# NTP Learning Styles/School Coping Strategies?



## SalvinaZerelda (Aug 26, 2010)

These are just to give you an idea of what I'm curious about, but feel free to discuss whatever you want, as long as it is related to the topic of this thread..

Good Short-Term Memory vs. Bad Short-Term Memory
Challenging class vs. Non-challenging class

When you are learning a subject, do you absorb information bit by bit and form an idea of the big picture as you go along or get an idea of the big picture and fill it in bit by bit? Is either method appropriate? Why or why not?

How do you deal with socializing in class when you dislike people or are disliked by people?

Any NT's answers are appreciated.. ^^


----------



## i4ko (Sep 18, 2011)

I have particularly bad mid-term memory (from 6 hours to 3-4 days). Coping with university was either sleeping in lectures after a graveyard shift, where my hearing memory did work though, or starting to study for an exam 5-6 hours prior to it. Since most of them were like 8/9AM this meant a sleepless night. I'm a fast reader and could read about 100 pages (A5 size) in about an hour. And i never read stuff twice. 

When learning something not in university, I rarely like to be guided, I like to experiment, "feel" in a sense, think about where I can make mistakes and try avoiding them. Frankly, after say 25/26 I started challenging everything that is written in a textbook, course material, etc, so now I am just going with the flow picking up stuff here and there.


----------



## Coppertony (Jun 22, 2011)

I treat my actual classes like a job, and do my intellectual learning outside of the classroom. That's not to say that I can't be inspired by material covered in class, or connected to something or someone interesting through the class, but I keep my real intellectual focus away. This helps me stay motivated and not feel boxed in by strict classes and grading.

As far as learning styles, I'm a fan of learning multiple things at the same time, and connecting them to really get at their deeper meaning. So instead of ideas and findings being words on a page, they're interconnected with the rest of my body of knowledge, nice and useful. So imagine if the mind was a wiki (or tvtropes), and learning was the addition of pages. We could then just backtrack through the links, which ground and tie together the collection.


----------



## absentminded (Dec 3, 2010)

Rune said:


> Good Short-Term Memory vs. Bad Short-Term Memory


This is probably going to depend on the NT. NTPs tend to have terrible short-term memories, while I'd imagine that NTJs have very good/passable short-term memories.



> Challenging class vs. Non-challenging class


The only reason I can think of taking a non-challenging class is if I was taking a ton of really hard classes and I needed an elective or something.

What's the point of taking a class that doesn't test you?



> When you are learning a subject, do you absorb information bit by bit and form an idea of the big picture as you go along or get an idea of the big picture and fill it in bit by bit? Is either method appropriate? Why or why not?


I usually see the big picture first and then I start analyzing it's various subsystems in order of importance.



> How do you deal with socializing in class when you dislike people or are disliked by people?


Why do I have to socialize with people in class?



> Any NT's answers are appreciated.. ^^


I hope this answered some of your questions.


----------



## Jennywocky (Aug 7, 2009)

Rune said:


> Good Short-Term Memory vs. Bad Short-Term Memory


Excellent short-term, I used to cram for exams successfully by just jamming it all in short-term.



> Challenging class vs. Non-challenging class


Challenging classes are engaging.
Non-challenging classes mean I can use my brain power on other things while coasting.

As far as what classes were challenging?

Language, maybe, because a lot of it was memorization + practice (i stink at practice).
And really high-level math, I struggled with. I did fine with all the calcs, abstract algebra, and engineering physics.



> When you are learning a subject, do you absorb information bit by bit and form an idea of the big picture as you go along or get an idea of the big picture and fill it in bit by bit? Is either method appropriate? Why or why not?


I struggle a great deal if someone is just throwing lots of detail at me without any context.
What I need is an outline/skeleton picture, to get a sense of the "map" of the info; then start feeding me detail, and I will plug it into the map.



> How do you deal with socializing in class when you dislike people or are disliked by people?


Why would you want to socialize with people you don't like or who dislike you?

I typically don't try to make enemies, so if I don't like people but have to coexist, I'll just smile and do basic necessary engagement but nothing more. Otherwise I will just stay in my own little world.


----------



## yitznewton (Jul 28, 2011)

Rune said:


> When you are learning a subject, do you absorb information bit by bit and form an idea of the big picture as you go along or get an idea of the big picture and fill it in bit by bit? Is either method appropriate? Why or why not?


When I'm studying a Talmudic debate that I don't immediately understand, and which has nested sub-debates, I find I'm most successful reading the entire thing to form a semi-rough mental outline of the logical structure, even if I don't understand the component parts at all. (Often some piece(s) of background knowledge from another subject will be assumed, and I have no idea what they're talking about; or the debate will contain more straight Aramaic instead of the usual Aramaic-flavored Hebrew, and I can't understand the meaning of all the words.) Then go back and gather the background information, and see if it fits the framework.

In general in school (through college), most learning I did was by paying attention in class. I rarely did reading, even assigned literature, unless it was particularly interesting. I remember reading Ethan Frome in one shot in tenth grade. I find diagrams to be indispensable. Especially with complicated Talmudic subjects. Even a bulleted list helps, or a more formal diagram if that's not enough.


