The Purpose of This Session Is To

Session 4

The purpose of this session is to:

• introduce strategies for learning to learn

Learning to learn

Aims

• to introduce the concept of learning to learn

for participants to be aware of the many different strategies we use in learning and that individual learners have their own preferences

• to be aware of the importance for adult literacies learners of being familiar with a variety of strategies for effective learning
• for participants to reflect on what they have learned from the visit to adult literacies provision

Outcomes

Participants will:

• be more aware of their own learning strategies
• be able to engage learners in an exploration of learners’ existing strategies for learning and of alternative strategies

• understand some aspects of memory use in learning contexts and how it can be improved
• be able to draw on their experience of visiting adult literacies provision

10 minutes

Reflection on session 3

4H1

The purposes of this activity are to:

encourage participants throughout the course to develop a reflective approach to their practice

highlight the basic principles of adults literacies learning

For discussion:

• Any questions about the last session?
• Any thoughts from your reflective diaries that you would like to share?
• Any comments about this handout?
• Any thoughts from background reading?

Introduction to session 4

In this session we shall be looking at:

• different methods of learning
• different learning styles
• short- and long-term memory
• how tutors can make use of this information to contribute to effective learning
• discussing how you got on on your visit to provision for adult literacies learners

15 minutes

How do we learn?

4T1, 4H2

The purposes of this exercise are to:

• enable participants to reflect on their own learning in different situations
• become aware of the wide variety of methods which are used in learning

1)Individually take 5 minutes to complete
the tasksheet 4T1 How do we learn?

2)In the whole group, go over each
practice on the tasksheet asking for two
or three responses per question. Record
answers on a flipchart.

Input

Learning to learn is crucial for all learners. Like
all areas of learning, some approaches suit
some people better than others. New ideas are
always being developed so it’s important not to
stop being learners ourselves and to keep up
to date with new developments in our
understanding of study skills and adult learning.

In whole group

3) Ask:

a)How might it help a learner to be
aware of learning methods they
use?

b)Do you think other methods can
be learned?

4) Refer to 4H2 Methods of learning
as a reference sheet which can be
added to by the participants.

15 minutes

Learning styles

4T2, 4H3

The purpose of this activity is to:

• raise awareness of individual preferences for different learning styles

In whole group

3 minutes

1)Refer to 4T2 Learning styles quiz and ask
participants to complete the quiz individually.

12 minutes

2)Ask participants to identify which learning
styles they think their answers demonstrate,
then check with the answer sheet.

3)Refer to information on visual/auditory/
kinaesthetic on 4T2.

4)What other learning styles are participants
aware of?

Input

It is important not to label learners as having
one style – the most effective learners use a
combination of methods, and as tutors we
should encourage learners to experiment
with different ways of learning.

5)How will an awareness of learning styles
affect the way we work with learners?

Research suggests we should not place too
much emphasis on learning styles. Other
aspects of learning and teaching – for
example, encouraging thoughtful answers
to questions, and questions from the
learners – may have more effect on the
success of learning.

6)Refer to 4H3 on dyslexic for background
reading.

30 minutes

Memory

4H4, 4H5, 4 PPT1, 4 PPT2

The purposes of this activity are to:

• explore how our memories work
• discover what memory techniques could be useful for learners

15 minutes

1)Introduce a short memory test. Read out
this list of words, or your own list slowly:

• house
• door
• room
• of
• the
• tiles
• and
• sun
• tsunami
• water
• pink car
• tree
• bush
• chair
• sock
• the
• of
• book
• hat
• chin

Write down as many as you can remember in 1 minute.

Ask people to recall items, starting with the first in the list and record on a flipchart.

2)Which words were easier to remember, and why?

3)Did learners write down any words that weren’t on the original list?

4)Who remembered
(a) all?

(b) one to three missing?

(c) quite a few missing?

5)What made this task harder than
a lot of memory tasks?

6)What would have made it easier
for you?

7)What methods do people use for
memory tasks? – flipchart

Refer to 4H4 Smashin’ scope.

The brain needs breaks

5 minutes

• We tend to remember the first and
  last items in a period of learning, as
  in the memory test, so you learn
  more efficiently if you give yourself
  regular breaks.
• If you stop studying and go and do
  something physical, you give your
  brain a chance to absorb the
  information.
• Short-term memory can store only
  5–9 items, and it disintegrates after
  12 hours. To transfer items to
  long-term memory requires some
  effort, unless the item is something
  dramatic or links with familiar items.
  Reviewing immediately after
  learning and regularly afterwards
  is the most effective method.

