Thinking and Reasoning Skills

I use multiple techniques to learn and apply new knowledge, and I fear no medium. I take notes so intensely in math, I’ve been known to lend out my notebooks to students taking similar classes! They’ve been referred to as “modified textbooks”, and they’ve saved my GPA. I can take notes on computers and whiteboards, as well! As a Physics TA, I would regularly take notes on the board for the whole class, while the facilitator would be able to continue teaching and answering questions. I’m a very hands-on learner, but I also can appreciate a solid lecture. I recognize that I’m lucky enough to be able to listen to someone lecture, watch them write on a board, and be able to conjure cohesive and comprehensive notes of both. When it comes to problem solving and creative thinking, these generally go hand in hand with me. I would like to think that easily recognizing problems is a talent, but that doesn’t go well on resumes. I usually can pick up on specific problems pretty quickly, and discern the important information. From there, I can start working out what I need to find, do, or solve, and focus on that. With math, I would write out the given info, the needed formula, and solve (math is pretty straightforward). For other projects, though, such as robotics, I use a similar approach. When given a new game, I would write out the important aspects (how to score points, what the robot can/cannot do, etc.), then break that down into the necessary mechanisms. We would then have a team brainstorm on all sorts of ideas, then see what aspects we most heavily focused on and could easily combine into one prototype. From this one brainstorm meeting, we could lay out our mechanical, strategic, and coding plans for the whole season! This creative problem solving is not without visualization, though. I find it easiest to write and draw things out, which could very well be my downfall. I take notes on everything, and diagram on whiteboards when and wherever possible. I can visualize this information in my “mind’s eye” as well, but I find it easier to write it out so that I don’t forget anything and so I can continue to add new ideas.