Precision learning pattern

2Knowing Yourself as a Learner

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Learning Outcomes After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• Describe the thoughts, actions, and feelings associated with each Learning Pattern.

• Analyze your use of Sequence.

• Analyze your use of Precision.

• Analyze your use of Technical Reasoning.

• Analyze your use of Confluence.

• Explain the terms Dynamic learner, Bridge learner, and Strong-Willed learner.

• Describe your Learning Patterns within the context of a personal learning profile.

• Identify the role of metacognition and self-regulation in intentional learning.

“The knowledge of your Learning Patterns provides you with an explanation of how you learn, not an excuse for failing to put forth the effort to learn.”

—Christine A. Johnston (2010, p. 107)

Section 2.1Understanding Learning Patterns

2.1 Understanding Learning Patterns Have you ever noticed how your approach to a task differs from that of someone attempting the same thing? Perhaps you are setting up a new device, interpreting an e-mail from your boss, or struggling with how to resolve a problem between coworkers. You might watch how someone else approaches these challenges and think to yourself, “That’s not how I would do that.”

If you are aware of these differences, you are not alone. In the 1930s cog- nitive scientists recognized that the different ways people undertake iden- tical tasks, such as solving nonmath- ematical or verbal puzzles, provided insights into how they learn. In one study, participants completed more than 300 such puzzles to better under- stand how each learned (Philip, 1936).

More than 80 years later, instead of completing puzzles to understand how you learn, you can take the Learn- ing Connections Inventory (LCI). This survey instrument was 6 years in the making and field-tested with over 9,000 children and adults. It takes the mystery out of how you learn and pro- vides you with a set of terms to accu-

rately and thoroughly describe your learning processes. The information gleaned explains what you may have always felt about yourself as a learner but may not have had the words to describe.

Your Scale Scores To understand the impact your Patterns have on you as a learner, you need to look first at the four scale scores that make up your LCI results. Each will be a number from 7 to 35. Notice that each score falls into a range of Use First, Use as Needed, and Avoid (see Figure 2.1).

• If you use one or more Patterns within the Use First range (25 to 35), you naturally turn to them to begin your learning experience. You feel their energy, understand how to employ them, and enjoy the sense of accomplishment each provides.

• If you use one or more Patterns in the Use as Needed range (18 to 24), you don’t feel the same urgency to use them as you do a Pattern that falls in the Use First range. Use as Needed Patterns are available all the time. Think of your car idling at a stop sign until you step down on the gas pedal. At that point, the idling turns from waiting to moving. The same is true with your Use as Needed patterns. You use them when you need to, but they are not the Patterns to which you turn first.

• If you have one or more Patterns in the Avoid range (7 to 17), you truly do not feel comfortable using them. Frankly, you avoid using them whenever you can because

Ivan-balvan/iStock/Thinkstock People with different Learning Patterns take different approaches to completing a task. Understanding others’ Learning Patterns is key to collaboration.

Section 2.1Understanding Learning Patterns

you have a hard time relating to them. You recognize that without specific strategies, you will find it difficult to make them work for you.

Figure 2.1: LCI score range

Identifying the range of use of each of your Learning Patterns can provide valuable insight into who you are as a learner.

Source: From Strategic Learning: A Guide to Your Learning Self (p. 11), by C. A. Johnston, 2012, Glassboro, NJ: Let Me Learn, Inc. Copyright 2012 by Let Me Learn, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Basically, the higher your score, the more at ease you are with a Pattern. A person with a Use First Sequence score of 35 (represented as S35) will be even more comfortable with Sequence than someone with a Use First Sequence score of 27 (S27). A person whose score is closer to the border between two ranges (e.g., a score of 24) will find it easier to adjust as needed (more on this in Chapter 3.)

It is important to note that there are no “good” or “bad” LCI scores. Unlike other scales, LCI scores do not indicate that you possess or lack talent in any of the Patterns. The score simply indicates the degree to which you use the Pattern or the extent to which Sequential, Pre- cise, Technical Reasoning, and Confluent stimuli pass through each Pattern filter and enter your mind. In other words, if you have a Use First Pattern, the filter for that Pattern is wide open, allowing a great deal of stimuli to pass through. However, for a Pattern you only Use as Needed, the filter is open to a much lesser degree. And as you might expect, if you have Patterns that fall into the Avoid range, their filters are nearly completely closed off, mak- ing it difficult for you to receive the stimuli, much less process it with ease. (Check out the interactive version of Figure 2.1 in your e-book to better understand this concept.) It is not necessarily true that having a Use First score in a Pattern is better than having an Avoid. Avoiding a Pattern can be as useful to you in your life as Using it First. It is how you apply your awareness of your Patterns, and whether you do so with intention, that is most important.

Throughout this book, you will see scale scores listed as you read about various indi- viduals and their Pattern combinations. The scores will be abbreviated using letters and numbers to differentiate between the four