Reflective Journal 3-The learning process

I believe that there are many differences between the teaching modes of university compared to
high school. For instance, the classes in my high school where smaller and more interactive.
Classes at University are more likely to be larger with little interaction. This is especially true for
lectures compared to classes at high school where theory is introduced. Consequentially, I believe
that more learning occurs in the classroom at high school compared to lectures at university. As a
result, the majority of the learning at university occurs outside of the classroom, where the onus of
learning is solely focused on the student. In high school the majority of the onus of learning is
absorbed by the student however the in-class learning shifts some of the onus onto the teacher.
Although different, I believe that the shift of learning focus at University is beneficial in that it
builds independence of the student primarily by forcing the student to be responsible for their
learning.
In my experiences of university, I have found that university lectures tend to present the big
picture, a single theory or idea with some smaller facts that exemplify the bigger picture. Tutorials
tend to focus more on the application of the theory and highlight facts worth memorizing.
In high school, I found that the process tended to be more focused on presenting the facts initially
and then a simplistic model that explains the facts. I prefer the university model as I feel it is more
encompassing and applicable. For instance, having a solid understanding of set theory and the
axioms of real numbers makes my understanding of quadratic functions and basic parametrization
much greater. Whereas at high school, maths is taught more so through application rather than
investigation of the governing rules.
University learning encourages reflection of learning personal learning and optimisation. It
encourages dynamic learning modes due to the fact that the majority of the learning occurs
outside of the class room.

According to the learning style test linked on the LMS, I am moderately inclined to being
reflective over active absorption of knowledge, moderately inclined to intuition as opposed to
sensory input, well balanced between verbal and visual and global and sequential.

These results have made me reflect on my learning style at university and as a result I have
formulated an algorithm to optimize my learning. Prior to lectures Im going to review the
previous lecture notes. Post lectures I plan on reviewing the lecture material by writing summaries
and explaining it to friends in my class and then attempting problems that will test my
understanding. Before tests, I will review all content and summaries and then practise previous
exam questions that will test my understanding and hopefully push it further.
I believe that preparation is key.