DB Week 2

1. Before attempting this discussion, please complete the Learning Connections Inventory (LCI) and carefully read the Week 2 Instructor Guidance (this is located on the left navigation menu under Week 2). 

   Your results on the LCI takes the mystery out of how you learn and provides you with a set of terms to describe your learning processes accurately and thoroughly. The information gained from completing the LCI explains what you may have always known and felt about yourself as a learner, but may not have had the words to describe.  As stated by your textbook author, “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.”  

   Tables 2.1 through 2.4 and section 2.2 of Chapter 2 provide an overview of each of the four Learning Patterns:

   1. Sequence 
   2. Precision 
   3. Technical Reasoning 
   4. Confluence

   Using the results of the Learning Connections Inventory (LCI), tables 2.1 – 2.4, and the information you read in section 2.2, answer the following:

   1. List your scores for each of the four Learning Patterns.  Also identify if you are a Dynamic, Bridge, or Strong-willed Learner.
   2. For each Pattern, provide a specific example of how you have used that Pattern first, used it as needed, or avoided it.  Your example may be from your academic, life, or professional experiences. Each example should consist of three to five sentences in order to give a complete picture of your thoughts, feelings, and actions associated with each Learning Pattern.
   3. Analyze how the awareness of your Learning Patterns may help you in your schooling, work life, and/or personal relationships.  How can you use this knowledge of yourself as a learner to make changes in your life right now? 

   Your initial post should contain a minimum of 350 words.

2. Field-Fitting: Using Your Learning Patterns with Intention

   At times, we have all had to use our critical thinking skills to improvise. Perhaps the plan for doing something didn’t work for some unforeseeable reason, and it was necessary to “think on the spot.” Maybe plans for a day-long outing fell through because of weather, timing, or some attraction being unexpectedly closed, so another outing had to be planned quickly. Maybe a machine did not work properly, and had to be fixed or replaced.

Worksheet 2.2 asks you to recall a time when you and your family or friends had to “field-fit.” Complete worksheet 2.2 and use it as a guide for your reflection. For this discussion, you will write two paragraphs where you explain the situation and critically analyze how you used your combination of Learning Patterns to handle it successfully. Note: Do not attach Worksheet 2.2 to your discussion response.

In one paragraph, describe a situation where you needed to think on the spot and field-fit. Address the following:

1. What was the original plan or goal (what you intended to do)?
2. Provide an explanation for why the original plan couldn’t be executed.

In another paragraph describe how you came to a solution by field-fitting. Address the following in your description:

1. What change did you make in planning, in equipment, in the steps of a process, and so on, to reach your original goal?
2. List your Learning Patterns and explain how you used each Learning Pattern to help you field fit your goal. If you didn’t use a particular Pattern, explain why. For instance, “I used (name the Pattern or Patterns) to….”
3. How else might you have “field-fitted” to reach your goal?