15000 words for bussiness managements assignments

• To deepen students’ critical understanding of different learning styles and theories

• To relate and apply learning styles and learning theories to the world of work and self- employment

• To reflect upon the usefulness of learning styles and theory in relation to current study and future aspirations

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Session Objectives

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What is learning ?

In groups of 3 or 4

brainstorm definitions of learning

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Learning Styles

• How you learn may be important

• Why ?

• May help you to avoid mistakes

• Avoid repeating negative patterns of behaviour

• May improve quality of life

• May improve your performance at work

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What’s the point ?

• For learners – to become more effective, to become more independent, to use strengths and improve weaker processing channels

• For teachers – to provide opportunities for students to become more involved in their learning, can improve retention and achievement, can be relevant to widening participation

• Relevant for PDP

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What is a learning style ?

‘Learning Style is the way in which each learner begins to concentrate on, process, and retain new and [possibly] difficult information’

(Dunn,1967)

‘....a biologically and developmentally imposed set of personal characteristics that make the same teaching method effective for some students and ineffective for others,...’

(Dunn, Beaudry, and Klavas, 1989)

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• Learners may use a variety of channels through which they receive information –

Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic / Tactile (VAK/T)

• One is usually dominant - depends on task to be learned and the situation

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Do you know your own learning style / learning preference ?

• Have you taken a test to determine your learning style ?

• Remember not to lock yourself into one preference

• Learning Style may depend on the task and the situation

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VAK – are you Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic ?

How do you learn best ?

Take a test if unsure - info on Blackboard

Visual Learners

• Prefer to see information such as pictures, diagrams, cartoons, demonstrations

• Picture words and concepts they hear as images

• Easily distracted in lecture with no visual aids

• Overwhelmed with intense visuals accompanied by lecture

• Benefit from using charts, maps, notes, and flash cards when studying

Auditory Learners

• Prefer to hear information spoken • Can absorb a lecture with little effort • May not need careful notes to learn. • Often avoid eye contact in order to

concentrate • May read aloud to themselves • Like background music when they study

Tactile or Kinesthetic Learners • Prefer touch as their primary mode for taking

in information • In traditional lecture situations, they should

write out important facts • Create study sheets connected to vivid

examples • Role-playing can help them learn and

remember important ideas • May benefit by using manipulatives

Okay, I get it now.

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Learning Style Tests and Models

• VAK/T – to determine learning style

• Kolb’s ‘Learning Cycle’ / learning styles

• Honey and Mumford’s learning styles

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David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory (ELT)

4 distinct learning styles –

Diverging (feeling and watching)

Assimilating (watching and thinking)

Converging (doing and thinking)

Accommodating (doing and feeling)

Compare to Honey and Mumford’s model

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Honey and Mumford – Learning Styles

• Activists (do) Immerse themselves fully in new experiences

• Reflectors (review)

Stand back and observe • Theorists (conclude)

Think through problems in a logical manner, value rationality

and objectivity • Pragmatists (plan)

Keen to put ideas, theories and techniques into practice

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Honey and Mumford Learning Styles Kolb’s learning Styles

See handout

Honey / Mumford Kolb

Activists Accommodating

Reflector Diverging

Theorist Assimilating

Pragmatist Converging

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Consider your learning type

Consider 4 group situations e.g. a meeting to

discuss a project, when you were :

• Activist

• Reflector

• Theorist

• Pragmatist

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For each situation • Briefly describe the situation

• Describe the roles of other members

• Say why you took on a particular role

• Evaluate the success of your role within the group

• Evaluate the success of the situation

• What do you think would have happened if you had taken on a different role

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Now consider how you work with others

• See handout Working with others

• Does your learning style inhibit your ability to work well in a team ?

• Consider which Key Skills are strengths and which are weaknesses

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What is Reflective Learning ?

To cover: What reflective learning is Purpose Methods Evidence of reflective learning Examples of reflective learning accounts PDP / Key Skills / academic context

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What is reflective learning – one definition -

“Reflection, here, means looking back on an experience and making sense of it to identify what to do in the future. It helps you repeat what worked and learn from mistakes.”

Drew, S and Bingham R. (2001) The Student Skills Guide.2nd ed. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Ltd.

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Types of reflective work you may have to do -

• Evaluation of work carried out:

essay, project, report, group work etc.

• Reflective log –

self reflection / analysis / evaluation / target setting

• Reflective portfolio –

containing evidence e.g. video, report etc.

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Why do Personal Development Planning ?

Apart from personal development as an individual

‘The main attraction of PDP as an employability tool is the way it can help students to get a graduate job….to remain employable and to meet the changing demands of work and society….[it is] a survival skill with longer term benefits in relation to lifelong learning and personal career management .’

University of Huddersfield (2005) The 4 Steps to Career Success. Employability and Progress Files Project

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Personal Development Plan and Portfolio

• Relate your reflective learning to

Key Skills for Managers

• When writing up your log, identify when a key skill has been addressed

• Underpin your reflective writing with learning theories

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Reflective Writing - Final Tips

• Don’t include unnecessary detail

• Don’t just tell a story

• Write in a formal style

• Add value