Inventing Disposition: Need to ask questions, explore, discover!

This is one of the Dispositions that often gets labeled ADD (or if combined with Performing the label is ADHD). This is also the Disposition that is sometimes referred to as the "absentminded professor."

What is the genius of the Inventing person? This student is an explorer, a collector, an experimenter. This student asks a lot of questions, often to the annoyance of parent or instructor, and often seems to be asking questions that are unrelated to the topic at hand. It is then assumed that the student can't focus, doesn't pay attention, etc. What is actually happening is that this student hears or reads something...which triggers other thoughts...which triggers questions. All the while the student is making connections: this is how this student learns best.

These students also tend to lose track of time because they can get so focused on the project at hand that they forget about everything else.

This student is often passionate about (and talented in) electronics, technology, archeology, any of the sciences, cooking, engineering, building, problem solving, or a combination of these. In general, this student learns best when involved in activities that allow him/her to be inquisitive and inventive: take apart, put together, tinker, try out, make something out of nothing.

When planning a school program for the Inventing student, you can integrate the learning style needs with the various subjects. The student can make models, build replicas, work on a collection, design a system, develop a project...  If the student is in a traditional school setting, you can help at homework time by making sure that the student is allowed to ask questions, and by encouraging the student to use his natural problem solving strategies. You can also ask the teachers if the student can do more hands-on assignments rather than always being required to do written reports.

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