Learning: the process of increasing useful knowledge and
skills
Learning is an essential skill of
life; it is required for survival. It is something everyone uses to improve
themselves. This improvement eventually leads to competency: the ability to accomplish
a task properly. However, one is most successful when competent in learning.
People identified as competent professionals are examples of competent at
learning; since, learning is a requirement of competency this means that the
professional is good at learning to learn. They are good that this mainly
because they want to learn, to better themselves. They drive to perfection,
infinite improvement, which requires one to learn. By learning a competent
professional hones his skills and knowledge to consistently achieve and
succeed.
In
the case of engineers, ABET has outlined what makes a professional engineer by
what is the important competencies. Their competencies include:
Knowing applicable
math, science, theory and how to apply this theory
The ability to
build math models to collect theoretical data similar to the real world
The ability to
design and perform experiments to collect data to improve processes
The ability to design
systems, components, etc. that meet industries standards
Being an effective
leader/member of technical teams, i.e. the team is better because you are part
of it
Able to define,
analyze, and solve broad, vague problems
Able to
communicate ideas efficiently in all environments with supporting technical data
Understanding the
importance of self-improvement (knowledge and skills) and capable of this
Commit to
professional and ethical responsibilities; respecting others and diversity
Know the impact of
engineering on the world and work with these impacts in mind
Commit to quality,
timeliness, and improvement
ABET uses these competencies to
measure the education of engineers coming out of school. I however, have a
different definition of a successful education.
Education to me is learning theory and practicing ideas and actions to
hone one’s skill to practical proficiency. This is measureable by defining
proficiency: being able to do something to meet standards consistently.
I am studying engineering so my standards are established by industry and group
such as ABET. These standards include performance and safety specification and
tolerances for error- these apply to both of design subjects and self. So, my
educational goal is to leave the University of Idaho with this proficiency that
others can see, measure, and desire.
The evaluation of education is an
evaluation of learning, because learning is based on experience. The brain
works by neurons and neural pathways on which these neurons travel.
Neuroplasticity is the idea that experiences cause the neural pathways to grow,
branch, and adapt to create more connections and destinations. In my experience
these increasing pathways have been evident by increasing skills not directly
related simultaneously. For example, I played the Alto Saxophone for six years;
during this time, my mathematics skills, memory, and coordination significantly
increased as I developed my creative and musical skills. This happened because
music is a series of patterns and technically numerical systems which become
associated with visual, auditory, and physical triggers by playing an
instrument, helping to create more connection that concern number systems to
senses allowing more efficient retrieval of mathematical data in my mind. Also,
every note and symbol on a sheet of music carries a large amount of information
such as the pitch, how to create that pitch by finger, mouth, tough, lip, cheek,
throat, and diaphragm control but also in what style to play. This information
has to be processed and reacted to instantaneously. This demand required by
brain to create massive amounts of neural pathways between hemispheres to
increase coordination and data retrieval (memory).
Experiences
are under one’s control so one controls one’s own learning. Carol Dweck
believes that one’s beliefs is what mostly control one’s life. His Mindset
theories state that a majority of people believe in a flawed idea, the fixed
belief, that there are certain things people are naturally good at something s
and bad at others. This idea leads to avoiding bad performance, which
ultimately leads to not challenging oneself, which is essential to
self-improvement (learning, competency, and proficiency). And a minority
believe that “being good” at something requires hard work and training, the
growth belief. This minority belief promotes self-improvement.
I
believe that successful professionals like Steve Jobs, Mark Twain, and Michael
Jordan believe in both of the mindset theories, but use the fixed belief to
understand one’s current strengths and weaknesses to their advantage. The key
to success is knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses and using that knowledge
to manage skills, time, money, and other resources to improve their lacking
areas and take on the growth belief system to improve. This results in a person
that uses their weaknesses to support and better their strengths and their
strengths to support and better their weaknesses. They understand their failures
impact their present and future states, but they choose how by their view on
the failure. The best learning happens from falling down and getting back up,
but not to fall right back down for the same cause, but to adapt and learn from
the fall.
By
controlling one’s beliefs one controls their results by the beliefs-to-results
chain: beliefs control thought which manage emotions, emotions and thought lead
to actions which ultimately cause results. In this chain, the most controllable
links are belief and action. Professionals can better their results and have a
more enjoyable time by controlling their beliefs to be positively driven, practical,
and encouraging of a data-based learning emphasized approach to their
procedures and by developing skills that fortify actions that yield consistently
beneficial results.
One can
practice these skills using Ander Ericcson’s theory of deliberate practice. His
theory can be summarized as: Finding examples of people that are exemplary in
one’s desired learning area. Identify their techniques and practice these
techniques slowly attempting perfection. Lastly, one needs feedback from
multiple sources, friends and family, professionals in the field, strangers,
oneself, video etc. Then one must review more techniques and examples and
practice taking into account the feedback and past and new research. Again one
needs feedback to evaluate the practiced techniques and the process repeats
itself repeatedly until one can regularly receive feedback that indicates
proficiency. Professionals can practice this technique to create an elite team
and self by using other’s successful techniques to create guidelines for
general and technical procedure in the professional world. By providing each
other constant feedback and consciously striving for perfection one creates a learning
process that is infinitely beneficial.
