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Write an evaluation of your learning strengths and weaknesses in relation to a learning theory.Your response should be a maximum of 500 words.The assignment planners within your study materials will provide you with additional guidance for this question. Please refer to section 2.1.You must include citations within your work where you refer to theory, and provide a references list.You should now make a start on a Personal SWOT analysis. The main thing to remember with this particular analysis is that it must include strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that relate to?learning, your?ability to learn, and?studying. By focusing on learning, the content of your analysis will be valuable to you over the coming months.You can use an MS Word (or similar) document to write your Personal SWOT analysis. This can then be updated as required throughout your studies. You will also be able to upload it for question 2 of the unit assignment.2.1Evaluate?personal learning strengths and weaknesses in relation to a learning?theory.Knowing your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) in relation to studying and learning will enable you to focus your personal development throughout your course. By knowing your strengths, you can focus your efforts on the things you are good at, and by understanding your weaknesses you know which areas?to improve.Taken together, your strengths and opportunities help you to identify long term personal goals. Your weaknesses and threats are those things that determine the likelihood of your success and that need to be addressed, or planned for, to ensure that your goals remain achievable.To begin a personal SWOT analysis, you need to ask yourself the series of questions outlined in the grid below. The results from this analysis should help you to identify the areas that you need to take into consideration when planning your studies as well as those that you can work on throughout your programme.StrengthsWhat are you really good at?What skills do other people recognise in you?What do you get recognised and praised for?What, about yourself are you most proud of or satisfied with?What experiences, skills and knowledge do you have that others may not have?WeaknessesWhat are the things you’re not so good at or need to improve?What do you try to do that you just can’t master?What do you only do because you have to?What aspects of your personality are holding you back?What do other people identify as your weaknesses?Where do you lack experience??OpportunitiesIn what ways can you maximise your strengths?What opportunities are open to you?How can you minimise your weaknesses?Where do you see the most potential growth for yourself?Do you have a mentor who can help you?ThreatsDo you have weaknesses that need to be addressed before you can move on?What problems could your weaknesses cause if not dealt with?What setbacks might you face?What obstacles do you need to overcome to get to where you want to be?When completing a personal SWOT analysis it is recommended to get feedback from other people as well as including your own thoughts. The advantage of getting?feedback?from others is that it gives you a more balanced outcome to the analysis, and you may find that other people recognise strengths (or weaknesses) in you that you may not be aware of.Definition of learningLearning is the acquisition of knowledge or skill that enables us to realise something new, or be able to do something that we haven’t done before. Learning is to do with thought and sense making; it is an active process of making meaning out of material we come up against, whether through formal development and training or through experience. Learning is also transferring knowledge into action; it is about developing competence and being able to put the knowledge into practice.Learning is a process achieved through reflecting and questioning.There is no right way to learn for everybody and for every situation, it is individual to you.Learning is not just about knowledge. It is also about skills, insights, beliefs, values, attitudes, habits, feelings, wisdom, shared understandings, and self-awareness.Learning can be incremental, building gradually on what has already been learned.Learning can be transformational in that it changes the ways that we think, feel and act.We can learn from experience; failure, success, having expectations met, achieving goals or objectives.Learning can be both planned and opportunistic. Combining the strengths of both can enhance learning and effectiveness.Learning can be both a cause of change, and as a consequence of change. There is no learning without change, although there can be change with insufficient learning.Questioning, listening, challenging, enquiring and taking action are crucial for effective learning.Learning can be subject to obstacles such as lack of confidence or resources.Did you know?“It is not hard to learn more. What is hard is to unlearn when you discover yourself wrong.”?(Martin H. Fischer)Theories that can be applied to learningThere are a wide range of theories which explain the different ways in which we can learn.Behaviourist learningBehaviourism primarily focuses on ‘classical conditioning’?and ‘operant conditioning’?as tools to learn or change behaviour. Two of the most famous theorists in this field of psychology are Pavlov (1927) and Skinner (1948). Both carried out experiments using animals to demonstrate how classical and operant conditioning actually work. As animals were used for the experiments, some of the results were generalised to include humans. This is considered to be a limiting factor, or criticism,?of behaviourist learning theory.The following video explains Behaviourism and includes information about Pavlov’s experiments with dogs. Classical and operant conditioning are also explained. learningThis theory of learning emphasises that learning is achieved through experience, the process of reflection and by taking action. This is best explained through Kolb’s Learning Cycle (1975).The learning cycle developed by Kolb is an important concept for those who wish to progress to higher education. Learning how to learn, and how to use the learning process to facilitate your development is the key to success.Kolb argues that learning and development are achieved by an integrated process that is firmly based in experience and consists of four stagesKolb’s?Learning?Cycle (1975)Learning starts when we have an experience as this forms the basis for reviewing, drawing conclusions, and planning. Learning by experience can occur just as easily from making a mistake as it can from success.This model