Learning…

I’ve been giving a great deal of thought since starting the PGCAP course to try and determine what sort of learner I am (I now appreciate this process is called reflection, although I’ve always simply thought of it as noodling over ideas).  According the likes of (Kolb, 1984; Moon, 2001, 2004; Race, 2006, 2010) learning happens in a cycle and benefits from experiencing what it is that you’re learning at key points in this learning cycle.  Personally, whilst I agree that experiencing learning is a valuable part of learning (critical for some subjects) where it occurs in the cycle is something that I’m still considering.

I’m still not 100% sure what my preferred learning method is, but one thing I have come to realise is that actually I really don’t give a lot of thought to what I choose to learn.  Instead I really just follow my nose and will begin to absorb knowledge and rationalise it on almost any topic that I find interesting.  Having your interest sparked has been identified by the likes of (Race, 2010) in his learning cycle, but I do wonder if whilst the ability for a lecturer to inspire and spark interest is clearly a key skill (Race, 2006; Ramsden, 2003) if a better approach would be to encourage students to fire their own natural hunger to learn so that their appetite becomes universal and not just aimed at the ‘good’ lecturers subject.

My own curiosity has caused me problems in the past, as I end up taking on far too many interests than I have a sensible capacity to cope with.  This overloading of time and interests is directly linked to me being a naturally inquisitive person (a common trait for engineers) which often means that I find most things interesting and not knowing how things work is something that literally makes my brain itch.

The relationship between teaching and learning is discussed by (Ramsden, 2003, pp85)  and Ramsden goes on to discuss how these two activities can’t be clearly separated into neat boxes purely for the teacher or the student and in fact the boundaries are blurred and mingled.

Having had a few months as an educator I’m increasingly finding myself agreeing with this philosophy and realizing that, actually I’m not only teaching but also learning from students too.  Not just learning about my teaching style and techniques associated with pedagogic theory, but also engineering related skills and various other tidbits that will prove helpful in developing myself.

A good example of this that has raised its head this week is that I’ve been giving some Masters students some support on how to approach their dissertation writing and communication aspects of their drawings.  I’ve been open in showing them how I use various elements of software to create citations, vector based diagrams and sketches in my own work and they’ve been very grateful for the insight.

So much so that they’ve had their curiosity fired and they’ve downloaded a copy of AutoDesk SketchBook Pro Designer to see if they can build on the techniques that I’ve shown them but by using a tool they’ve never seen, used, or been shown before.  They’ve really embraced this new piece of software and have translated the techniques that I’ve shown them on a different piece of software in the new software to test its boundaries.

They’ve then developed their own workflow and process on the software completely independent of any guidance or support from me.  What they’ve also done though, is to retain a clear focus of why they’ve wanted to use this software and taken the time to show me how they use it to incase it could be of use to me in my own studies.  This open, sharing and reciprocal form of learning and teaching for me is encouraging to see the students embrace, and if they carry on with that philosophy into their professional careers I’m sure that it will serve them well.  I also like that they’re starting to form communities, both amongst their peers but also extending beyond their peers, which fits well with the UKPSF guidance.

What it’s also done is to influence some of the upcoming lectures that I have with the first years, where I’ve been teaching them different strategies for communication and having seen this software in action and now knowing that students can have a copy for free, I think I’m going to include a lecture on this software within the course as I feel it will be really useful for them to learn.

(Ramsden, 2003, pp87) makes note that one of the key talents of a successful lecturer is their ‘…desire to learn from students and other sources…’ and I can relate to this, every day is a school day when you’re open to learning and I hope that I still feel comfortable with this approach for the rest of my days.

If you’re not open to learning, this can make the whole learning process more painful than it needs to be and it reminds me of a quote from an old Kung Fu film called the Silent Flute (Moore, 1978) which is based on a series of Buddhist teachings where the lead character repeatedly complains to his wise master that his lesson is too difficult and that he can’t do it, but the wise master simply replies… ‘One is taught within one’s capacity to learn’…

References

Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Moon, J. (2001). PDP Working Paper 4 Reflection in Higher Education Learning  Retrieved 1st October 2011, from https://http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/hr/researcher-development/students/resources/pgwt/reflectivepractice.pdf

Moon, J. (2004). A handbook of reflective and experiential learning: Theory and practice. London: Routledge.

Moore, R. (Writer). (1978). The Silent Flute. In S. Howard & P. Maslansky (Producer). USA.

Race, P. (2006). Learning – A natural human processThe Lecturer’s Toolkit: A practical guide to assessment, learning and teaching (Third ed., pp. 1-26). Abingdon: Taylor & Francis e-Library.

Race, P. (2010). How students really learn; ripples model of learning (updated Aug 2010)  Retrieved 30th September 2011, from http://voicethread.com/ – q.b2250451.i11964012

Ramsden, P. (2003). The nature of good teaching in higher education Learning to Teach in Higher Education (Third ed., pp. 84-105). London: RoutledgeFalmer.