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Different Styles Of Cognition And Their Uniqueness

By Frances Green


Each person has a different way of perceiving knowledge and interacting with it. These differences have been described as styles of cognition. They are influenced by the health of your brain, your personality and genetic composition, among other factors that are unique to each individual. For an instructor or teacher, the responsibility is to appreciate the differences and accommodate them in your class. This will lead to even and improved overall performance in your class. It will also change the destinies of pupils in your class.

The society judges children by their academic performance. Unfortunately, as years go by, some of the brightest in class are overtaken in other fields. It becomes a battle or memorizing against practical work, concentration against experimenting as well as quick action against reasoning through an idea. The results are evidently different with time, but they only prove that every child is a genius of a kind.

The existence of different cognitive abilities shows that every kid can learn. This ability does not depend on one class or performance in a single subject. It requires exposure to different environments in order to reveal the best in each person. The organization of any instructional environment should be accommodating of these differences. This is the only way the capability of each person can be actualized.

There is an opposite for each cognitive style that exists. Reflective and impulsive learners are on opposite sides. When an impulsive learner engages with information, he or she acts on it very quickly. The learners have no room for deep insight. For the reflective learner, he ponders over this information and is very keen on details. In class, there are students who are better at answering questions while others love research and background work.

Low and high conceptual learners are the other opposites. The low conceptual is highly dependent on rules and has trouble generating own ideas. The high conceptual will device own strategies and rules and always has an alternative when solving problems. Students who have been marked to fall in the low conceptual category have been identified to have challenges learning.

Simultaneous and successive learners are the other categories. Successive learners get answers by following laid rules and digging deep into ideas. This is a time consuming engagement. For a learner who is simultaneous, decisions are made at the blink of the moment. Simultaneous thinkers consider ideas in relation to each other. One is likely to conclude that one set of lines is shorter than the other without considering that the fact that the distance between them has been increased or reduced.

It is the learning style that provides direction on the most appropriate method to use on an individual student. A class can never accommodate the needs of each student. For a teacher, you are required to attempt to combine different delivery methods to accommodate differences in students. If a student fails to understand during theoretical explanation, the practical demonstration will suffice.

There is an explanation while some students excel in theoretical work while others do better in practical tasks. It is easier when an operation is demonstrated for some like in a physics practical class. However, theories of history and philosophy are more interesting for others. As an instructor, your role is to find a balance.




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