----------



## goodgracesbadinfluence (Feb 28, 2011)

I have a pretty good short-term memory as long as I am paying attention and taking decent notes. I'm an auditory learner, so I think I get a little more out of lecture classes than a lot of people. 

If I'm in a class that is healthily challenging and reasonable, I absolutely LOVE it... until I have to miss a day, then I get anxious about it until I go back. I'm currently taking an intro to mathematical proofs class and it is pretty much pure logic, but I have to learn a whole new way of thinking so it's a challenge, but it's fun. If I'm in a class that is overly challenging, I get irritable and don't pay attention and will try to learn the material with the help of the textbook and the internet. If I am in a class that is completely unchallenging, I tend to get bored, zone out, and miss stuff that I actually do not know. 

Um, I probably get the big picture first, then fill in the blanks... that'd be the iNtuitor stereotype, but it also depends on how the teacher is teaching me. One thing that DOES irritate me is when we're on Step 5 of something and the teacher reverts back to Step 2, just to make sure the class understood how we got from Step 2 to Step 5 and how they're connected or something. That sounds like something that would help a Sensor but frustrate an iNtuitor. 

If I'm in a class where I don't like the people, I do not talk to them. Simple as that. If I'm forced to, I try to be cordial and friendly but give little input and likely end up coming off as arrogant. Which usually doesn't bother me if I think they're incompetent idiots.


----------



## TPlume (Aug 27, 2011)

Rune said:


> These are just to give you an idea of what I'm curious about, but feel free to discuss whatever you want, as long as it is related to the topic of this thread..
> 
> Good Short-Term Memory vs. Bad Short-Term Memory
> Challenging class vs. Non-challenging class
> ...



I'm not sure about the memory, it all depends on how interesting the thing is. Boring stuff hardly registers, but if something really interests me... it'll stay forever  .... I'm generally bad at memorizing stuff, I can't remember something unless I understand it.

I like challenging classes, stuff that are out of convention/different. It's particularly exciting when things are completely open ended, like in some labs where you've got a goal, but they don't tell you how to go about it.... I guess you understand what I mean?

I need to see the big picture first, I guss it's because only then would I be motivated to dig in the details.

Could you be a little bit more specific with the last question? If you were asking about dealing with difficult people, it's a compromise... like sometimes I may hate / be hated by someone for some stuff. But we'd still be friends and may even co operate on certain stuff. 

I'm an xNTP

/edit1: forgot the main answer lol... My learning style would be 'learning by doing'.... that's when I'm at my best


----------



## Snakecharmer (Oct 26, 2010)

I have a terrible short-term memory. And...I have trouble visualizing things in my head. For example - when I took Anatomy & Physiology last year, I had no trouble understanding (and remembering) bodily systems, but I had a hard time identifying individual muscles, veins, and arteries on the cadavers and models. For me, the hardest part of that course was what the professor called "blood tracing" - we had to draw the path a drop of blood takes through the body with various start and end points. She gave us 22 different diagrams to remember and I just...well, sucked at it. 

If a class isn't challenging, I have a hard time staying motivated and that's when my incredible procrastination skills come out in their full glory. 

I see the big picture first, then fill in details as I go.

I find that sitting up front and center in a classroom is a good way to ensure that none of the other students talk to me. :laughing: Most students sit in the back, in my experience. And...taking courses online helps too.


----------



## affezwilling (Feb 1, 2011)

I'm horrible with lectures. I have to actively seek out the information for it to stick. When sitting in a class I have to either do things hands on or at least read the notes on the board and write them down. Even if someone tells me something that's going on I have to personally set it into my schedule to remember. Once something is dedicated to memory though it sticks until I either choose to forget it or until it's been long enough for details to start to fade (which is usually years). I have a fantastic memory when I choose to use it.


----------



## nonnaci (Sep 25, 2011)

For me, this is more of context dependent Ni-Te loop question. If its a lecture on say philosophy where the language is key to conveying abstraction, then Ni will be looking for underlying descriptors for the abstraction while Te is a bit ambiguous as its looking for ways of measurement/comparison a concept (difficult as abstractions may live in their own framework without projection to prior models). If the lecture is on say topology, statistics, or analysis, then Ni is looking at the information from either previous learned models/assumptions or is busy looking for a common denomination behind the data. Te is attempting to organize the information, usually by physically putting the info down in writing and giving Ni an opportunity to spot something new.


----------



## Chinchilla (May 27, 2010)

I have horrible short term memory, but once I understand something I retain it. If I do not understand something it slips past my brain within a few hours or days. I hate memorizing anything having to deal with formulas, systems, etc, unless I truly understand it.


----------



## TPlume (Aug 27, 2011)

Chinchilla said:


> I have horrible short term memory, but once I understand something I retain it. If I do not understand something it slips past my brain within a few hours or days. I hate memorizing anything having to deal with formulas, systems, etc, unless I truly understand it.


Happens to me too, I'm bad at cramming. And I hate pure theory for the same reason, can't fully understand 'why' I need it


----------

