Please explain big picture vs. detail oriented

[Keniki]

Okay, I'm an old dog and it's going to be tough to teach me this 'new trick', but please try. ;) I'm having trouble understanding my youngest child, but he fits the VSL pattern according to this chart, so that would be 'big picture', right? But he enjoys robotics and told me he likes the programming end better than the designing part. That seems more detail oriented to me.

 

Is this making any sense or am I so lost someone would need gps to find me?

[spaceman]

You don't always have to think in one way to be primarily a "such-and-such" thinker.

[Nscribe]

Another way to consider it...does he see the programming as a means to an end he wishes to accomplish or an end itself. Often big picture thinkers will recognize the skills, processes and tools they must master to accomplish the desired ends. Would he enjoy programming for any purpose, or does he enjoy programming for the ability to get him where he wants to go?

[Lori D.]

After reading Linda Silverman's book (Upside Down Brilliance), which is the origin of the chart linked, my understanding of it is that the VSL or ASL designation is a blending together of the two aspects of learning:

 

1. how a student best/most easily takes in information (learning style)

2. how a student naturally processes that information once it is in the brain (brain hemisphere dominance)

 

 

The parts-to-whole of the ASL is the left hemisphere of the brain dominating the processing of info in the brain; the student sees the steps (pieces of information) and then begins to put them together in the brain, begins to find a sequence, and -- aha! -- now sees the big picture.

 

The whole-to-parts VSL is seeing intuitively a big picture, an overall pattern with the right hemisphere of the brain, and as he/she processes that big picture or overall pattern, begins to recognize and understand the parts that make up the whole. (I would even guess that may be why a very strongly VSL child is very hard to sway from their initial idea about how to do something -- once they initially "see it", that's it, that's the way it is; it is virtually impossible to move them from this picture or pattern -- certainly not with small details (i.e., your points or explanations of why they are not correct). It would take being able to present it all as a whole new big picture for them to grasp as a big picture.)

 

The point is how the brain is processing information, not about types of activities that may be of interest to individual. In your younger son's case, the programming sounds like an enjoyable activity "thing", not a brain hemisphere processing "thing". ;)

 

 

Also, just like "handedness", in which we may predominantly favor one hand over the other for many activities (or favor mostly VSL traits over ASL traits), there are some activities in which we prefer to use the other hand (or favor an ASL trait over a VSL trait). Think of the VSL - ASL as more of a spectrum, or line:

 

ASL ---------------- "ambidexterous" ---------------- VSL

 

The closer a person falls to the center, the less strongly does the person fit neatly into just one side of the chart -- there is more cross-over.

 

 

Finally, my own experiences with my fairly strongly VSL DS and seeing my neighbor's even more extremely VSL DS, as they grow, they either move more towards center, or are more able to deal with subjects that used to fall in their "weak" ASL side. Especially if you can initially present info in their preferred manner of learning, BUT then come along after with supplement and more information in the "weak" manner of learning, it helps strengthen their non-dominant ASL ways of thinking. They begin to move a little closer to center as they mature into adults. My neighbor's very VSL DS (high functioning Aspberger's) could not do any form of Algebra at all throughout high school. He saw no real-world point to it, AND he did not "see" any big picture for grasping the concepts. Now, at age 27, he if finishing a cross-over computer/arts degree, took numerous required higher math courses (including Algebra), LOVES it, and is even tutoring others in MATH! Just goes to show, our brains are wonderful, mysterious, and capable of growing/changing. ;)

 

 

Just my 2 cents worth! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Lori D.

[AKshanmar]

Thanks for that detailed explanation Lori! That perfectly describes my son. He is 17, homeschooling his senior year, dual enrolled at the University of Alaska, in the GM automotive program.

 

I homeschooled him 3rd - 8th. He was very, very challenging. He refused to learn anything that had "order" to it. He now knows the days of the week, but still doesn't know the order of the months. Really. He would never do math according to the normal prescribed steps, but usually could get to the right answer, even in algebra and geometry. But then he would show absolute brilliance in big picture situations.

 

He took automotive classes all through highschool, now as a college freshman, his professor said he is the top of his class (5 hours a day, 5 days a week class). He was discussing an electrical process the other day, and my husband and I just sat there with our mouths open! There is hope!

[Storm Bay]

Okay, I'm an old dog and it's going to be tough to teach me this 'new trick', but please try. ;) I'm having trouble understanding my youngest child, but he fits the VSL pattern according to this chart, so that would be 'big picture', right? But he enjoys robotics and told me he likes the programming end better than the designing part. That seems more detail oriented to me.

 

Is this making any sense or am I so lost someone would need gps to find me?

 

The very best book I know for this is The Dominance Factor by Carla Hannaford. Reading that & testing my dc (plus my mother), helped me finally find out how my dc learned (+ my mother:).) There are 32 dominance profiles there. So, my two apparently VSL learners weren't exactly that. Not all kids are simply parts to whole or whole to parts, either.

