Unit 5: Learning Styles and Learning Processes
This unit focuses on the higher-level concepts of critical thinking and creative thinking, which are major components of college-level learning. Critical thinking is a level of thinking that requires more effort than simple memorization of facts or solving problems that have a right and a wrong answer. It requires you to make value judgments, either based on personal opinions you have formed, or based on additional information about a situation. In particular, a problem with more than one correct answer, or no correct answer, requires critical thinking to solve. A college-level education will require much more of this type of thinking than you may be used to, but the effort will be well worth it and very rewarding!
This unit also introduces you to the various styles of learning that exist and helps you explore which style works best for you, how to use your predominant learning style, and how to improve your ability to use other learning styles. You may have heard about different learning styles before, or perhaps this concept is completely new to you. Each person processes information differently, and knowing how your own mind works is a powerful piece of information that can improve your study skills. Other people in your learning environment, such as teachers, students, co-workers, and writers, may not always provide new information in the format that you like best. But once you have identified your own learning needs, you can better translate new information into a format that is easiest for you to understand and remember.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 6 hours.
Unit 5 Assessment
This quiz will give you an opportunity to think about how your learning style fits into the learning cycle, as well as how it can complement your in-class learning, instructors' teaching styles, and classmates' learning styles. There is no right or wrong answer to this assessment. Rather, the best answer for you is one that allows you to reflect on your learning strengths and weaknesses and to devise a learning strategy that works for you over time.