provides useful insights into the nature of learning:It demonstrates that there is no end to learning but only another turn of the cycle.Learners are not passive participants but actively explore and test their environment.It identifies the importance of reflection and thinking.Another way to describe the four stages of the learning cycle is:ActReflectConcludeApplyKolb demonstrated that individuals may have a preference for one of the key stages in the cycle and this is referred to as their ‘learning style’. These preferences are reasonably constant and reliable, but they can be changed over time and with effort. A person who learns best from one of the four particular stages of the cycle may find the other stages more challenging.Learning stylesResearch into learning?styles?is mostly linked with Honey and Mumford (1982). They identified four learning styles, each one associated with a preference for a particular stage of the Kolb learning cycle.Kolb’s?Learning?Cycle combined with Honey & Mumford’s Learning Styles.In reality, we have all four of these learning styles inherent within us, but will have strong preferences for one or two more than the others. Which learning style(s) do you think best describes you? Understanding your own preferred learning style in a particular situation helps you to understand more about the areas which you are resistant to and those that you tend to like.If there are areas of your course that you are resistant to, you will need to put in extra time and effort to ensure success. You will also need to be mindful that these are the areas where your motivation may drop. Management of your own learning in these situations is crucial if your learning is to be effective.Table detailing Strengths and Weaknesses of Honey & Mumford’s learning styles.Learning styleType of learnerLearning preferenceStrengthsWeaknessesActivistHands-onPrefer to try things for themselves.Learn through trial and error.Happy to give things a try.Enjoys new situations.Goes into action without sufficient preparation.Tendency to take the obvious action without considering the alternatives.ReflectorsTell meNeed to be thoroughly briefed before proceeding.Thorough and methodical.Good at listening and digesting information.Tendency to hold back from participation.Can be risk averse.Slow to reach a decision.TheoristsConvince meNeed reassurance and clarity.They like to feel that the task makes complete sense to them.Logical thinkers.Rational and objective.Good at asking probing questions.Uneasy with uncertainty or ambiguity.Intolerant of anything subjective or intuitive.PragmatistsShow meLikes to watch a demonstration from an expert prior to trying something for themselves.Practical and realistic.Gets straight to the point.Keen to try things out.Not overly interested in theory or basic concepts.Impatient with small talk.2.2Through the completion of your personal SWOT analysis, you will have identified some of your learning weaknesses, and/or areas for improvement. You should now reflect upon these to increase your understanding of them and identify strategies for making the necessary improvements.What is reflection?Reflection is a method for improving the quality and depth of student learning. It takes you from experiencing something, to understanding it. With the aid of a prompt question such as?“what might I do better next time?”?you have the potential to draw on the past and present, and direct yourself to be better in the future.Reflection is about making sense of what has been learned, developing and building on it, and planning for future learning in order to improve performance. You can use the process of reflection to:Take stock of existing knowledge – what do I know?Identify gaps in learning – what do I need to know?Feedback and evaluation – how does what I now know contribute to what I already knew?Evaluation of the integration of new knowledge into existing knowledge – how well and how much do I understand?In order for reflection to be most effective, you need to be able to stand back from your habits, perceptions and assumptions and appraise situations objectively. This helps you to prioritise, plan, review progress, and if necessary change your strategy or direction.There are a wide variety of different approaches to reflection that you can use. Two have been included here for you to try.QuestionDefinitionExample QuestionsWhat?This is the description and self-awareness level. All questions start with the word ‘what’.What happened?What did I do?What did others do?What was I trying to achieve?What was good or bad about the experience?So what?This is the level of analysis and evaluation when we look deeper at what was behind the experience. All questions start with the words ‘so what’.So what is the importance of this?So what more do I need to know about this?So what have I learned about this?Now what?This is the level of synthesis. Here we build on the previous levels to enable us to consider alternative courses of action and choose what we are going to do next. All questions start with the words ‘now what’.Now what could I do?Now what do I need to do?Now what might I do?Now what might be the consequences of my action(s)?Table to show a more detailed model of?reflection.The process of reflection doesn’t necessarily have to take up too much time. What is important is that you are actually reflecting on your performance and using the outcomes to inform future learning and development.You could consider keeping a learning journal throughout your programme in order to help you become a more ‘reflective practitioner’. If you are completing your journal at regular intervals it will develop your reflective skills, but also enable you to plot your progress more clearly. Reviewing a learning journal after 6-12 months can highlight how far you have come which is great for motivation and building confidence.The template for a learning journal doesn’t need to be complicated. You could devise your own using the following headings:Learning Journal Entry (date)What are the key concepts that I have covered?A summary of what I have covered includes:Things I am still unsure about that require further study:What do I need to do to overcome these uncertainties?What obstacles or constraints to study have I experienced?What can I do?to overcome these obstacles or constraints?Your personal SWOT analysis will have been completed through reflection. However, in order for the process of reflection to be complete, you now need to ask yourself:?How do I address my weaknesses and threats?How do I overcome my learning weaknesses?What needs to change or be improved? ................
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