SEQUENTIAL AND GLOBAL LEARNERS
• Sequential learners tend to gain understanding in linear steps, with each step following logically
from the previous one. Global learners tend to learn in large jumps, absorbing material almost
randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly "getting it."
• Sequential learners tend to follow logical stepwise paths in finding solutions; global learners may be
able to solve complex problems quickly or put things together in novel ways once they have grasped
the big picture, but they may have difficulty explaining how they did it.
Many people who read this description may conclude incorrectly that they are global, since everyone has
experienced bewilderment followed by a sudden flash of understanding. What makes you global or not is
what happens before the light bulb goes on. Sequential learners may not fully understand the material but
they can nevertheless do something with it (like solve the homework problems or pass the test) since the
pieces they have absorbed are logically connected. Strongly global learners who lack good sequential
thinking abilities, on the other hand, may have serious difficulties until they have the big picture. Even after
they have it, they may be fuzzy about the details of the subject, while sequential learners may know a lot
about specific aspects of a subject but may have trouble relating them to different aspects of the same
subject or to different subjects.