Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Ensure Quality Learning

The most important thing about being a student is that it is a time of life when one can devote oneself pretty much entirely to something that is really interested for oneself. To gain greater success in formal education, the acquisition of knowledge is emphasized. One of the keys to successful learning is using the "organizing and transforming information strategies". It includes rearrangement of materials, highlighting the important points, drawing pictures, diagrams and charts. Students need to prepare a list of errors they have made, record of their marks and all drafts of their assignments. To familiarize themselves with memorizing strategies, they need to make sample questions, using mental imagery and reciprocal teaching; when one student teaches another or a small group of students. Preparing a time management schedule and sequencing steps allow them to monitor their progression when concluding a problem or performing a given task. These strategies are helpful for them to focus more on their overall goals and objectives.



Self-reflection provides a path which directs their learning into the peak of success. Self-reflection includes self-judgment, self-reaction, self-instruction, self-reinforcement, and task analysis. Self-judgment is the evaluation of the students' own performance against some standards. They also search for causes of errors and attempt to solve their problems. They have to ask themselves to consider the following; Did they accomplish what they plan to do or were they distracted? Did they plan enough time or did they need more time than they thought? Under what conditions did they accomplish the most work? Self-instruction is based on how students instruct themselves. It affects their ability to successfully implement their strategies. Self-reinforcement is based on monitoring motivational pattern that includes competence of students to perform the task, importance of the goals for them, praise and criticism. Task analyses assist them in achieving their goals and make that vision into the reality. It is the analysis of how a task s accomplished, including a detailed description of task and element durations, task frequency, task allocations, task complexity, environmental conditions and any other unique factor involved in or required for one or more students to perform a given task.

One reason why students don't carry out the required standard is lack of systematic plan and good strategy to follow that plan. All it takes is thorough planning for seeking assistance and structuring of the physical study environment. Imitation of exemplary models, seeking social assistance from peers, teachers and parents help them to make learning easier. Environmental structuring strategies i.e., selecting or arranging the physical setting, eliminating or minimizing distractions, break up study periods and spread them over time help them to overcome learning difficulties and achieve required standard.