02-07-2012, 05:56 PM
LEARNING HOW TO LEARN
Metacognition
People’s knowledge of their own learning and cognitive processes
Regulation of learning processes to enhance learning and memory
Basically: the more met cognitively sophisticated-the greater potential for learning.
Metacognitive Knowledge and Skills
Aware of one’s own learning and memory capabilities are, and of what learning tasks can be accomplished
You can’t do it all at once, learn to segment larger assignments
Knowing which learning strategies are effective and which are not
How do you learn, what’s the best way to commit information to long-term memory
Plan an approach to learning that is likely to be successful
Limit distractions, find your natural learning time of day
Use effective learning strategies
Note taking, recording lectures, memorization, hands-on lab work
Monitor your present learning state
Take time to review and double-check what you have learned
Find and address areas of weakness
Know how to retrieve previously stored information
Tie-in past knowledge to newly gained information
It’s all about association.
So just how should the students think about thinking?
say in reading?
Clarify the purpose for reading something
Ask yourself, “why do I hope to learn from this text passage?”
then stop talking to yourself
Determine what is most important and focus on that
You only have so much time, get the facts, the big facts
Bring your prior knowledge into play, and associate possible examples of the ideas presented
If you’re reading about Roman history, imagine how you would have made the decisions to invade and conquer the world, what would you have done differently?
Ask for clarification on ambiguous or unknown words or points of interest
If you don’t know it, don’t skip it; write it down and look it up
Critically evaluate what you read, then stop…check for consistency, review, and move on
The process of self-regulated learning
Goal setting: identify, from the start, a desired end result for the learning activity.
Know what you want to accomplish
Planning: determine how best to use the available time
Plan ahead!
Self-motivation: maintaining intrinsic motivation to complete the task
It takes a variety of strategies to stay on task, use several learning tools, don’t just stick to one
Attention Control: give the task at hand your full attention
Focus, clear your mind of distracting thoughts
Tune out the static
Application of learning strategies: select the appropriate approach to the type of learning to be committed
Passively reading about model trains doesn’t need the same level as reading up on heart surgery -especially if you’re a doctor.
Self-monitoring: Creating check points to see whether any progress is being made
Modification midway through the goal is OK, if you’re on the wrong track, change it
Self-evaluation: assess the final outcome of one’s efforts
“Is what I have learned sufficient for the goals I have set?”
“Do I need more, or have can I streamline with less?”
Self-Reflection: Was all this work successful, have you satisfied the goal, were there any areas of concern, how efficient was the process?