Assignment 11 Lesson 7 q3
Study Skills
Successful students employ a variety of strategies in
order to learn information from the myriad of possible meanings found on a page
of text. Sometimes these are called studying strategies. Simply put, they are
encoding strategies that help information to transit from working memory to
long-term memory. More importantly they are strategies under the control of
readers -- if they know how and when to employ them.
Which of these strategies do you feel comfortable with?
Under which conditions do you use them? Being a successful student, how did you
learn to use the strategies that work for you?
Throughout elementary school, I encountered only minor problems with studying. Everything seemed to come easy for me. That is why I was shocked when my parents announced that I would be attending Study Land in seventh grade. Study Land was a class for middle school students run by a former teacher, Gertie Max. The class was held in her basement two hours a session, two sessions a week for ten weeks. It was a small class of ten students, and seven of us felt we didn't need the class because we were good students who did school well. By all accounts, the parents were pleased that we were accepted in the class. The class traditionally has a waiting list of four to six years. It wasn't until years later that I would realize the importance of Study Land and why my parents were so happy to have secured a spot for me. Below is a list of the topics studied at Study Land (From The Gertie Max Study Systemizer)
Your GOAL: Better Grades and Success in School!
Study Land focused on the skills necessary to become better students. Quite simply, Mrs. Max was helping us develop metacognitive knowledge. According to Pressley, Borkowski, and Schneider, a good strategy user would have:
a broad repertoire of strategies,
metacognitive knowledge about why, when, and where to use strategies,
a broad knowledge base,
the ability to ignore distractions, and
automaticity in the four components described above. (Bruning, 98)
Throughout the class, several strategies were introduced. The one I recall most vividly is the one I use when studying today. Each week we were required to make up two self-tests in the areas of math, science and social studies. The tests had ten questions that had to contain multiple choice and completion items. On the same day, we made the answer key. The next day we took the test. Each day after that we reviewed the tests we had already taken. I translated this process into note cards and used them faithfully for almost all of my subjects in middle school, high school, and college. This enabled me to regularly practice (distributed practice) and I didn't have to cram for a test (massed practice). It also helped me apply the three components of regulating cognition: planning, regulation, and evaluation. (Bruning, 96) I planned which strategies would work best for the type of learning I needed to accomplish, set goals for my learning and budgeted my time. I continually monitored my own comprehension, and asked questions when I was unsure. I also evaluated where I was in the learning process, which meant going back to my original goals and revising them if necessary.
Mrs. Max modeled the strategies that she taught which helped us realize why she choose the particular strategy, when it worked best, and where to use the particular strategies. She wasn't limited by one curricular area which helped us to see the merits across the curriculum.
Mrs. Max wasn't able to directly help with ensuring a broad knowledge base, but she was able to give us the strategies we needed to build that knowledge base. The class focused on the ability to become the best student possible. To be the best student possible, students must be able to motivate themselves, tune out distractions, and realize that progress can be directly attributed to effort, not ability. (Bruning, 99)
Study Land helped participants accomplish all of the strategies automatically. At the conclusion of the class, we were able to perform tasks with minimum drain on our resources. This translated into high academic achievement throughout the rest of our school days.
The following strategies help students acquire information from
text.
* Answering adjunct questions
* Attending to text signals
* Determining importance of ideas
* Drawing inferences
* Generating and using advance organizers
* Generating questions
* Monitoring comprehension
* Organizing, outlining and mapping ideas
* Rehearsing
* Schema activation
* Summarizing information
After looking at the strategies and then reading the selected chapters of text, I realized that I employ all of these strategies, some more than others. For example, I found that I was monitoring comprehension after every page. I briefly stopped and asked questions, determined the importance of ideas and summarized information. With my students I occasionally provided advance organizers. After reading about the positive effects of advance organizers, I would use them more frequently with my students. Anything that will help activate relevant schemata for to-be-learned material and correct the activated schemata so that new material can be assimilated to them should be used in the classroom (Bruning, 88)
It is important for teachers to help their students become good strategy users and help them become more metacognitively aware. Good learners know a lot about their own thinking and memory and use this information to regulate their learning. (Bruning, 102) Students who aren't good learners need help to strengthen their skills.
References:
Bruning, Roger, Gregory Schraw and Royce Ronning. Cognitive Psychology and Instruction.
Personal experience: Study Land, 1986-1987.
Max, Gertie. The Gertie Max Study Systemizer.