Your path for most effective learning
is through knowing
- yourself
- your capacity to learn
- the process you have successfully used in the past
- your interest in, and knowledge of, the subject you
wish to learn
It may be easy for you to
learn physics but difficult to
learn tennis, or vice versa.
All learning, however, is a process which settles into certain steps.
These are four steps to learning.
Begin by printing this and answering the questions.
Then plan your strategy with your answers, and with other "Study Guides"
Begin with the
past
|
What was your experience about how
you learn? Did you
- like to read? solve problems?
memorize? recite? interpret? speak to
groups?
- know how to summarize?
- ask questions about what you studied?
- review?
- have access to information from a variety
of sources?
- like quiet or study groups?
- need several brief study sessions, or one
longer one?
What are your study habits? How did they
evolve? Which worked best? worst?
How did you communicate what you learned best?
Through a written test, a term paper, an interview? |
Proceed to
the
present |
How interested am I in this?
How much time do I want to spend learning this?
What competes for my attention?
Are the circumstances right for success?
What can I control, and what is outside my control?
Can I change these conditions for success?
What affects my dedication to learning this?
Do I have a plan? Does my plan
consider my past experience and learning style? |
Consider the
process,
the subject matter |
What is the heading or
title?
What are key words that jump out?
Do I understand them?
What do I know about this already?
Do I know related subjects?
What kinds of resources and information
will help me?
Will I only rely on one source (for example, a textbook)
for information?
Will I need to look for additional sources?
As I study, do I ask myself whether I
understand?
Should I go more quickly or more slowly?
If I don't understand, do I ask why?
Do I stop and summarize?
Do I stop and ask whether it's logical?
Do I stop and evaluate (agree/disagree)?
Do I just need time to think it over and
return later?
Do I need to discuss it with other "learners" in order to
process the information?
Do I need to find an authority, such as a teacher, a
librarian, or a subject-matter expert? |
Build in
review |
What did I do right?
What could I do better?
Did my plan coincide with how I work with my strengths
and weaknesses?
Did I choose the right conditions?
Did I follow through; was I disciplined with myself?
Did I succeed?
Did I celebrate my success? |
This page draws upon "metacognition,"
a term coined by Flavell (1976), and expanded upon by
many.
See also:
Mindquest Academy's
free course "Learning
to Learn" with sections
on
Learning Cycle, Know Yourself,
Learning Strategies, Teaching Yourself, Final
Assignment.
See the
index if you wish to register with an
instructor
Website overview: Since 1996 the
Study Guides and Strategies web site
has been researched, authored, maintained and supported by Joe Landsberger
as an international, learner-centric, educational public service. Permission is granted to freely copy, adapt,
and distribute individual Study Guides in print format in non-commercial educational settings that benefit learners. Please be aware that the Guides welcome, and are under, continuous review and revision. For that reason, reproduction of all content on the Internet
can only be with permission through a licensed
agreement. No request to link to the Web site is necessary.
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