“Create” learners are the exact opposite of the Step learners.
Create learners love to synthesize to learn. They desire to generate something (create something) in order to really “get it.”
They prefer to learn by being creative and using their imaginations and creative ideas to plan and organize concepts. They prefer working on a number of tasks at one time, discussing real problems and looking for real solutions. They also enjoy searching for alternative solutions to problems, looking beyond those normally considered. (Some might call this divergent thinking.)
Create learners learn best with creative and artistic activities that are used along with open-ended discussions about personal and social values. They do best with activities that enlighten and enrich understanding, such as stories, dramas, etc.
They really like imaginative thinking (imagery) and contemplation (creative problem solving) and being able to learn through discovery. They like the opportunity to plan and pursue individual interests, and they like to be recognized for their personal insights and discoveries.
Create learners do not like too much attention to detail, facts, memorization, rote learning, or detailed and demanding routines. They really dislike tasks with predetermined correct answers.
Their favorite activities are those that focus on synthesizing, hypothesizing, symbolizing, and metaphorical expression.
Here’s a practical summary of how Create learners learn most effectively:
- By being led to arrive at their own understanding of key concepts, steps, and definitions.
- By taking notes on the takeaways and synthesizing information by putting it into their own words.
- By answering questions that require some imagination.
- By coming up with solutions based on creative questioning.
In our next blog, we’ll talk about the Research learning style, which, by the way, is more similar to that of the Step learner than the Create learner, but it is also unique in a number of ways. Remember: each person typically has one dominant learning style, along with a second style that they are pretty good at.
Research learners and Talk learners do not like learning with each other (unless you know how to teach them simultaneously—that will be the subject of our very last blog). Stay tuned!
P.S. If you haven’t found out your learning style yet, you can do that here.