Question:
I am wondering if there are well-recognized "types" of learners.
Last night my sensei taught us a new bo kata; he went at it in the way I am accustomed to seeing it: show the first 2 or three techniques, explain/correct, repeat the first couple again, add a couple more, repeat the show/correct/add sequence on to the end.
About 2/3 through the kata, he had to answer the phone or something, and told us to practice what we'd learned on our own, until he got back.
In the class last night were 6 people. 4 were 16 years old and under, one (me) in his 40's, and one other late-30's early 40's adult.
All the others were able to actually remember the moves and get something useful out of that time; I could remember only the first 2 moves, and then went blank.
It seems that I have great difficulty learning physical things below the "ok, now step _this_ way and do _that_" level; there's always direct conscious involvement in the sequence. I'm always being told "relax", "loosen up", "you look like a robot", "make it look smoother, make it flow", and these are not unreasonable criticisms. Has anybody out there fought this battle? Is there any encouragement to be had?
Answer:
There has actually been a lot of research on the topic of learning styles. With more adult learners in the education system (colleges and workplace), a lot of attention has been placed on why the adults seem to learn in a different manner than the younger students. If you are interested in the literature, check out management magazines as well as education/training literature.
One of the concepts I've come across that seems to fit most people is called the Experiential Learning Model. Basically it places people in one of four quatrants: concrete experience, reflective observations, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. To find out where you would fit, consider taking on a new sport or a new subject in college. Do you like to jump in and figure it out yourself, or would you rather read up on it first? Do you look at what you see and compare it with something else you have done? Has something hit you over the head and you tell yourself you need to learn more about that?
The learning model explains where people start on the circle. It addresses the fact that trainers need to be aware of where their students sit on the circle. For example, when writing a manual, the writer should realize that some people like to immediately try things out, while other readers want a lot of background information. In MA (which is not addressed in any of the research I've done), the instructor can show a technique, explain why and how it works, give examples, and let the students try it out. The students will each pick the area that they relate to best. They internalize the information. Then they move around the circle to the next level of learning. Only after all the areas of the circle have been used does the student truely understand the material.
