Chapter 3
Learning and Skills
Study Guide
Chapter overview
This chapter is concerned with learning and skills: what they are and how they can be
developed. As learning and skills will be developed throughout your time at university and
then throughout your working life, it is a chapter that can be useful at all levels of university
study. It is a chapter that is paired with the next chapter – Key Skills.
What is covered in this chapter?
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how learning and skills improve performance
using learning styles to enhance learning
the skills of active learning
learning in the workplace
understanding and exploiting university culture
lifelong learning and the attributes of lifelong learners
how to ‘trap’ your learning
Additional chapter activities
Activity 1 – Learning Styles
Visit the learning styles website and complete the online inventory so that you can better
understand your learning motivations and preferences.
http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory/
Activity 2 – Conducting an after action review
Page 66 provides an example of an after action review.
Consider a recent work or university event and follow the steps illustrated in the example.
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What was supposed to happen?
What actually happened?
Why was there a difference?
o Point 1
o Point 2
o Point 3
o Etc
What can you learn from the points above?
Activity 3 – My PDP development
Page 70 sets out the steps of personal development planning as:
1
Assessment of where I am now
2
3
Reflecting on what this means
Change
Then the cycle begins again.
Use this My PDP cycle to consider your note-taking abilities:
1
Take a look at the notes you have taken over the last few weeks and assess how
organised, precise, clear and effective they are. Set out the process by which you take
notes. Consider the future use of these notes – will they fulfil these needs?
2
Reflect on the points, issues and descriptions you generated in point 1 above.
3
Plan the changes you will need to make to improve your note-taking.
Learning diary reflections
This chapter looks at learning and skills. Learning and skills development is both structural
and personal, therefore recording your thoughts and reflections will help you to become a
better learner. Learning diaries are a good place to express your thoughts and reflections. In
this chapter you might want to think and reflect on:
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Do I believe in the idea of a learning style that suits me?
What is my preferred learning style?
How active a learner am I?
Do I really understand the skills needed for life, work and university?
Do I turn learning into active learning?
Can I use the Kolb Learning Cycle to improve my learning?
Do I have the attributes of a lifelong learner?
Have I created an approach that will allow me to grow and develop as a learner?
Have I created a personal development planning process that really works?
Test your learning
Multiple choice questions
1
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
2
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
What is learning?
knowing more things
a permanent change of behaviour
becoming more intelligent
being better at doing things
What is a skill?
practical ability
cognitive ability
personal proficiency
effective execution of an activity
3
When someone is bored and they tinker with things, what type of learner are they most
likely to be?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
4
visual learner
auditory learner
kinaesthetic learner
all of these
The correct sequence of the Kolb Learning Cycle is which of the following?
experience – conceptualisation – experimentation – observation
experience – observation – conceptualisation – experimentation
observation – experience – conceptualisation – experimentation
experimentation – experience – conceptualisation – observation
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
5
PDP is an acronym for…
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
practical development planning
positive dynamic practice
personal discursive practice
personal development planning
Please refer to the ‘Study Guide: Answers’ document, also on the student support site, for
answers to all of the quizzes in the study guides.
Reflective question
Reflective questions are designed to encourage deeper thinking about aspects of studying and
skills development.
Just how active is your learning?
Judge your learning by assessing how well you:
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Read actively with engagement.
Write your thoughts as you read.
Talk about what you have learned.
Listen actively in seminars and lectures.
Regularly review what you have learned and what you know.
Make connections between learning.
Chapter summary
The level of learning and the amount of skill you can employ will determine your success at
university and work. This chapter has investigated aspects of learning and skills.
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Understand the difference between learning and skills:
- Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge and the process of
change.
- A skill is the explicit execution of an activity.
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Understanding your preferred learning style should make learning easier and more
enjoyable:
- visual learners
- auditory learners
- kinaesthetic learners.
Active learning at university will maximise the learning you get from the time you spend
studying. Active learning can be applied to:
- reading
- writing
- talking
- listening.
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Work-based learning is characterised by:
- very little formal learning
- many tasks to be completed – a large workload
- workplace stress and a culture of immediacy
- performance driven – quality outcomes
- practical problems needing fast, practical solutions
- solutions to problems that must fit within the strategic intentions of the
organisation.
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The Kolb Learning Cycle is one way to think about and analyse workplace learning. It
consists of a cycle of activities:
- concrete experience
- reflective observation
- abstract conceptualisation
- active experimentation.
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Understand and embrace the university culture relating to:
- teaching and learning
- university lecturers
- e-learning
- independent study
- researching
- time management
- teamworking
- reflection.
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Lifelong learners tend to display the following skills:
- organising and planning their own learning
- reflective assessment of their current skills state
- are active learners
- skilled at learning from formal settings
- skilled at learning from informal approaches and particularly experiential
learning
- are able to learn from peers, coaches, mentors and colleagues
- integrative thinkers (draw knowledge from various sources to use
practically)
- understand and use different learning styles and strategies (be adaptable)
- are good researchers and information-gatherers
- have structured ways to ‘trap’ learning.
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Personal development planning is based on reflective practices and is an important
development process in professional working environments.
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Develop a system to keep track of your learning:
- a paper diary
- Word document
- OneNote diary.
Chapter web links
Test that determines your learning style: http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/ts/style.html