My Learning Experience

Kevon Johnson 4/30/13
A Learning Experience English 1101

How is it precisely, that people learn things? As you know, when being taught something it is presented through our five senses. Studies indicate that when it comes to the succession of entirely grasping the concept of something, how that information is presented is a governing factor. Furthermore, when you apply this concept to everyday life it is apparent that college educators should present information in a way that is best suitable to the content rather than the student.
On my spare time, I like to disassemble and reassemble whatever computer devices I may have in my possession. About a week ago, I discovered that it is possible to get a custom colored added to your Apple iphone. Yesterday, I decided that I was going to learn how to disassemble my iphone. So naturally, when my custom purple parts came in the mail, I decided it was time to go to work. I approached the tasks by using what is known as the “Scientific Method.” This method is a form of learning style and includes the preliminary steps such as: visual research, recording data, formulating a plan and finally, executing your hypothesis on a test subject. Learning how to do this task is not easy, because I did not have a physical teacher and I was inexperienced with the mechanical design of the Apple iphone. I followed a visual tutorial that I found on Youtube on the disassembly of my specific phone. I watched the video once before determining that if I followed the guide in complete synchronization, that I would be able to apply the proper parts and make the phone look better than before. Which was a custom purple front and back-plate that I ordered online. Next, I put the video on widescreen and tried my best to mimic the guide as he move through the tutorial. I managed to completely disassemble my phone to the smallest of its components due to the effects of the visual interpretation I stored in my head from watching the video. Surprisingly, looking at the phone in pieces made way more sense than looking at it as a whole because you could see how every little piece adds up to its functional design. In my hands on experience, I learned how many things worked on the device without having read a manual. Furthermore, when I began to reassemble my iphone, I felt so confident in my ability that I closed out the tutorial that I reassembled without any help. Furthermore, when I was taking the iphone apart it took me about an hour to fully disassemble it but when I put it back together it took half of the time. This was made possible because of the video of the virtual instructor that I found on Youtube using the “Scientific Method”. I memorized every piece of the iphone because I had a vivid picture of the tutorial in my mind. This just goes to show how the use of a learning style is a governing factor of whether something is fully learned or not.
The articles “ Ask The Cognitive Scientist” and “ The Myth of Learning Styles”, by Daniel T. Willingham are informational collaborations on the study of cognitive science and its relation to how the human mind learns. On the other hand, the article “Learning Styles Fact and Fiction” by Derek Bruff slightly differs from the arguments posed by Willingham’s articles. The article “ Ask the Cognitive Scientist”, analyzes whether visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners actually need to be learned though visual, auditory, and kinesthetic instruction. Indicated studies suggest that to learn new material effectively depends on the modality of the content. In other words, it is how new knowledge is introduced to a person that affects whether that material will be able to effectively be learned. In fact, some topics may call for more than one modality to be used. Furthermore, the article “The Myths on Learning Styles” questions the accuracy of learning styles by illustrating four different theories on learning styles. In summation, the article illustrates that a certain number of factors that vary from person to person and are known to affect learning styles. These factors include ability, background knowledge, interest, and intelligence. The authors argue that the belief in learning styles continue to persevere because learning styles have become common knowledge or a widespread acceptance. In addition, most of the general theories on learning styles are true. However, people need to take into account the differences in learner ability. Overall, the author focuses on the belief that students have different many factors involved when it comes to learning but there are no difference their learning styles.
On the other hand, the article “Learning Styles Fact and Fiction” by Derek Bruff argues that the analysis of the learning styles illustrated by the other two articles may be true, but they area not precise. Furthermore, pinpointing a student’s learning style through test does not have an affect on how well they will learn through various other activities. According to the article, there are precisely three main important factors about modalities drawn from cognitive science. These three factors include are that visual thinking tools help everyone, using the best modality or modalities for the content, and that people learn new material best when they encounter numerous times in numerous different ways.
Overall, the incorporated studies illustrate the concept that how information is presented to a person effects how effectively a person learns that information. My experience further displays how the use of an effective learning style as a means of approach when dealing with a task I’m not experienced in is a tremendous contribution to whether information presented to a person is fully understood or not.