
Unmet people needs		 Lectures;
Abstract and intellectual;
Future trends
Learning Mode Workbook completion;
Paper-and-pencil drills		 Experimentation with tools Creative writing with a people focus Intensive study of subjects that fascinate
Learns Best Through Teacher-led question and answer;
Rote drill and recitation		 Demonstration with action;
Results of hands-on work		 Small group discussions;
One-on-one interaction		 Self-determined study;
Debates
Favored Activities Review;
Repetition;
Practice for learning requirements		 Hands-on manipulative personal experimentation Group discussions or projects;
Opportunities for self-expression		 Individual projects;
Emphasis on research and reports
Reading Factual and Real;
Information about the past		 Limited, but with action theme or facts in short "sound bites" Fantasy, make-believe;
People-oriented works		 Self-challenging;
Satisfy curiosity
Writing Directed and structured to include facts;
Reality-based stories		 Limited, telling about observed exciting actions and events Seeking to capture personally the essence of the world of people Seeking to express impersonally ultimate truths and theories
Art Structured home-crafts with exact procedures that are practical and useful Handiwork with room for trial and error Personal expression, not to be judged Experimentation with techniques;
Gaining mastery
Games Emphasizing fairness and rules Emphasizing fun and competition Emphasizing cooperative effort Emphasizing puzzles and brain teasers
Sensitive to Unfairness Confinement Criticism Humiliation
Respects Status Ability Personal Values Competence
Praise and Rewards Recognition of a job well done Recognition of flair and timing;
Free time;
Games		 Recognition of unique self;
Personalized attention		 Recognition of high competence;
New intellectual challenge
Discipline Clear, fair rules with follow-through Follow-through and allowance for "wiggle-room" One-on-one, caring with affirmation of personal worth One-on-one;
Discussion of assumptions and expectations
Areas of Interest Business, health services, education Music, drama, arts, crafts, mechanics, construction Humanities, social sciences Math, physical science, theoretical development

[Source: based on Fairhurst, A. and L Fairhurst (1995) Effective teaching effective learning: Making the personality connection in your classroom. CA: Davies-Black.]

Using the information that you've now gathered about yourself, decide upon study and learning approaches that will be best for you. You'll need to practice some techniques, although others you may already be using. You might try experimenting with other approaches as well.

Are you and your computer ready for Cybercities? Have you done everything on this checklist?

Conclusion

We're now at the end of the materials for module I. You have read much about the administrivia of the course: how it operates, what you can expect, what you need to have in order to participate. You have investigated much about yourself -- your learning style, your personality -- and read how you can improve your studying so that you learn more effectively. Putting these suggestions into practice is up to you. Your first e-assignment (due September 28) will continue to investigate these topics. In Module 2 of the course we will introduce the content of the course and begin our excursion into understanding cities, technology and the relationships between them.
LAST REVISED 9/9/09