Name: Qari M uha mmad Soha il
R egistration: 2016-a g-1311
Submitt ed to: Dr. Sayee d Samina Ta hir
Subj ect : te aching of lea rni ng strategies
Learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new, or modifying existing, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or
preferences. An example of learning is a student understanding and remembering what they've been taught.
Effective Learning Strategies
Attitudes to learning
Optimum conditions for learning
General tips
Attitudes to learning
Most people, when asked, can recount an experience that undermined their confidence in their own learning.
Negative comments when we are young can have a very long-term effect upon our view of ourselves as
bright, capable learners. However, self-confidence has a major impact upon our ability to perform well.
Optimum conditions for learning
We can improve the conditions for learning by being aware of some of the ways the brain works. Although we
do not need to know a great deal about the brain, understanding some basics can help us to make the most
of our minds. Some of the optimal conditions for learning are common sense and good for our general health.
For example, the brain works well when:
it is rested: sleep affects our performance
it is hydrated: drinking water helps the electrical connections of the brain
it is unstressed: when it is stressed, it can focus only on 'escape', not on such matters as reading journals and
writing assignments
General tips
Spending long hours studying is not necessarily productive. It is possible to gain better marks by studying more effectively
rather than for longer. Most of this resource looks at ways of studying in more effective ways. To study effectively, you can:
Identify what is really needed
Study assignment titles carefully. Work out exactly what is required for assignments. This saves time in re-writing assignments
later. Time spent in preparation is well spent.
Work strategically
Set yourself clear goals and work towards these.
Make the material meaningful
Looking for 'the meaning' or how things work, rather than focusing on remembering information. Work with the material,
looking at how it fits together and applies to different circumstances. If you develop your understanding of the subject, it will
help you to take in future material more easily. This makes reading easier. It also improves your memory for the subject.
Look for links
Be active in searching out links between different aspects of the programme. Look also for links between what you are learning
and the wider world. This helps to develop understanding and memory.
Work with others
Work with other students so that you share ideas and gain mutual support. You may be able to share some research tasks and
clarify your lecture notes. Studying with others makes study more interesting, as you gain a different set of perspectives.
Set yourself SMART-F targets
Targets should be:
strategic: they assist you to achieve your goals
measurable: you can tell when you have completed them
achievable: you are likely to succeed in meeting them
realistic: they fit the circumstances
time-bound: you have a set time to meet
flexible : you can adapt them if the circumstances change.
Look for shortcuts
Look for reasonable short-cuts that do not compromise your studies. For example:
avoid unnecessary tasks such as writing notes out neatly
use abbreviations in your notes
write assignments onto a computer if possible rather than writing them out by hand and then typing them up
focus your notes around themes and questions rather than making long notes that you do not really need.
Use the word limit to focus your energies
Most assignments have a word limit. Use this as a guide to how much you need to read and how many examples you can
include. Plan out in advance how you will divide up the words available to you. Often, you need to be very concise about each
topic. This means you may not be able to include very much of what you have read if you have undertaken a great deal of
reading or made very extensive notes.
Take care of yourself
Take rests when you are tired. Study takes longer and the brain is less effective when you are tired or stressed. Plan your time so
that you get breaks. A change of scene stimulates the brain and helps creative thinking
Active Learning
Active learning is an approach to instruction that involves actively engaging students with the course material through
discussions, problem solving, case studies, role plays and other methods. Learning strategies
As a teacher, one of our biggest challenges is to plan lessons that inspire our students to stay actively involved in the learning
process. But we’ve probably noticed that traditional, teacher-centered learning plans aren’t always conducive to achieving that
inspiration. That’s where active learning strategies come into play. You can use them to empower, engage, and
stimulate a classroom by putting students at the center of the learning process.
Active Learning Strategies
• Reciprocal questioning
• Three step interviews
• The pause procedure
• The muddiest point technique
• The devil’s advocate approach
• Peer teaching activities
• Game-based learning platforms
• Reciprocal questioning
• Mnemonic strategies
• Structural strategies
• Generative strategies
Reciprocal questioning
Use reciprocal questioning to encourage an open dialogue in which students take on the role of the teacher and create their
own questions about a topic, reading section, or lesson. After covering a topic of your choice in class or after assigning a
reading selection divide the class into pairs or small groups and have students come up with a few questions for discussion
with the rest of the class.
To facilitate the process, you can provide students with “question stems,” which provide a foundation for a question but still
require students to think critically about a lesson, text, or other section of material by completing the query. Consider the
examples below.
Reciprocal questioning can be particularly useful when:
Preparing for tests or exams
Introducing a new topic or section of course content
Discussing reading or writing materials in greater detail
Three step interviews
A cooperative learning strategy, the three step interview encourages students to develop active listening skills by quizzing one
another, sharing their thoughts, and taking notes. To use the three step interview process, divide students into groups of three,
and assign three roles: interviewer, interviewee, and notetaker.
