EFFECTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES

Professor Jeremy Williams

Chief Academic Officer (Global Operations)Knowledge Universe Education

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Overview

1) Study strategy2) Time3) Professors and

pedagogy4) Technology5) Reading

6) Writing7) Critical thinking8) Teams9) Examinations10) Help

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1) Study strategy

• What is your preferred learning style?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of your preferred style?

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2) Time• Make things happen … don’t

wait for them to happen• Plan your study non-negotiable time blocks ‘windows of opportunity’ quality study times family, work, leisure

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Good habits ... Be task-oriented Prioritise tasks Concentrate on

individual tasks not the whole

Identify regular tasks and build them into your routine

Be pro-active

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… bad habits!ProcrastinationMinutiae before

substance‘Pretend work’‘Dead-line walking’Being reactive

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3) Professors and pedagogy

• Professors not teachers!• Mentors, facilitators,

‘resident’ experts – to help you learn

• Different styles; can be idiosyncratic!

• Ask questions• Regular reflection

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Constructivist educational theory

• Knowledge is constructed as a result of cognitive processes within the human mind

• cf. the instructivist view of education that presumes knowledge exists independently of the knower, and that understanding is coming to know what already exists.

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Constructivist educational theory

• Knowledge is constructed as a result of cognitive processes within the human mind

• cf. the instructivist view of education that presumes knowledge exists independently of the knower, and that understanding is coming to know what already exists.

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Constructivist educational theory

• Knowledge is constructed as a result of cognitive processes within the human mind

• cf. the instructivist view of education that presumes knowledge exists independently of the knower, and that understanding is coming to know what already exists.

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• The constructivists argue that deep learning will occur only when the learner is actively engaged in, operating upon, or mentally processing, incoming stimuli

• In short, constructivism focuses on knowledge construction, not knowledge reproduction.

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‘I hear, I forget.I see, I remember.

I do, I understand.’

www.divinedigest.com/ confu.htm

Confucius (551-479 BC)

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‘That what we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.’

Aristotle (384-322 BC)www.philosophy.pdx.edu/

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What to expect “in class” …• Interactive courseware to reinforce

understanding of the key concepts and content introduced to you from your reading

• Asynchronous discussion with peers• Diversity of knowledge sources – use this to

your benefit.

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Assessment• What you will NOT get …• An assessment load so great that it gets in

the way of learning• Multiple-choice examinations• Essay assignments that require ‘text-book’

answers• An invigilated, closed-book, final

examination.

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Assessment• What you will get …• Assessment that is “little and often”• Problem-based learning (PBL)• Short discussion board assignments• Case study analysis in small groups• A compulsory open-book, open-web (OBOW)

final assessment.

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A ‘willing suspension of disbelief’• It was Samuel T Coleridge (19th century poet)

who first coined this phrase• Suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy

poetry, plays, novels and TV sitcoms• It is also required for the PGCIB!• Scenarios are created that will be as authentic

as possible• Deeper learning will occur if you enter into

the spirit of things.

The Learning Pyramid

Ref: National Training Laboratories, Bethel, Maine, USA

AverageRetention Rate

Facilitate learning of others

Lecture

Discussion groupDemonstration

AudiovisualReading

Practice by doing

5%10%20%30%50%75%90%

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• Technology is an integral part of business

• => integral part of business education• The learning curve may be steep for

some ...

4) Technology

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Harnessing the power of the ICTs

The First Law of the Internet states that the answer is on the Internet. Therefore the quest is no longer “Where to find the answer” but “How to word the question”.

Randi

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Learning rests on diversity of opinions

… it is a question of connecting specialised nodes or information

sources

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• Courseware helps to direct reading

• Consider speed reading/scanning

• Seek to understand rather than memorise

• Regular reflection

5) Reading

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6) Writing

• Written communication is a vital business skill

• Regular participation in discussion boards improves this skill

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What to watch out for …

• Plagiarism – a policy of zero tolerance• Referencing – use an internationally

‘recognised’ system• Assignments and final assessment – must

be submitted electronically

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Other handy hints …• Go for quality before quantity• Avoid the ‘blunderbuss’ approach• Do not approach a topic uncritically

especially in a PBL learning environment

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• Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking, in order to make your thinking better.

Richard Paul, 1992, Critical Thinking: What Every Person Needs to Survive in a Rapidly Changing World, p. 7.

7) Critical thinking

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Characteristics of unstructured problems ...

• Cannot be described completely • Have more than one potentially viable

solution option • Generate controversy, even among experts • Have incomplete information that is subject

to a variety of interpretations

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… characteristics of unstructured problems

• Have a variety of solution options with unknown outcomes

• Often need to be addressed repeatedly over time as conditions change and better information becomes available

• Can be addressed through a problem solving process that uses information in increasingly complex ways

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Content knowledge/problem solving skills

Identifying the unstructured nature of the problem

Framing an unstructured problem

Resolving an unstructured problem

Readdressing an unstructured problem

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4The ‘stair-step’ critical thinking

model (Lynch, Wolcott & Huber 1998)

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The importance of a conditional or probabilistic approach

• Encourages people to distinguish between their own interpretations of reality and alternative interpretations

• Examples: ‘may be’, ‘might be’, ‘could be argued’, ‘possibly’, ‘perhaps’, rather than ‘is’ or ‘does’.

• The use of definitive language imposes certainty where it may not exist.

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• A feature of modern business (Senge 1990)

• Integral part of business curriculum

• Benefits of collaborative learning are considerable, but …

• ‘Difficult’ team mates

8) Teams

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• Exams => stress; anxiety; fear of not performing; guessing game; unnatural setting

• Open-book, open-web (OBOW) exams are a different proposition

9) Examinations

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… examinations• To be productive,

keep a cool head• Regular reflection

takes the pain out of exam preparation

• A celebration of learning

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10) Help• Never suffer in silence!• Help is available – make use

of it… professors fellow students LCC Student Services

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Good luck with your studies!