What Helps You Learn?

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What Helps You Learn?

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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September 22, 2016 at 10:47 pm

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Comments posted to this topic are about the item What Helps You Learn?

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David.Poole SSC Guru Points: 75897 More actions · Answer 1

The things that hamper me are not having a properly configured workstation and tools set up and correctly configured. This means that I have to learn how to set up and configure the workstation as well as the technology I am trying to learn. If I set up the workstation incorrectly or misconfigure the tools then this might thwart my attempts to learn the new tech or make it seem more complicated than it really is.

Let suppose that the workstation and tools are set up and configured.

A well thought out tutorial with working examples gets me up and running.

When starting out there are we niggly naggly mistakes that can be frustratingly hard to spot and in this case a mentor is extremely useful.

A shared and curated knowledge base within the organisation is useful because the technology operates within the context of the organisation.

A list of quality web sites relevant to that technology. My entire career has been fuelled by SQLServerCentral.

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Tom Gillies SSCrazy Points: 2761 More actions · Answer 2

David.Poole (9/23/2016)
The things that hamper me are not having a properly configured workstation and tools set up and correctly configured.
...
When starting out there are we niggly naggly mistakes that can be frustratingly hard to spot and in this case a mentor is extremely useful.
...

I agree! Often "setting up" a tool can be the hardest bit.

For myself, I like a mixture of learning styles: sometimes listening to someone, sometimes using tutorials and sometimes even reading books! Two things I find particularly powerful are "trying something out in a safe environment" and "explaining it to someone else".

When trying something out, having a "safe environment" is important. It increases confidence if you have a safety net and feel you are allowed to make mistakes and even trash the whole lot and start again.

"Explaining something" is surprising. When I write training material, I keep thinking of questions people might ask. Sometimes that makes me do a little extra research and look just a little deeper. Then of course there are the real questions. Most of the time they are what you expect, but occasionally they provide an entirely new viewpoint and that triggers a new train of thought.

There is always something new to learn!:-)

Tom Gillies LinkedIn Profile www.DuhallowGreyGeek.com[/url]

Cary Hower-563110 SSChasing Mays Points: 652 More actions · Answer 3

I am a proponent of tell, show, watch, let go when it comes to teaching almost anything. A well documented and organized toolbox can also help someone get up to speed quickly and remain productive.

funbi SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4992 More actions · Answer 4

I learn by doing - give me a task and I'll figure it out by Googling 🙂 I'm not very good with just picking up a book and reading it, or following a tutorial step by step. I don't retain information unless I've had to use it in the field (and even then..!)

GazzaB Old Hand Points: 391 More actions · Answer 5

Have to agree with the learn by doing. I could do course and unless I have the opportunity to use the new skill then I'll quite easily forget it.

Google is still my friend, I have to admit.

barry.mcconnell Default port Points: 1447 More actions · Answer 6

There has been a lot of research into learning styles and teaching styles. Joe Hill did work on the impact of mismatched styles. Personally, I'm an auditory analogous learner. Tell me how the new thing is similar to something I already know and I'll make the connections. I can read all day long and not take much away but when I hear the same material I grasp it better.

There are no facts, only interpretations.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Darlene Turner Ten Centuries Points: 1392 More actions · Answer 7

I'm also a learn by doing person, but it's great to get a run-down on a topic first. If I'm trying out a new tool or task it's always helpful to see a demonstration before going off to play in a sandbox. Doing makes the knowledge stick, but having someone show you the basics first saves a lot of frustration when there's a basic feature you know must be there but you might have trouble finding on your own.

Gail Wanabee SSCrazy Eights Points: 8471 More actions · Answer 8

The jobs where I've learned the most had the most poorly managed IT shops. One of my former employers, a $100+ million revenue/year company, was not Agile or anything else; it was a "no process" shop where a code review was rare.

In those poorly-managed I.T. environments, I was hired to save companies whose servers were on fire and whose businesses were at risk. I was usually the first DBA the company had ever had, their servers having been neglected for years, and I was allowed to do anything to fix them. Fix them, I did. I became very adept at quickly identifying and solving major problems.

Those work environments became my laboratories for experimentation. I'm a cautious DBA by nature, so I can count on one hand the times I ever broke anything. But I was allowed to do anything I thought should be done, and it's where I learned the most. As I learned more about solving server problems, I began to automate server/database maintenance, to the point that today, I have a small suite of SQL Agent jobs designed to keep databases and their components optimized. I could never have learned and accomplished these things in more organized, structured, well-managed I.T. shops.

I know this because since then, I've worked in some very well-managed shops, to the point that they had developed change and risk averse corporate cultures. Their change management processes were so cumbersome that it could take weeks and 10 approvals to change an electron on a server. From them, I learned to avoid working at such firms.

timwell SSCertifiable Points: 5315 More actions · Answer 9

Like others have mentioned I don't remember it if I don't go through the steps myself.

I learn better through reading rather than verbal explanations, and it helps to have examples and diagrams to explain the theoretical parts.

Gail Wanabee SSCrazy Eights Points: 8471 More actions · Answer 10

...and I forgot to mention that I learn best by reading and doing.

The "do" part is important for the information I read to stick.

smw147 SSCommitted Points: 1544 More actions · Answer 11

I find I learn more and retain more knowledge through "doing". I watch and read tutorials all the time, and they stick partly with me until I am doing what is being taught on a regular basis. In a nutshell, there is no sustitute for actual experience.

Regards

Steve

ZZartin SSC-Dedicated Points: 30894 More actions · Answer 12

I'm also one of those people who learns by doing, I can read a book on a subject cover to cover and retain/understand how to apply none of it. But just jumping in and starting with a basic "Hello world" helps me far more. Unfortunately learning by doing also requires me to have an objective besides just doing random things which is why I learn a lot at work 😀

smw147 SSCommitted Points: 1544 More actions · Answer 13

ZZartin (9/23/2016)
I'm also one of those people who learns by doing, I can read a book on a subject cover to cover and retain/understand how to apply none of it. But just jumping in and starting with a basic "Hello world" helps me far more. Unfortunately learning by doing also requires me to have an objective besides just doing random things which is why I learn a lot at work 😀

I got a promotion at work a year ago which meant SQL development on a daily basis. I've retained so much knowledge since 🙂

Regards

Steve

sql Sarah SSCrazy Points: 2081 More actions · Answer 14

I read that on average, it takes adults 32 times of doing anything to make it a habit!!

I need a combination of things to learn best, but I remember most what I write down. I may never look at what I wrote again, but I will remember it.

I used to be a software applications trainer and I always made sure to have a combination of things in the class. There was the book, note pads, presentation, and lots of labs for users to try everything, and of course, me talking incessantly. 😛

I once went to a class where it was just the trainer and a presentation. I asked where the book was...she said it was a flash presentation on the CD that they gave us at the end. :blink: It was so useless to me. Luckily, I brought a notebook and pens and shared with the class!! Others were struggling like I was.