decisions or directions

[Guest guest]

http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,3-605,00.html

 

From this extremely student centered family education website:

 

" Auditory learners:

Auditory learners tend to benefit most from traditional teaching

techniques. Many teachers use a lecture-style forum, presenting

information by talking to their students. Regulating voice tone,

inflection, and body language will help all students maintain interest

and attention. Auditory learners succeed when directions are read

aloud, speeches are required, or information is presented and requested

verbally. "

 

 

I think what is most telling about the above passage is the last line.

It refers to those whose primary learning ability seems best suited for

those who follow directions, not those who make decisions. I would

submit that those whose primary mode of learning is overwhelmingly

auditory are not suited to high level medical decision making. I know

that is oh so unPC, but if you search your memories, you will realize

that with rare exception amongst those you have taught, this really is

quite true. All the top herbalists are primarily visual learners as is

evident by their use of the written word. Now keep in mind that most

people have a more balanced set of attributes, not weighted at the

extremes of the curve. But I think the subject oriented position is

really the one most of you have implicitly advocated over the years in

your prior writings, whatever you might be writing explicitly now. The

level of data acquisition and the type of mental processing necessary

for chinese herbology cannot be acquired thru listening alone. It can

only be achieved by those who read and process visual data like flow

charts, etc. There is just not enough time in a life to listen to even

1/10 of what one could read, even assuming you want to do that much

listening. I actually learn quite well from listening myself, but it

is incredibly inefficient and does not seem to give any significant

learning advantage if I hear and read the same material. the listening

part just wastes my time. I want to listen to unique information I

cannot read, information that ONLY comes up in the context of case

based and PBL type learning. The nature of certain types of high level

thought developed in the minds of those who are primarily visual and

text based learners and there may be no way around this. I just don't

think auditory input alone can possibly create the right brain

connections for complex decisionmaking of this nature.

 

If for some, the combination of audio and visual input is best, then

deliver the goods in digital format and still reserve class for true

learning. This is a compromise for those who have decent visual

learning skills, even if predominantly auditory. but there is no

solution for those without some threshold of visual learning skills.

 

 

Chinese Herbs

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I can say that I only learned herbs is when I work in an herb shop and put

together formula

after formula. Even now tactile considerations are a big part of writing a

formula.

doug

 

 

 

, wrote:

> http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,3-605,00.html

>

 

>

>

> I think what is most telling about the above passage is the last line.

> It refers to those whose primary learning ability seems best suited for

> those who follow directions, not those who make decisions. I would

> submit that those whose primary mode of learning is overwhelmingly

> auditory are not suited to high level medical decision making. I know

> that is oh so unPC, but if you search your memories, you will realize

> that with rare exception amongst those you have taught, this really is

> quite true. All the top herbalists are primarily visual learners as is

> evident by their use of the written word. Now keep in mind that most

> people have a more balanced set of attributes, not weighted at the

> extremes of the curve. But I think the subject oriented position is

> really the one most of you have implicitly advocated over the years in

> your prior writings, whatever you might be writing explicitly now. The

> level of data acquisition and the type of mental processing necessary

> for chinese herbology cannot be acquired thru listening alone. It can

> only be achieved by those who read and process visual data like flow

> charts, etc. There is just not enough time in a life to listen to even

> 1/10 of what one could read, even assuming you want to do that much

> listening. I actually learn quite well from listening myself, but it

> is incredibly inefficient and does not seem to give any significant

> learning advantage if I hear and read the same material. the listening

> part just wastes my time. I want to listen to unique information I

> cannot read, information that ONLY comes up in the context of case

> based and PBL type learning. The nature of certain types of high level

> thought developed in the minds of those who are primarily visual and

> text based learners and there may be no way around this. I just don't

> think auditory input alone can possibly create the right brain

> connections for complex decisionmaking of this nature.

>

> If for some, the combination of audio and visual input is best, then

> deliver the goods in digital format and still reserve class for true

> learning. This is a compromise for those who have decent visual

> learning skills, even if predominantly auditory. but there is no

> solution for those without some threshold of visual learning skills.

>

>

> Chinese Herbs

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

 

 

According to Bander & Grindler, all human beings use all three methods

of accessign information. The issue is simply in what proportions. My

initial use of this concept of different styles of learning was only

meant in support of the coordinated use of visual, auditory, and

kinesthetic modes of transmitting and learning information. By

kinesthetic, I was including the simple act of note-taking.

 

Just as a for instance, I am predominantly visual, then kinesthetic,

and then auditory.

 

Bob

[Guest guest]

At 10:37 PM +0000 1/26/05, Bob Flaws wrote:

>According to Bander & Grindler, all human beings use all three methods

>of accessign information. The issue is simply in what proportions. My

>initial use of this concept of different styles of learning was only

>meant in support of the coordinated use of visual, auditory, and

>kinesthetic modes of transmitting and learning information. By

>kinesthetic, I was including the simple act of note-taking.

--

 

Bob,

 

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), the method developed by Bander &

Grindler, is well known for these learning styles, but NLP has other

aspects to it that seem to me to be equally important for presenters

to understand: eg gaining rapport, pacing, leading, reframing etc.

