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This discussion is asking you to do five things:
- Explain two things the assigned learner could have done to FIT his or her Learning Patterns.
- Identify a Learning Pattern and describe how you could have or did use the Pattern intentionally in this class.
- Explain what you could have done or what you did do to FIT the identified Pattern to be successful.
- List your LCI scores.
- Respond to at least two of your classmates’ discussion posts. Use Respond to Peersto assist you with your reply.
Nia is also a nontraditional student who has just entered the world of college studies online. But unlike Dan andCassie, her life is not encumbered with family. Currently, she is transitioning from 10 years in the military (threedeployments) to civilian life. She has wasted no time finding employment while she pursues her college degree.
Nia is a “can-do” person whose service years have been devoted to military personnel administration, primarilypayroll. She sees herself as a multitasker—someone with a number of balls in the air at all times. She is quick onher feet, straightforward, and deliberate. You always know where you stand when you work with Nia. Some woulddescribe her as a force to be reckoned with.
Tonight, with her study schedule in hand, she sits at her newly purchased desk in front of her state-of-the artcomputer, which is loaded with the latest software. She has the same assignment to complete as Dan and Cassie,and the same deadline looming. Like them, she finds the directions for the assignment unclear. But unlike them,she is driven. Just because the instructor has not made the assignment clear is no reason for Nia to be concerned.She decides that she will clarify the assignment for herself and then proceed.
She begins by skimming the assigned materials and drawing her own conclusions about the points the readingsmake. She then reads the directions for the assignment, and while she is as uncertain as Dan and Cassie as towhat to include in a “critical analysis,” she unhesitatingly starts and completes her response. She is not concernedthat she has not read the feedback on her most recent assignment. She is certain she has met the instructor’sexpectations. Besides, she wants to look forward, not backward. She is committed to working her way through thecourse sessions as fast as possible. Nia is a woman on a mission with a clear goal in mind: first the diploma, thena career in human resource management.
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Nia completes her assignment quickly andwithout hesitation, but that does not meanthat she fully understands the assignment orcompletes it correctly. What kind of learner isNia?
She completes the assignment in less than an hour, and moves on tochecking her social media sites. When she finishes her updates, shereturns to her class work, and, even though the instructor’s directionssuggest that students re-read their work and double check it forsufficient content, use of three references, clarity of thought, andpunctuation and grammar, Nia chooses to post her work withoutreviewing or revising it. After all, she knows what she wrote and knowsit’s brilliant!
The assignment calls for her to do a critical analysis of one of the pointsraised in the readings and to support her analysis using three sources.Nia’s interpretation of this, however, is to state her opinion of the article,and she does just that. Never one to use her own words whensomeone else can say it better, Nia uses passages from the readings,but she does not credit or use quotation marks for them. Nia’s learningproblem is not self-doubt. Her problem as a learner is her ill-placedconfidence in her work. She confuses confidence with competence.
Nia as a Learner
Nia does not suffer from a lack of self-confidence as a learner, but a lack of being intentional. Throughout her yearsin school and in her military service, Nia was an overachiever striving for recognition and affirmation—which othersdid not offer because she had not earned it. When she doesn’t receive the recognition she feels she deserves, sheblocks out the feedback of others and replaces it with her own message of “a job well done.”
As a result, Nia frustrates her teachers and alienates her co-workers. Why? Because she does not face herself asa learner. Nia chooses not to be self-reflective and not to learn from others’ feedback on her performance. Shecloaks herself in self-assurance and denies what others have to offer her; this stops her from developing herabilities and skills.
Are You Nia?
Nia (S33, P32, TR22, C27)
- Operates as her own team.
- Lets her sense of self convince her that she:
- can submit work that is off-track from the actual assignment.
- will learn nothing from feedback.
- Accepts no feedback, mentoring, guidance, or help when it comes to learning; she:
- argues, rather than listens to, comments and suggestions.
- has little respect for others’ opinions.
- Does not engage in personal reflection.
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