After also assigning a theme or topic of discussion, have students participate in a five to 10 minute interview to discuss what
they found to be the key information relating to the topic.After each interview, have students rotate roles. Depending on
factors including the grade level of your students and their experience with the strategy, you may adjust the length of the time
for each interview.
The Pause procedure
Use the pause procedure to intersperse strategic pauses into your class lectures and enhance student understanding of teaching
materials. To use the pause procedure, arrange for pauses of two to three minutes between every 10 to 15 minutes of lecture time.
During these brief breaks, encourage students to discuss or rework their notes in pairs to clarify key points covered, raise
questions, and solve problems posed by the instructor.
Alternatively, students can work together to write a paragraph that connects or highlights key ideas set out in their partner’s notes.
A 2014 study concluded that breaking a lecture into brief pauses can increase student attention and learning outcomes. The pause
procedure, the study determined, is “a good active learning strategy which helps students review their notes, reflect on them,
discuss and explain the key ideas with their partners.”
The muddiest point technique
The muddiest point technique involves asking students to write notes on the most unclear or most confusing element of a given
homework assignment, lecture, or class discussion.
Asking students to write down what they find to be the least clear is a powerful exercise because it compels them to grade or rate
their own knowledge of a topic. In short, the exercise helps students reflect on the lesson and identify concepts needing further
examination or study. From your perspective, the activity can serve as an insightful source of feedback.
For example, if more than a quarter of the class mentions the same “muddiest point,” you may wish to schedule further time to
discuss that topic, or create a new lesson plan or assignment to tackle it.
The devil’s advocate approach
The devil’s advocate approach asks one or more students to take the opposing side of a predominant argument or point of view
being discussed during a lesson.
Once you have completed an assignment or lesson plan, select a topic that is suitable for discussion and debate. The topic should
serve as an appropriate subject for providing arguments from both sides. The activity is flexible and should be tailored to suit
your students’ grade level. In its simplest form, divide the class into two sections and coordinate a class-wide debate based on a
selected topic.
Peer teaching activities
A flexible and multi-faceted approach to active learning, peer instruction encompasses a range of scenarios where students
instruct skills or explain concepts to classmates.
Some popular options include:
Reading buddies: A cooperative learning strategy that pairs two students who work together to read an assigned text.
Cross-age peer tutoring: A peer learning strategy involving students in different grades, wherein which one student instructs
another on material in which the first student is advanced and the second student is a novice.
Role play: A group of students is split into smaller groups and given a specific task to complete, like in small group work.
However, in addition to working on a specific task, the members of each group are asked to play a certain “role”. Unlike in
traditional role-play, all members of one group play the same role, not individually assigned roles.
Peer teaching activities help boost vital skills and behaviors including student interaction, accountability, group processing.
Game-based learning platforms
Game-based learning platforms add depth and differentiation to the educational process and allow students to work with their
instructors to achieve their learning objectives.
One example is Prodigy, a platform that constantly adjusts questions to tackle student trouble spots and delivers math problems
with words, charts pictures, and numbers. Prodigy is free to play and aligned with curricula for grades 1 to 8 teachers.
Rotating chair group discussions
Rotating chair group discussions encourage students to actively listen to selected speakers who follow a pattern of guiding class
discussion and summarizing previous points.
Students lead and stimulate class discussion as they “rotate” roles, repeatedly selecting the following speaker.
To use this strategy effectively, ensure that students adhere to the following pattern:
When a student wishes to participate, they must raise their hand
The student who is speaking calls on the next speaker, ideally someone who has not yet contributed
The student who has been called upon briefly summarizes what the previous student said before developing the idea further
This process can be repeated across a variety of topics, with your guidance to stay on track and help stuck students.
The benefits of rotating chair group discussions are not only limited to the speakers. Knowing that they may be called upon to
summarize the previous topic, all students are engaged in attentive listening, frequently jotting down notes and ideas to stay on
track in the spaces between speaking.
Mnemonic strategies
Mnemonic learning strategies help students memorize content, like facts or terms. For example, they’re useful for remembering
capital cities, important dates, vocabulary, etc. When you have to memorize “meaningless” information, mnemonic strategies are a
great way to give it some kind of meaning.
One example of a mnemonic strategy is the key word method. This method is extremely useful for learning confusing vocabulary
in a foreign language. It involves a phonetic and image-based connection, along with a detailed explanation.
Structural strategies
Structural strategies stimulate active learning by encouraging students to mentally pick out important information and put it
together into one structure. This is where you’ll see techniques like making conceptual maps, flow charts, or outlines.
