If you are a global learner, it can be helpful for you to realize that you need the big picture of a
subject before you can master details. If your instructor plunges directly into new topics without bothering to
explain how they relate to what you already know, it can cause problems for you. Fortunately, there are
steps you can take that may help you get the big picture more rapidly. Before you begin to study the first
section of a chapter in a text, skim through the entire chapter to get an overview. Doing so may be timeconsuming
initially but it may save you from going over and over individual parts later. Instead of spending
a short time on every subject every night, you might find it more productive to immerse yourself in
individual subjects for large blocks. Try to relate the subject to things you already know, either by asking the
instructor to help you see connections or by consulting references. Above all, don't lose faith in yourself;
you will eventually understand the new material, and once you do your understanding of how it connects to
other topics and disciplines may enable you to apply it in ways that most sequential thinkers would never
dream of.