Effective Learning Strategies

Some people think that the difference between a good student and a bad student is just a matter of aptitude. While it may be true in some cases, generally, the difference can actually be attributed to learning strategies. With effective learning strategies, students can learn faster and easier. Here are some of the most basic strategies.

Organization

Organization is a very important part of learning effectively. Having an orderly space to study helps the mind absorb new information without distraction. Time management also plays an important role. Everybody has only 24 hours in a day, so it's important to learn how to make the most out of the available time.

• Education Tips: A list of links with information on organization.
• Organization Strategies: Provides information on organization and its importance.
• Organization: Discusses the importance of organization and different ways to become organized.
• Time Management Suggestions: A list of suggestions about managing time.
• Time Management Tips: Good tips to help students manage their time.
• Studying for Exams: Discusses how to study for a test.
• Exams and Studying: Points out the best ways to study for tests.
• Test Taking Tips: Shows the best ways to prepare for and take a test.
• Test Tip List: Lists the best ways to take a test.

Effective Independent Learning

There's more to learning than knowing how to take tests. Everyone learns differently so there are many different styles of learning. If you know which style suits you best, learning will be easier. Knowing how to study properly and memorize the important things readily also make studying easier.

• Learning Style Guide: Discusses the different types of learning.
• About Learning Styles: Shows the different learning styles and explains how to determine what type of learning style best suits a person.
• Meta-Cognition: An Overview: Discusses mega-cognition in detail.
• Meta-Cognition: A tutorial explaining meta-cognition and its importance to learning.
• Study Smarter Not Harder: Discusses how to study better so you're studying smarter, not necessarily more.
• Memorization Techniques: Outlines some of the best ways to memorize things easily.
• Memory Tips & Memorization Techniques: Some articles on how to improve one's memory and how to memorize things easily.
• Reading Strategies: Some tutorials on techniques like highlighting text and other effective reading strategies.
• Effective Reading Strategy Checklist: Provides a list of things to help boost reading comprehension.

Effective Learning from Others

Sometimes, learning on your own isn't as effective as learning as part of a group. There's a lot of evidence pointing towards collaborative learning being more effective than learning on one's own. Even lectures can help someone learn as long as they know how to listen effectively. In fact, actively listening to lectures can boost one's own efforts to learn.

• Collaborative Learning: Article that discusses why group learning is so effective.
• Small Group Learning: Link to a document that explains why small group learning is not more popular with teachers.
• Group Learning Paper: Discusses the dynamics of group learning.
• Cooperative Learning: Provides information about the effectiveness of group learning.
• Listening to Lectures: Shows how to listen to lectures in ways that will help you retain information.
• Effective Listening Tips: Some tips on the best ways to listen to lectures.
• Active Listening: Discusses active listening and why it's important.

Writing

Whether it's just taking notes or taking a test, writing is one of the most important aspects of being a student. To be a good writer, there are lots of things you have to know. For instance, you have to understand how to use grammar and punctuation. You also have to know how to properly cite works, how to avoid plagiarism, and how to properly summarize.

• Essay-Writing Guide: A quick guide to essay writing.
• Advanced Essay Writing: Discusses advanced essay writing techniques.
• Academic Writing: Defines academic writing and how to do it properly.
• APA Formatting and Style Guide: Shows how to properly format for APA requirements.
• Scientific Report Writing: Looks at how to properly write a scientific report.
• Summarizing: Provides some useful tips for summarizing.
• Paraphrasing: Explains how to paraphrase instead of plagiarizing.
• Avoiding Plagiarism: Shows how to avoid plagiarism.
• Tips on Grammar, Punctuation, and Style: Outlines proper grammar and punctuation rules.

Math

Many people find math to be one of the hardest subjects to learn. No matter how hard some people try, they have a hard time with math, but there's really no secret formula in mastering math. The better math students have some effective learning strategies. Here are some specific ways to study math.

• Why Math is Important: Shows why math is important and how to learn it effectively.
• How to Study Mathematics: Discusses about the strategies for studying math.
• Studying for Math: A few suggestions about studying for math.
• Math Study Tips: Offers some tips on studying math.
• Math Study Skills: Outlines good math study skills.
• Math Test Taking Tips: Provides tips for taking a math test.

Putting in the time to learn how to study properly may seem like extra work, but it really isn't. In fact, learning to study right can actually cut down the amount of time you spend studying because you'll learn more effectively. With effective learning strategies, you will not only become a better student, you will also become a better person.

Source: http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/library/learning-strategies#ixzz1NsfIrqk9

humanistic orientations to learning

In this orientation the basic concern is for human growth. We look to the work of Maslow and Rogers as expressions of this approach.

A great deal of the theoretical writing about adult education in the 1970s and 1980s drew on humanistic psychology. In this orientation the basic concern is for the human potential for growth. As Mark Tennant notes, the concern with ‘self’ is ‘a hallmark of humanistic psychology’ (1997: 12). There was a reaction against ‘scientific’ reductionism – people being treated as objects and rationalism. Instead the affective and subjective world was to be reaffirmed. Personal freedom, choice, motivations and feelings had to have their place.
Perhaps the best known example is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of motivation. At the lowest level are physiological needs, at the highest self actualization. Only when the lower needs are met is it possible to fully move on to the next level. A motive at the lower level is always stronger than those at higher levels. Tennant (1997) summarizes these as follows:

Level one: Physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, sex, sleep, relaxation and bodily integrity must be satisfied before the next level comes into play.

