IndependentLearningSkillsQuestionnaire

QuestionnaireandcompetencerecordName:
WhenIamstudying....
Books
Icanfindsuitablebooksinthelibrary........................
Icanfindtherelevantsections usingcontents,................
andindex.......................
NonBook
Icanfindrelevantjournalsandothernonbooksources.....
Ihaveusedajournalindex....................................................
CDROM&theinternet
IfindrelevantCDRoms........................................................
Ifindrelevantmaterialusinglogicalsearches......................
Isearchtheinternetforusefulsites......................................
Iprintoutonlyvitalmaterial.................................................
IevenreadthematerialIprintout!.......................................
StudySkills
Ireadinaninterrogativeway(withquestions
inmind)..................................................................................
Iskimread..............................................................................
Ispeedread............................................................................
Imakenotesfrommyreading..............................................
Imakenotesfrommycomputersearches...........................
Iproducemindmapsorothersummaries...........................
CopingStrategies
IfIcan'tunderstand:

Itryharder............................
orchangeresources................
IrecognisewhenIamstuckandchangestrategy................
Ihavethecouragetoask:afellowstudentforhelp........
alecturerforhelp...................
IfIcan'tfindsuitablematerials
Iaskalibrarian...............
orafellowstudent........
oralecturer..................

Cant or
dont do

I do this
I can do
Ihave

sometimes
this well

Cant or
dont do

Monitoringmylearning
Iselftestmyownrecallofimportantfacts........................
Iselftestmyunderstanding...............................................
Ipreparewellforatest.......................................................
Imaintainconcentrationwhilestudying............................
IrereadtasksIamworkingonoften..................................
Iinterpretthebriefcorrectly.................................................
andkeeptoit..............
Ithinkcarefullyaboutmylearningstrategies...................
Iamlearninghowtoimprovemylearning........................

SelfManagement
Ifindanattractiveandpracticalplacetostudy............
Imakegooduseofmytime................................................
Icompleteontime..............................................................
Ichoosetasksappropriatetothetimebearingin
mindtirednessetc)................................................................
Iapplynewlearningtolearnactionplans........
Iamresponsivetothesituation,e.g.ifpreventedfrom
doingtaskX,thenIdotaskYinstead................................
Imakeuseofparallelworking(doingX&Ytogether).........
Imakeeffectiveuseofnonlecturetime......
Summary
Statetwothings.......
...youfinddifficultaboutlearning
...youenjoyaboutlearning
...youdowell
...youcouldimprovenexttime
OveralllearningtolearnScore/10

I do this
sometimes

I can do
this well

Learningtolearnbyselfassessment
IusedthelearningskillsquestionnaireshownformyAlevelphysicsstudents,pleaseadaptitfor
yourstudents.Iftheyarelevel1or2,thequestionnairewillneedtobegreatlysimplified.
Thequestionnairediscoversastudent'scompetencyorweaknessinvariouslearningtolearnskills.
Ithasthestrengththatitcanbereferredtofromtimetotimeduringaprogramme,andusedfor
targetsetting.Forexampleifastudentcompletesthequestionnaire,sayafterdoingtheirfirst
independentlearningassignment,andthetutornoticesthatthatthestudentisnotconfidentwith:
CDROMkeywordsearches
Askingotherstudentsforhelpwhenstuck
Thenthesecanbediscussedandappropriatetargetscanbeset,andreviewedafterthenext
independentlearningassignmentoratthenextmonitoringmeeting.
Thecopingstrategiesonthisquestionnaireareworthyofparticularattention,astheymayholdthe
cluetowhyastudentfindsdifficultywiththeirlearning.Anabsenceofthesecopingstrategies
maybeamajorcontributingfactortoastudentdroppingout.Thequestionnaireisadaptedfrom
thesecondeditionof"TeachingToday"byGeoffreyPettyStanleyThornes.
Teaching"LearningtoLearn"Skills
WeneedtoteachtheskillsandattitudesrequiredforeffectiveLearning.Theydonotspring
magicallyfrommaturation.Kolbsreflectivelearningcycleisusefulhere.

Do
Thestudentcompletes
anindependent
learningassignment

Apply

Review

Actionplanpointsfor
improvementbecome
tasksinthenextIL
assignment

Learningisassessed,
andthecompetences
areusedforreflection

Learn
Onetoonewithteacher
thestudentagrees
actionforimprovement

Afteranindependentlearningassignmentanditsassessment,orindeedbefore,thestudentsare
askedtoreviewtheirlearningtolearnskills.Thisselfevaluationcanbeaidedbyachecklist,
competences,orbyansweringaquestionnaire:
Didyoufindadequateresources?Whatdidyoudoifyougotstuck?...CanyousearchaCDROM?...
(Seethequestionnaireabove)
Afterthisselfevaluationthestudentmaydecide,ornegotiatewiththeteacher,goalsfor
improvement.Forexample:
Iplantofindmorethanjustonebookonthetopic;......askforhelpfromfriendsmoredeterminedlywhenI
getstuck;.........findouthowtosearchaCDROMwithkeywords...
Thesegoalsbecometheactionplanforthenextassignmentorperiodofstudy.Theycanbe
writtenatthetopofnewassignmentsinaspaceespeciallyprovidedforthepurpose.Attaining
thegoalscanthenbecomepartofthenextassignment,andcanbeselfevaluatedbythestudent,the
teachermayalsoprovidefeedbackontheattainmentoftheselearningtolearngoals.
Youcanofcourseaddresslearningtolearnskillsdirectlyintutorialsessions,orinaspecific
learningtolearnassignment.Oncethestudentshavedevelopedbasiclearningtolearnskills,and
thehabitofreflectingontheirperformancethissupportshouldbecomelessandlessnecessary.
Level3studentsoftenonlyneedtousethequestionnaireonce,thoughsomewillbenefitfrom
usingitrepeatedly.
Seechapter33onIndependentLearninginTeachingToday2ndEdbyGeoffreyPettyformore
detail.
GeoffPetty2000