With a classroom full of people, NLP requires that the lecturer

appeal to all the learning styles by use of carefully structured

language and other methods. My impression is that NLP seems to be

designed primarily as a method of subliminal persuasion for use in

talk therapy, hypnosis, and sales. As such, its methods when used

skillfully tend to induce in the audience a uncritical trancelike

state, about the last thing I would think is productive in a

classroom. It does not appeal to reason or the critical faculties at

all as part of the educational experience. No doubt it is a useful

technology for teachers to be aware of, and perhaps there are

adaptations specifically for academic teaching, nevertheless I don't

think it accounts for the full range of teaching/learning

communications in an academic environment, and might even be

counterproductive in some respects.

 

Rory

--

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

For the reasons you describe below, and the fact that I want to attract a

specific type of student, years ago I decided to omit planned lectures from my

own seminars, and focus on problem-based learning in the form of case studies,

either prepared or live cases. (This is why I require evidence that all students

do the assigned reading and homework beforehand, otherwise attendance would be a

waste of their time and mine.) Students would be required to think out the

analysis during discussion, and we would work out the entire case from

assessment to herbal formulation in class, questioning the volunteer client for

more detail if we needed to fine-tune anything. In the course of doing these

case studies, I would introduce new material and demonstrate how software

databases can be used to maximum effectiveness. Students uniformly told me that

they learned more in a short period of time than with any other teaching style.

I would only lecture on questions that came up naturally during the discussion,

especially if the topic was not discussed in my written texts.

 

This way the classes themselves involve kinesthetic (pulse-taking, herb formula

preparation, interacting with clients), auditory, and visual aspects, but all

within the natural sequence of performing a real task, not some artificial

multimedia concoction.

 

To enhance the learning experience during the reading amd self-study portion, I

require students to put together their own herb kits (90 of the most commonly

used herbs, no dangerous or toxic ones) and taste the herbs that they are

studying at the moment. Western herbalists are really into this experiential

learning, and it makes sense. Using the herbs provides the tastes, smells, and

tactile sensations that trigger those hippocampal neurons into facilitating

long-term memories. All this talk about multimodal sensory learning with

multimedia aids is missing the point of being an herbalist - it's all about

using the herbs! Herb curricula that do not have students use the herbs

themselves until after two years of study are missing one of the most important

learning tools of all!

 

 

---Roger Wicke, PhD, TCM Clinical Herbalist

contact: www.rmhiherbal.org/contact/

Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, Hot Springs, Montana USA

Clinical herbology training programs - www.rmhiherbal.org

 

 

> <

>decisions or directions

>

> I actually learn quite well from listening myself, but it

>is incredibly inefficient and does not seem to give any significant

>learning advantage if I hear and read the same material. the listening

>part just wastes my time. I want to listen to unique information I

>cannot read, information that ONLY comes up in the context of case

>based and PBL type learning. The nature of certain types of high level

>thought developed in the minds of those who are primarily visual and

>text based learners and there may be no way around this. I just don't

>think auditory input alone can possibly create the right brain

>connections for complex decisionmaking of this nature.

>

>If for some, the combination of audio and visual input is best, then

>deliver the goods in digital format and still reserve class for true

>learning. This is a compromise for those who have decent visual

>learning skills, even if predominantly auditory. but there is no

>solution for those without some threshold of visual learning skills.

>

>

>Chinese Herbs

>

 

 

 

---Roger Wicke, PhD, TCM Clinical Herbalist

contact: www.rmhiherbal.org/contact/

Rocky Mountain Herbal Institute, Hot Springs, Montana USA

Clinical herbology training programs - www.rmhiherbal.org

[Guest guest]

Rory,

 

Points well taken. I wasn't suggesting we adopt all of NLP. I was only

sourcing Bander & Grindler as the source of the three modalities for

accessing information.

 

Bob

[Guest guest]

My introduction to the study of Chinese herbal medicine was back in

1976, when I started ordering my first Chinese herbs from Dragon Herbs

Co. in northern California. I already was informally studying with

Michael Broffman in Boulder, Co., when I moved down to New Mexico to

run a macrobiotic center and study Western herbs, massage and basic

naturopathy. One of the herbs I ordered was He shou wu. I asked

Michael what this herb treated, not having any English language Chinese

herb books available back then. He told me to take the herb daily,

three times a day for a month and then report back to him on what it

treated. I was able to fairly accurately figure out its medicinal

actions, and Michael gave me a 'good grade'. His own herb training

with his teacher in Taiwan was done partly in this way.

 

The point of my sharing this tale is that I agree with you, Roger. As

you know, last summer, and hopefully this one as well, I take students

into the field in Taos, N.M. to find herbal medicines and then look

them up in the Zhong yao da ci dian. While they may not be the exact

herb the Chinese use, we still harvest them, taste them, and look at

the fresh herbs to help us in distinguishing their characteristics.

 

Any exposure to the more tactile aspects of education in herbal

medicine is very important as a compliment to didactic lectures and

theory. As you point out, this helps students remember their herbs in

a deeper way.

 

 

 

On Jan 27, 2005, at 9:21 AM, rw2 wrote:

 

>

> To enhance the learning experience during the reading amd self-study

> portion, I require students to put together their own herb kits (90 of

> the most commonly used herbs, no dangerous or toxic ones) and taste

> the herbs that they are studying at the moment. Western herbalists are

> really into this experiential learning, and it makes sense. Using the

> herbs provides the tastes, smells, and tactile sensations that trigger

> those hippocampal neurons into facilitating long-term memories. All

> this talk about multimodal sensory learning with multimedia aids is

> missing the point of being an herbalist - it's all about using the

> herbs! Herb curricula that do not have students use the herbs

> themselves until after two years of study are missing one of the most

> important learning tools of all!

>

>

>