Level two: Safety needs call for a predictable and orderly world. If these are not satisfied people will look to organize their worlds to provide for the greatest degree of safety and security. If satisfied, people will come under the force of level three.
Level three: Love and belonginess needs cause people to seek warm and friendly relationships.
Level four: Self-esteem needs involve the desire for strength, achievement, adequacy, mastery and competence. They also involve confidence, independence, reputation and prestige.
Level five: Self-actualization is the full use and expression of talents, capacities and potentialities.
Self actualizers are able to submit to social regulation without losing their own integrity or personal independence; that is they may follow a social norm without their horizons being bounded in the sense that they fail to see or consider other possibilities. They may on occasion transcend the socially prescribed ways of acting. Achieving this level may mean developing to the full stature of which they are capable. (Tennant 1997: 13)

Learning can, thus, be seen as a form of self-actualization, it contributes to psychological health (Sahakian 1984 in Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 133). Yet while self actualization may seen as the primary goal, other goals (linked to the other stages) are also around. These include a sense of accomplishment and the controlling of impulses (Maslow 1970: 439)
Much criticism has been levelled at this model. For example,

• Do lower needs really have to be satisfied before higher ones come into play? People may well put physiological needs on one side to satisfy the need for love, for example.

• Are we all propelled to the sorts of qualities that Maslow identifies with ‘self actualization’? To what extent are these qualities culturally-specific?

The idea of a hierarchy of needs, the identifying of different needs, and the notion of self-actualization did, however, exert a powerful hold over adult education writers like Malcolm Knowles. Humanistic psychology’s positive view of people and their ability to control their own destiny, and the seemingly unlimited possibilities for individual development provided some hope for educators.
Perhaps the most persuasive exploration of a humanistic orientation to learning came from Carl Rogers. His passion for education that engaged with the whole person and with their experiences; for learning that combines the logical and intuitive, the intellect and feelings; found a ready audience. ‘When we learn in that way’, he said, ‘we are whole, utilizing all our masculine and feminine capacities’ (1983 20). He saw the following elements as being involved in significant or experiential learning.

• It has a quality of personal involvement—the whole person in both feeling and cognitive aspects being in the learning event.

• It is self-initiated. Even when the impetus or stimulus comes from the outside, the sense of discovers of reaching out, of grasping and comprehending, comes from within.

• It is pervasive. It makes a difference in the behaviour, the attitudes, perhaps even the personality of the learner.

• It is evaluated by the learner. She knows whether it is meeting her need, whether it leads toward what she wants to know, whether it illuminates the dark area of ignorance she is experiencing. The locus of evaluation, we might say, resides definitely in the learner.

• Its essence is meaning. When such learning takes place, the element of meaning to the learner is built into the whole experience. (Rogers (1983: 20)

See, also: · learning · the behaviourist orientation to learning · the cognitive orientation to learning · the humanistic orientation to learning · the social/situational orientation to learning ·

References

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall.
Maslow, A. (1968) Towards a Psychology of Being 2e, New York: Van Nostrand. See, also, A . Maslow (1970) Motivation and Personality 2e, New York: Harper and Row.
Merriam, S. and Caffarella (1991, 1998) Learning in Adulthood. A comprehensive guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Rogers, C. and Freiberg, H. J. (1993) Freedom to Learn (3rd edn.), New York: Merrill. . See, also, H. Kirschenbaum and V. L. Henderson (eds.) (1990) The Carl Rogers Reader, London: Constable.
Tennant, M. (1988, 1997) Psychology and Adult Learning, London: Routledge.

learning style (metode pembelajaran)

This chart helps you determine your learning style; read the word in the left column and then answer the questions in the successive three columns to see how you respond to each situation. Your answers may fall into all three columns, but one column will likely contain the most answers. The dominant column indicates your primary learning style.

When you..	Visual	Auditory	Kinesthetic & Tactile
Spell	Do you try to see the word?	Do you sound out the word or use a phonetic approach?	Do you write the word down to find if it feels right?
Talk	Do you sparingly but dislike listening for too long? Do you favor words such as see, picture, and imagine?	Do you enjoy listening but are impatient to talk? Do you use words such as hear, tune, and think?	Do you gesture and use expressive movements? Do you use words such as feel, touch, and hold?
Concentrate	Do you become distracted by untidiness or movement?	Do you become distracted by sounds or noises?	Do you become distracted by activity around you?
Meet someone again	Do you forget names but remember faces or remember where you met?	Do you forget faces but remember names or remember what you talked about?	Do you remember best what you did together?
Contact people on business	Do you prefer direct, face-to-face, personal meetings?	Do you prefer the telephone?	Do you talk with them while walking or participating in an activity?
Read	Do you like descriptive scenes or pause to imagine the actions?	Do you enjoy dialog and conversation or hear the characters talk?	Do you prefer action stories or are not a keen reader?
Do something new at work	Do you like to see demonstrations, diagrams, slides, or posters?	Do you prefer verbal instructions or talking about it with someone else?	Do you prefer to jump right in and try it?
Put something together	Do you look at the directions and the picture?		Do you ignore the directions and figure it out as you go along?
Need help with a computer application	Do you seek out pictures or diagrams?	Do you call the help desk, ask a neighbor, or growl at the computer?	Do you keep trying to do it or try it on another computer?