to understand what learning strategies are? W hy are
they so important to find out?
- Learning strategy is a key to better studying, for
achieving top results at any sphere, as it is a person’s
approach to learning or using information. If
learners
are not aware of their learning strategies or do not use
them at all they may face with a number of problems
at studying, in future even at professional careers as
well. Learning strategies assist us to solve problems or
avoid them, lead to cooperative thinking.
- Oh, I did not expect that it is such a global issue
for studying! As far as I know, there are a lot of types
of learning strategies. W hich of them are the most
important ones?
- A ll of them are essential and somehow connected
to each other. But here I would like to focus on some
of them. Let’s speak about meta-cognitive one, they
are general learning strategies. Reflecting upon
your own thinking and learning is meta-cognitive
thinking. They are considered to be one of the most
effective for learners. Some types of it: organizing or
planning strategy, students make a plan of what they
need to do and organise their thoughts and activities
in order to tackle a complex task step-by-step. This
preparation helps them to cope with any task. Or let’s
take monitoring strategy, where learners question
whether an idea makes
sense in order to check the
clarity of their understanding or expression in the
target language. Students are aware of how well a
task is progressing and notice when comprehension
breaks down. Personalizing strategy is also important
to know, students relate information to their feelings,
opinions or personal experiences in order to remember
and understand it better. They may associate it with
someone or something in their personal lives.
- I came across another type of learning strategy
while preparing for the programme: task-based
learning strategies. What
specific features do they
have?
- The «Task-Based Learning Strategies» focus on
how students can use their own resources to learn
most effectively. B y focusing students’ attention on
their resources, we emphasize their ability to take
responsibility for their own learning. There are four
different subgroups of them: strategies that use what
you know, strategies
that use your imagination,
strategies that use your organizational skills, strategies
that use a variety of resources. They are responsible
for .... (cut down here)
I: interviewer, P- psychology
Welcome to our TV Show. Today’s our guest is
famous psychologist Feruza Akbarova and today we
are going to have a hot topic “Do you teach your kids
HOW to learn?”.
I:Good morning Mrs.Feruza. Welcome to our
show!
P: Thank you. Good morning.
I: Mrs. Umarova can you give us some pieces of
advice how to improve our kids good study habits.
P>Yes first thing is get organised. Seriously, teach
your kids how to organise their binders, bags, etc.
Also, if you have older kids,
give them the skills to
keep an assignment planner. Get them in the habit of
writing their tasks down. And next thing is following
a routine. Make a hard-fast homework time in your
child’s schedule. Little ones particularly benefit from
predictability. There’s less resistance when the time
is already built into day. Besides that getting creative
is also very helpful. Getting creative isn’t just for the
little ones. Older children can find what habits are
effective for them individually by trying out several
techniques: flash cards, rewriting notes, making up
songs, making a game out of studying.
I: And I think the place where you are studying is
also important?
P: Yes, of course. You should determine a set place
for kids to study. It helps them get . into the mindset.
Maybe it is a desk in their room, your fam ily office,
or the dining room table? Make sure their location
is stocked with supplies. M y kids never really liked
studying in their rooms, so I made them a little tote
with pens, pencils, markers, scissors, etc. We pulled
it out during homework and then stashed it out of
sight until the next day.
Encouraging your kids to
talk to their teachers is also effective. In a world of
email and instant communication, it is important to
teach your kids how to email their teacher and ask
for clarification. Some kids are too embarrassed to
raise their hand in class if they get behind, show them
other ways to communicate if that is the case. And
don’t forget to teach healthy
lifestyle habits for test
days. Encourage kids to go to sleep on time and eat a
healthy breakfast on test days. As they get older, the
tests come with higher stakes, so healthy habits w ill
really play into their success. And please, encourage
them to learn their learning style. When they bring
home an assignment or test with a great grade, ask
them what they think helped them the most. A pattern
may start to emerge. You can also encourage them
note-taking. Note-taking is a learned skill. Either the
teacher suggests it or he/she doesn’t.
Encourage your
child to do it anyway. Show them how. And don’t
forget that older kids have a lot of pressures. Studying
from start to finish is too much. Encourage them to
take breaks. Depending on the kid, maybe a 10 minute
break every 30-50 minutes w ill help re-center them.
For some people, the prospects of a two hour study
session seems so overwhelming, they don’t want to
begin. Teach them how to recognize their time lim its.
I:O .K. Mrs.Feruza, thank you very much for
your useful advices. We hope our parents got useful
information from today’s show. Thank you for being
with us.
P:Thank you.
I:Dear parents do
you teach your kids HOW to
learn? If so, how do you do it? If you want to share
with your experience leave your comments on our
website www.mtrk.uz. at psychology corner.
