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Todd Finley

What is a Learning Strategy - 7 views

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    "Learning Strategies Learning strategies refer to methods that students use to learn. This ranges from techniques for improved memory to better studying or test-taking strategies. For example, the method of loci is a classic memory improvement technique; it involves making associations between facts to be remembered and particular locations. In order to remember something, you simply visualize places and the associated facts. Some learning strategies involve changes to the design of instruction. For example, the use of questions before, during or after instruction has been shown to increase the degree of learning (see Ausubel). Methods that attempt to increase the degree of learning that occurs have been called "mathemagenic" (Ropthkopf, 1970). A typical study skill program is SQ3R which suggests 5 steps: (1) survey the material to be learned, (2) develop questions about the material, (3) read the material, (4) recall the key ideas, and (5) review the material. Research on metacognition may be relevant to the study of learning strategies in so far as they are both concerned with control processes. A number of learning theories emphasize the importance of learning strategies including: double loop learning ( Argyris ), conversation theory (Pask), and lateral thinking ( DeBono ). Weinstein (1991) discusses learning strategies in the context of social interaction, an important aspect of Situated Learning Theory. References: H.F. O'Neil (1978). Learning strategies. New York: Academic Press. H.F. O'Neil & C. Spielberger (1979). Cognitive and Affective Learning Strategies. New York: Academic Press. Rothkopf, E. (1970). The concept of mathemagenic behavior. Review of Educational Research, 40, 325-336. Schmeck, R.R. (1986). Learning Styles and Learning Strategies. NY: Plenum. Weinstein, C.E., Goetz, E.T., & Alexander, P.A. (1986). Learning and Study Strategies. NY: Academic Press. Weinstein, C.S. (1991). The classroom as a social context for learning. Annual Revi
Patrick Higgins

Reading Rockets: The Six Ts of Effective Elementary Literacy Instruction - 7 views

  • The issue is less stuff vs. reading than it is a question of what sorts of and how much of stuff. When stuff dominates instructional time, warning flags should go up.
  • In less-effective classrooms, there is a lot of stuff going on for which no reliable evidence exists to support their use (e.g., test-preparation workbooks, copying vocabulary definitions from a dictionary, completing after-reading comprehension worksheets).
  • In these classrooms, lower-achieving students spent their days with books they could successfully read.
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  • In other words, in too many cases the lower-achieving students receive, perhaps, an hour of appropriate instruction each day and four hours of instruction based on grade-level texts they cannot read.
  • No child who spends 80 percent of his instructional time in texts that are inappropriately difficult will make much progress academically.
  • These exemplary teachers routinely offered direct, explicit demonstrations of the cognitive strategies used by good readers when they read. In other words, they modeled the thinking that skilled readers engage while they attempt to decode a word, self-monitor for understanding, summarize while reading, or edit when composing. The "watch me" or "let me demonstrate" stance they took seems quite different from the "assign and assess" stance that dominates in less-effective classrooms (e.g., Adams, 1990; Durkin, 1978-79).
    • Patrick Higgins
       
      This makes great sense: children need to see what experts do when they read.  
  • I must also note that we observed almost no test-preparation activity in these classrooms. None of the teachers relied on the increasingly popular commercial test preparation materials (e.g., workbooks, software). Instead, these teachers believed that good instruction, rich instruction, would lead to enhanced test performances.
anonymous

Where Policy Makers Are Born - WSJ.com - 0 views

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    The Yale Grand Strategy Program offers a compelling instructional model for 6-12 to consider in both English and Social Studies classes. One might compare it to a literary/text-based think tank used to hone critical and political thinking.
Donalyn Miller

Best Embeds for Educational Wikis and Blogs - 20 views

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    Best Embeds for Educational Websites and Blogs
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