 

One is an auditory/visual learner for new things, but she has excellent spatial abilities & can be very detailed minded. She is left brain dominant, but has some strong right brain tendencies.

 

The other, who seemed a shoe-in for vs learner, & people commented on it, is a gestalt learner (her profile is the one they think Einstein had--all right dominated for brain/eye/ear/hand & foot--my eldest is all the same except for being left brain dominant, & her profile is the one most often seen in gifted classes).

 

My ds, who was always the most confusing one since I hadn't heard of this combination plus he has a dyslexic cluster & is very strong with conceptual spacial things, is kinesthetic/auditory, too.

 

One point to mention here is that learning profiles tend to define how we learn new things or while under stress (if at all for the latter), and that all of us who have all 5 senses working, learn all ways. My middle one (the gestalt learner) shuts down when too stressed, which explained a great many things about her over the years. Another point is that there are things you can do to help dc overcome any shortcomings. My middle one has the learning profile most often seen in special needs classes, but is managing to do very well in honours classes now (thanks to being at home all those years plus we did some of those helpful things without realizing the impact they were having.) Of course, it helps if she chews gum in classes she dislikes.

Edited October 26, 2012 by Karin

[Candid]

Okay, I'm an old dog and it's going to be tough to teach me this 'new trick', but please try. ;) I'm having trouble understanding my youngest child, but he fits the VSL pattern according to this chart, so that would be 'big picture', right? But he enjoys robotics and told me he likes the programming end better than the designing part. That seems more detail oriented to me.

 

Is this making any sense or am I so lost someone would need gps to find me?

 

I have had very little programming, but what I did have told me that a huge part of programming is big picture not details. BUT in the world of programming there is probably a need for both. Yes, you have to write all the detailed code and get it correct, but without a vision of where you are going and how you are going to get you there that detail is lost.

[elegantlion]

My son is VSL and into programming. The difference for him comes in the way he approaches the learning. He has several books on the code he wants to learn, but they are sequential learning and he doesn't learn best that way. So he watches tutorials, works on the computer (he has an older laptop), and learns much through the discovery.

 

I know nothing about programming and really stay out of it. It's almost like learning from the top down, and backward, or jumping in the deep end to learn how to swim.

 

There's a discussion on the logic board about Bloom's Taxonomy. One point being discussed is that VSLs often start at the top of the chart and jump around in their learning. So, as has been said, it's not necessarily what they want to learn, it's how they best go about it.

[Arcadia]

My son is VSL and into programming. The difference for him comes in the way he approaches the learning. He has several books on the code he wants to learn, but they are sequential learning and he doesn't learn best that way. So he watches tutorials, works on the computer (he has an older laptop), and learns much through the discovery.

 

Does your son happen to like debugging and drawing flow charts? I get bored with the programming but find it easily to transform requirements into flow charts and debugging is fun.

[Corraleno]

Okay, I'm an old dog and it's going to be tough to teach me this 'new trick', but please try. ;) I'm having trouble understanding my youngest child, but he fits the VSL pattern according to this chart, so that would be 'big picture', right? But he enjoys robotics and told me he likes the programming end better than the designing part. That seems more detail oriented to me.

"Whole-to-parts" learners can still be detailed-oriented — they just generally need to start with a "big picture" overview of where they're going, and they may not go through the "details" in the same sequence that nonVSLs would. As an analogy, it's like the difference between someone who prefers a list of step-by-step directions ("go 7 miles on Oak Road, then turn left at the gas station onto Elm Drive. Go straight for 3 miles, then bear right, and then take the 3rd left onto Maple Lane...") versus someone who needs to see a map or satellite view of where they're going first, and then can easily navigate there because they have the "big picture" in their heads. The two drivers may use very similar routes to get there, but they access and process the information differently.

 

I tagged this thread with "vsl" — if you click on that, it should pull up lots of other threads about visual/spatial learners.

 

... a huge part of programming is big picture not details. BUT in the world of programming there is probably a need for both. Yes, you have to write all the detailed code and get it correct, but without a vision of where you are going and how you are going to get you there that detail is lost.

:iagree:

MANY programmers, computer scientists, and engineers are VSLs. My DH is about as far along the VSL spectrum as it's possible to get, and he's a software developer. But the way he got into it was he had a vision of what he wanted to do, couldn't find any existing software program that could do it, so he taught himself programming in order to invent software that would do what he wanted. The vision came first, then he figured out the steps to get there.

 

Jackie

[elegantlion]

Does your son happen to like debugging and drawing flow charts? I get bored with the programming but find it easily to transform requirements into flow charts and debugging is fun.

 

He's not into flow charts, he dislikes writing anything down. He does like to debug, he's working on a simple program right now and has fun working out the bugs on it.