Understanding how humans learn has long been the exclusive domain of educational psychology. This once obscure aspect of education has been of little interest to mainstream educators. In recent years, renewed research in cognition and human information processing has resulted in the development of effective learning and study strategies that can be taught.

Mainstream educators know the majority of their students seem to instinctively understand how to approach learning while other students don’t appear to have the slightest idea. Research suggests individuals with learning disabilities do not develop their own strategies. Instead of thinking of children with learning disabilities as having perceptual deficits, they are now being viewed as having strategy deficits. It is thought that by teaching them how to learn, acquiring an education will be easier. There are a multitude of learning strategies people employ while learning new material. Weinstein and Mayer (1985) categorized strategies and identified five general types. They are:

Rehearsal strategies

These involve repeating the material, either orally or by writing, until it is committed to memory. This is the easiest way to memorize straightforward information such as sight words, multiplication tables or phone numbers. Using rehearing strategies are most effective for people with learning disabilities when they are multi-sensory and all the senses are employed in the rehearsal.

Some children get stuck and rely only on rehearsal strategies, when others may prove to be more efficient. They may not have learned to choose an appropriate strategy because their choices are rarely monitored by the teacher. Gradually, learners come to realize certain kinds of material, which is interesting and organized, is easier to learn; recognition tests are easier than recall tests; paraphrasing is easier than verbatim recall; or active rehearsal produces better results than silent reading.

Elaboration Strategies

These involve making connections between new material and previously learned information. Learning information that is connected to something already learned aids in retention. Most students have little difficulty making these connections. However, for children with learning disabilities, the connections may not be as apparent and links need to be demonstrated.

Organizational Strategies

These involve imposing structure on material to be learned by dividing it into parts and organizing it in a systematic way.

Comprehension-monitoring Strategies

These involve remaining aware of what one is trying to accomplish. It is necessary to know what the learning goal is if you are ever going to achieve it. Shooting for an object is easier once the objective is clearly defined. Only then can the learner monitor their progress towards the goal. ‘What do I have to learn? What have I learned so far?. And, what is there left to learn?”, are monitoring strategies.

Affective strategies

These involve eliminating undesirable affect and getting ready to learn. They include establishing and maintaining motivation, focusing attention, maintaining concentration, managing performance anxiety, and managing time effectively.

Teaching children strategies for learning is being recognized by mainstream and special educators as an effective way to help children with learning problems.

For more information about how people learn, look for books on metacognition at your local library.

Reprinted from The Advocate, LDA BC