Show 4 PPT1 Improving learning by
taking breaks and 4 PPT2 Improving
learning by reviewing and refer to 4H5
Improving learning for homework
reading.

5 minutes

In small groups

8) Draw up a list on a sheet of
flipchart of points about what
helps and hinders memory
that you would want a
literacy learner to be aware of.

5 minutes

9) Display the flipcharts and
look for additional points
that other groups have made.

For learners with specific
learning difficulties or learning
disabilities, it is particularly
important to discuss how well
and how much they can
remember. The 5–9 items
suggested for short-term
memory may not be realistic.
In areas such as spelling
it is essential to set achievable
goals.

30 minutes

Mind mapping

Resources: blank A4 paper, coloured felt-tip pens

The purpose of this activity is to:

• explore one learning technique that adult literacies learners might find useful

1)

a) What are mind maps?

b) What do people use them for?

c) What are their particular features?

2) Try out a mind map for one purpose, which is
generating ideas quickly.

a)Take a piece of blank A4 paper and
position it lengthwise.

b)Demonstrate the basic pattern on a sheet
of flipchart and get participants to copy
(see 4A5 Mind map).

c)Ask participants to spend 3 minutes filling
in as many words as they can on things
that give them pleasure. Write one word
per line.

3) Was this a useful method for you? Why
or why not?

10 minutes

4) Another purpose is memorising:

• Draw a second mind map to help you
  remember what you have learned today
  about memory: the use of colour and
  pictures as well as activities ties in with
  what we know about how memory works.
• Show to your neighbour and discuss
  similarities and differences

5 minutes

a) is this an approach that works for you?
Comments?

b) What would be the benefits of mind
mapping for an adult literacies?

In this session we’ve only had time to touch on study skills, memory techniques and mind mapping. This is an area that it would be valuable for you to explore further yourselves through books, the internet, discussion withother participants on this course or trying ourmind mapping software. Your resources list includes some starting points.

Blank mind map

15 minutes

Visit to adult literacies provision

3T4

The purpose of this activity is to:

• reflect on what has been learned from the visit to adult literacies provision

5 minutes

In pairs

1)Compare notes on your visit to provision.

2)Pick out something from your visit that
you think will help you in your role as tutor.

10 minutes

In whole group

3)Most useful for you from the visit?

4)Anything unexpected from the visit?

5)Any questions or comments

Throughout the rest of the training it will be
useful to try and relate what we cover to the
learner or learners you have now met. But
remember that you have only met a small
sample of learners, so don’t draw too many
conclusions about adult literacies learners
from your experience.

5 minutes

Homework tasks

4T3

Ask participants to:

• Try out some of the learn-to-learn techniques, particularly ones that you don’t normally use. For example, you could improve your memory mind map or try making one using mind-mapping software (such as Inspiration, Ygnius, NovaMind).
• Find out more about Learn to learn or Study skills.
• Choose something from this session to commit to your long-term memory. How will you do it?

Read over the course materials from this session.

• Keep your reflective diary going.

For session 5

• Bring in an example of a text that an adult literacies learner might encounter in everyday life which is difficult to read in terms of presentation: colour, size of print, font or other features.

5 minutes

Reflective diaries

1T7

The purposes of this activity are to:

• encourage participants to begin to reflect on their own learning experiences
• see this as a valuable tool for literacies tutors

Reflection time is built into every session as a contribution to evaluation.

• Emphasise the value of a reflective approach for tutors and learners in adult literacies learning.
• Take some time to reflect on the session and to make your own notes, using either the sheets or booklet provided or your own method.

Encourage students to continue the exercise through the week.

10 minutes

Evaluation

The purpose of this activity is to:

• underline the importance of evaluation for tutoring in adult literacies

Evaluation is a crucial activity in adult literacies learning. So far in the course we have introduced different approaches to evaluation.

• Tonight we will use one of the methods suggested last week.

For the remaining sessions decide as a group what evaluation method or methods you will use.

You may want to:

• use the same method each time
• try a variety of methods
• evaluate groups of sessions, for example two sessions on numeracy

ITALL revised pack 20141/17Education Scotland