Taking Care of Business: Addressing Individual Differences Gary
J. Conti
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State of Education Many questions and issues Central question:
l What can we do to improve learning?
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Will Rogers If advertisers spent the same amount of money on
improving their products as they do on advertising, Then they
wouldn't have to advertise them.
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Learning is Natural Learning is what makes humans superior
Occurs naturally l For children l In adulthood Why do schools have
trouble? Why do we have trouble facilitating learning?
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Thinking Differently Take the blinders off Learning Principles
l Not just for teachers l All partners in same enterprise l Just
different roles
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Adult Learning Theory Twin pillars l Andragogy l Self-Directed
Learning Learner-Centered l Meaning of experiences l Reflection
Focus on Individual Differences
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Basic Principles Self-directed l Learning climate l Diagnosis
of needs l Involvement in planning Experience l Prior experiences l
Practical application Readiness to learn l Related to social roles
Orientation to learn l Time perspective l Problem centered
Motivation is internal Need to know why learning
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Our Special Guest To help us understand individual differences
To provide insights for us
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Lets Shake Things Up What happens when you find something you
love?
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Elvis Advises What are Elvis thoughts on why we should pay
attention to individual differences? l What happens if we dont
focus on the individual? l Might people look at things
differently?
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Individual Differences Why does Elvis think we should pay
attention to individual differences?
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ATLAS ATL AS Assessing The Learning Strategies of AdultS Places
person in category User friendly Flow-chart design Lets take
ATLAS
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ATLAS has 3 groups l Navigators l Problem Solvers l Engagers
Lets look in detail at each group
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Elvis Advises What is Elvis plan for the problem that he has? l
Does he have a clear plan? l What does Elvis do if his plan does
not work?
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Planning What is Elvis plan for the problem that he has?
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Navigators Demand for Order and Structure l Like structure and
are highly organized l Want schedules and deadlines l Use many
organizational tools l Want learning objectives and expectations l
Want control of their learning plan l Set up plan and stick with
it; will clarify things three times Logic-Oriented l Results
oriented l Emotions not important for learning l Separate the
learning message from the messenger l Do not waste their time
Objective l Do not like group discussions or group work l Hate
slackers l Prefer clear final results l Prefer formal evaluation
Perfectionist l Seek perfection l Trial-and-error means made a
mistake l Lack conditional acceptance l Demand much of themselves l
Hyper-critical of errors Motto l Plan the work; work the plan
Efficiency and Effectiveness
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Elvis Advises What does Elvis have to tell us about having
alternatives? l Are dreams (alternatives) okay? l What should you
do with your dreams?
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Generating Alternatives What does Elvis have to tell us about
having alternatives?
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Problem Solvers Constantly Seeking Alternatives l Open minded
to learning possibilities l Difficulty making decisions l
Procrastination because it allows thinking to continue l Prefer
open-ended evaluations l Ongoing modification l Trial-and-error
means an experiment for generating more alternatives Creative
Solutions l Curious; inventive; intuitive l Love to explore ideas l
Do it their own way l Do not respond well to rigidity l Do not try
to force them to do it your way l Learning is an adventure for them
Deal with Ideas l Like to think things through l Confident in
abilities l Abstract thinkers l Do not interrupt; hard time
starting again l Often think and deal in terms of symbols
Storytellers l Descriptive and detailed in answers l Use many
examples l Add delightful details to stories l The process of
telling the story is the important thing l Competition of the story
not important Motto: Ask them what time it is, and they will build
you a clock Generating Alternatives
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Elvis Advises What does Elvis have to tell us about the
importance of relationships? l What are the best ones? l Should
they be acknowledged?
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Relationships What does Elvis have to tell us about the
importance of relationships?
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Engagers Feelings are the Key l Learning must be Fun! l
Emotional; passionate; use feeling words l Hard time separating
themselves from their work l Their work is a reflection of
themselves l Not engage if they will not enjoy it enough to be
worth the effort Aura of Excitement l Enthusiastic; excitement l
Fully immerse themselves in the learning once they engage l Seek
and find joy in the learning process l Delight in new
accomplishments l Get bored quickly; so seek to avoid boredom Means
and Not the End l Learner must be actively engaged l Learning has
to have meaning l Focus on meeting internal needs rather than
external standards l Want teachers to focus on the learning rather
than on the evaluation l Want involvement in learning based on
their own individual interests Relationships l Love group work l
Want teachers have interest in them l Develop an emotional affinity
with the teacher l Share accomplishments with others l Use human
resources Motto: It is FUN!! Building Relationships with
Others
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Navigators Problem SolversEngagers Symbol for Each Group..
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Whats the Value... Learner l Metacognition l Depersonalizes
learning l Personal insights Teacher l Way to identify differences
l Use instrument l Use characteristics Preference for initiating
learning Okay to be wrong l Focus on observations l Compare to
theory l Re-adjust Elvis final words on why to use ATLAS
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Why ATLAS Works Based on extensive research Builds on two ideas
l Metacognition l Instrumented Learning
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Thinking about your thinking Reflect on process you went
through l Think about what you did l Self-consciously think about
action l Plan new action Thinking about how you learn
Metacognition
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Instrumented Learning Instrument provides data l Discover
preferences l Simplify complex issues l Foster self-awareness l
Create common language l Appreciate differences Feedback for
individual or team Instrument completed by: l Self l Others for 360
feedback
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Results presented in context of a particular model such as: l
Behavior style l Learning preference l Personality type l
Situational factors Popular with: l Business l Military
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Learning Strategies Metacognition: Knowing about own learning
process l Planning l Monitoring l Adjusting Metamotivation:
Awareness of what energizes your learning l Attention l
Reward/Enjoyment: l Confidence Memory: The storage and retrieval of
knowledge l Organization l Use of External Aids l Memory
Application Critical Thinking: Reflective thinking process l
Testing Assumptions l Generating Alternatives l Conditional
Acceptance Resource Management: Ways to use resources l
Identification of Resources l Critical Use of Resources l Use of
Human Resources
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ATLAS Research Programmatic line of inquiry 42 dissertations
Ways used l To better describe the groups in ATLAS l To test the
instrument with groups l As auxiliary tool l Experimental format
Findings l Lack of demographic relationships l Clear description of
groups l General distribution of groups l Association with image of
organization l Helps learning
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Relationship to Learning Munday (Wendy), Munday (Don) l
Experimental studies l Tested academic gain l Both found
significant academic gain l Focus groups Metacognition l Know how
to deal with their own characteristics l Understand others l Aware
of more options
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Implications for 1.Marketing 2.Staff Development 3.Programming
4.Physical Layout 5.Support Services 6.Class Scheduling 7.Staffing
8.Scheduling 9.Budgeting 10.Institutional Research 11.Recognition
Activities 12.Evaluation
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Get ATLAS Online: l w w w.conti-creations.com/start.htm Paper
format l Original colored booklet l 1-page folding copy
