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English Corner
Reflective commentary on learning styles and their impact on my learning
Approaches to learning can be characterized as “deep” or “surface”. The motives of a deep approach and a surface approach are very different. A surface approach is driven by an extrinsic motive – to gain a paper qualification for instance. And a deep approach is driven by an intrinsic motive, to seek meaning or understanding. For me, I am the student who adopts a deep approach. I am quite interested in the academic task, searches for inherent meaning in the task, and attempts to integrate aspects of the task into a whole. However, being a good learner who adopts a deep approach needs plenty of stamina. I am afraid that I would resort to surface approaches to meet the demands of study due to the heavy workload.
Adopting a deep learning approach is not an easy task for Hong Kong students. Hong Kong students are always criticized by being extremely exam-oriented and passive in class. And there is a common perception that we tend to learn by rote or memorize a lot, like to be spoon-fed, and lack initiative to explore by ourselves. But I think the design of this programme has helped us a lot engage in deep learning since choices over subjects and in the content study are given to students. Besides, relatively low class contact hours give us opportunity to be independent in studying and pursue subjects in depth.
In respect to the learning style I belong to, I get relatively high scores in reflector, theorist and pragmatist, but not in activist. This tendency tells me that I am not open-minded and biased towards new experiences, therefore, in order to be an all-round learner, I need not to be too subjective and become more open to conviction.
To learn more effectively, I think I have to find something I am interested in so that I will be highly motivated to work harder. I have to be devoted to the study too. A real sense of commitment to the study is the key to success. But how I can have a real sense of commitment is the real problem.
Besides, discussion with others, from my point of view, is an effective way of learning. I can understand and appreciate different points of view from different people through discussions. And the experience of other people is priceless. The sharing of experience during the discussion can enhancing my knowledge effectively because the stories of other people are much more impressive than the knowledge in books that I can recall them easily.
In relation to problems getting in the way of learning for me, I am afraid that I will be distracted by my part-time job. I cannot spare too much time on the study. And the worse thing is that I do not understand my learning ability very well. I cannot recognize that a real problem exists in my way of learning.
In respect to developing my ability to engage in critical reflection, I am quite confident of being able to engage in critical reflection. Critical reflection can be divided into reflective thinking and critical thinking.
In regard to reflective thinking, John Dewey (1933, 1938, cited in Kitchener, 1994, p.6) provided one of the earliest expositions of reflective thinking. According to Dewey, true reflective thinking is initiated only after there is recognition that a real problem exists and such real problems cannot be answered by formal logic alone because in the uncertain or problematic situations, there is no way to apply to formula to derive a correct solution and no way to prove definitively that a proposed solution is correct. Reflective thinking requires the continual evaluation of beliefs, assumptions, and hypotheses against existing data and against other plausible interpretations of the data. Further, judgments derived from the reflective thinking process remain open to further scrutiny, evaluation, reformulation, and self-correction.
In regard to critical thinking, it consists primarily of a set of skills or general principles that one can apply in order to solve problems. Lipman (1988, p.39, cited in Kitchener, 1994, p.8) contends that “critical thinking is skillful, responsible thinking that facilitates good judgment because it (1) relies upon criteria, (2) is self-correcting, and (3) is sensitive to context.” King and Kitchener (1994, p.9) argue that epistemic assumptions play a central role in recognizing a problematic situation. The epistemic assumptions (King and Kitchener, 1994, p.17) are that one’s understanding of the world is not “given” but must be actively constructed and the knowledge generated is contextual. Moreover, some interpretations or knowledge claims may be judged as more credible than others.
To engage in critical reflection, I think I have to read more so that I can consolidate and broaden my basis of knowledge for making good comparison and judgment. Moreover, having good logical reasoning is crucial too. I know I have to actively interpret and attempt to make sense of what I experience. People are not passive recipients of their experience; rather, they act on their experience every day as they attempt to understand the world and their role in it. And the development in reflective thinking occurs within the context of one’s background, previous educational experiences, and current life situation. A broader context of total life experience is conducive to the development of critical reflection. I think my ability to think critically and reflectively will grow with age.
Reference:
How do Hong Kong students learn?
Retrieved August 17, 2005, from http://teaching.polyu.edu.hk/t2/t2d.asp
King, P. M. & Kitchener, K. S. (1994). Developing Reflective Judgment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. |
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發表於 09-8-18 02:17 AM