Have others described you as a "people person?" Does being around friends seem to energize you? Do you feel sad or fatigued if you have to spend long periods of time alone? Are you the type of person that others come to when they just need to talk about something? Have others commented that you are a good listener or conversationalist? Do you find that studying in a group is beneficial? Does your understanding of something increase when you can "bounce your ideas off of someone?" Do you enjoy games that involve other people? If these ideas describe you, then you have a social learning style.
A person with a social learning style may often say these phrases:
- Let's get together on that.
- We can work it out.
- What do you think about that?
- We do better when we pull together.
- There is no "I" in "team."
Implications for learning
What does being a "social" person like this mean to you as you attempt to learn new things? Try to involve other classmates in your learning process as much as possible and when appropriate. Realize that this may not only help you, but them as well.
Being a social learner has strong advantages and disadvantages. Studying in a group can help you understand things better than perhaps you could on your own. A classmate may phrase something even better than the faculty member did. The energy and accountability that the group can provide can be a real plus. However, recognize that groups can often be distracted from the task at hand just by one or two persons in the group. Often groups can waste quite a bit of time with "socializing" that is not connected to learning. If you are studying with a group, plan to take frequent breaks to allow for informal and off-the-topic discussions. Then get back on task as quickly as possible.
Many social learners avoid participating in online courses because they fear they will miss the social interaction. While it is true that online courses do not typically provide face-to-face contact, there are many ways in which socialization can occur even in an online course. Ask your faculty member for permission to email the class to form an online study group. Many online courses provide tools such as group chat, discussion boards, and group email functions.
If you find that the tasks associated with continuing your education cannot be taking place in a very social environment, be sure to plan for time away from your studies for social interaction. If you do not, you are likely to get discouraged in your course work.