学会学习

学习是生活中的基本活动之一,每个人从小就开始学习。学校是学习的基本场所,家庭、社会亦是其学习的空间。然而要做到自觉的学习并不是那么容易的,特别是在没有教师指导下的学习,儿童就应该具有独立学习的能力。因而帮助儿童们学会学习、独立学习就显得尤为重要。     

Learning to play: Playing to learn

Have you ever heard comments such as “In this program we focus on learning —not playing” or “Is this a day care program where children learn or play?” At a time when the importance of early life experiences has gained public attention, there is the temptation to overlook or at least misunderstand the value and importance of play.     

Learning to manage and managing to learn

In this paper Fiona Reeve, Jim Gallacher and Terry Mayes of Glasgow Caledonian University, bring together two current themes in higher education, work‐based learning and the use of new technology in teaching and learning. The paper begins to explore their interaction by examining the ways in which new technology can help to overcome some of the barriers which exist to work‐based learning. To begin this analysis a general model of a WWW‐based learning resource is described which has relevance for a range of open learning contexts. A central aspect of this model is the use of communication technologies to promote the creation of learning dialogues. The way in which this general model might be applied to work‐based learning is then examined. Having suggested that such a model has much to offer work‐based learning, some of the constraints which might be encountered on implementation are then identified. Finally, the authors conclude that it is in promoting more and better forms of communication that new technology can contribute towards work‐based learning practice.     

Learning to learn in informal science settings

Visits to museums and science centres are a part of most school science programs- but are they really learning experiences? By accompanying classes on visits and talking with the teachers and students during and after these visits, information has been gathered on the ways in which school groups currently use visits to two informal science learning settings in Sydney- a science education centre and a large museum. Comparison of the teacher and student behaviours on these visits with current views on good teaching/learning practice, reveals considerable anomalies. At the same time, reported studies of museum visitors suggest that family groups use museums for learning in ways which are quite different from the way most school groups do. Can these apparent mismatches be translated into a pathway for developing new approaches to learning in informal settings?     

Learning to learn: Learning therapy in a college classroom

This paper describes the structure and rationale of the Language and Learning Seminar, a college course that grapples with learned helplessness issues that are frequently associated with LD. Peer/mentors play a vital role in its dynamic oral, written, and electronic communications. Elements of the course work synergistically to bypass long-standing emotional and linguistic barriers to learning. Yalom’s classification of therapeutic elements in group therapy serves as a context in which to explain the learning therapy provided by York University since 1987.     

Learning to design collaboratively: Participation of student designers in a Community of Innovation

Creativity researchers have drawn on cognitive principles to characterize individual innovation. However, few comprehensive frameworks have been developed to relate social innovation to social cognition research. This article introduces the Communities of Innovation (COI) framework and examines its applications in a culture designed to promote collaborative creativity. Findings included evidence for some aspects of the COI model (flow and hacker ethic, entrepreneurship, collaboration and mentoring, sense of community, and learning through design criticism), moderate support for others (dynamic expertise and idea prototyping), but no evidence for other components (developing adaptable knowledge and expertise, symmetrical expertise within the community, community reflection, shifting interpersonal roles, or benefiting from cultural/educational/skill/other diversity). The majority of the new ideas identified and shared by participants were developed through interaction with others. Implications for refinement of the COI framework and future research are discussed.     

Learning to learn: Research and development in student learning

This paper is concerned with systematic attempts to help students to learn more effectively. Current approaches to learning-to-learn, chiefly in Britain and involving groups rather than individuals, are reviewed against the background of recent research findings on student learning. Four issues are identified and discussed: contrasting conceptions of learning-to-learn; responses to the problems posed by subject and contextual varations in learning demands; the implications of autonomy, change and the individual learner; and the relationship between research on learning and the development of approaches to learning-to-learn.     

Learning to learn in higher education: developing a modus vivendi

This paper examines the ways in which learning in higher education can influence a person’s modus vivendi or way of life. The cases of three individuals following transition to higher education from an apprenticeship in England are presented. Data from individual interviews were analysed according to approaches to reflexivity. In all three cases, the findings show changes to practice in various areas of life and work, which in turn prompted them to revisit their initial concerns. The modus vivendi was influenced by different approaches to reflexivity in addition to new concerns or tensions that arose. Also permeating lived experiences were the role of networks (both personal and at work) and the enjoyment of higher level learning that could act as pivotal enablements or constraints.     

Learning how teachers learn in underdeveloped countries

This paper argues that practitioners and researchers in underdeveloped countries should organize themselves into teams to find and share research and experience-based information about factors that influence the quality of teaching. The teams would compile locally-developed knowledge about three topics: What teaching practices are most effective in classrooms? How do teachers who use those practices learn them? How and what should teacher training institutions teach teachers so that they will use effective practices? The paper briefly reviews published research to argue that the answers to the latter two questions are not yet fully developed, and especially not for underdeveloped countries.     

Learning to teach: some perceptions of trainee teachers of mathematics on working collaboratively in the classroom

This paper examines trainees' perceptions of the impact, on secondary mathematics trainees, of collaborative school‐based work involving small groups of trainees, a university tutor and a class teacher. The findings suggest that trainees' become better able to plan and deliver a coherent yet diverse sequence of lessons, that their awareness of children's learning styles and misconceptions was raised and that preconceived notions about teaching and learning were challenged and mediated. A few trainees found the experience unhelpful and threatening. The role of the tutor was found to influence trainees' responses to the program and, to an extent, moderate the effects of variations in teacher involvement. Some implications are discussed.     

Learning from childhood to mature adulthood: what makes people want ‘to learn to learn’ and keep on learning?

This article describes 35 individuals who have expressed an interest in taking university courses after retirement. Longitudinal data and individuals' own accounts are presented, in an effort to clarify the role that symbolic resources play in individuals' lives, for their capacity to construct their own identity, to function as social actors, and ‘to learn to learn’. It is argued that their lives provide grounds to consider a re‐conceptualisation of adult learning.     

Can students be helped to learn how to learn? An evaluation of an Approaches to Learning programme for first year degree students

This study reports on an attempt to improve the quality of student learning by integrating an Approaches to Learning programme, consisting of 8 workshops, into the first year Psychology curriculum. Written accounts of students' conceptions of learning were collected at the beginning and end of the programme. Content analysis showed that there was a significant shift from naive to more sophisticated conceptions (29% to 60%) in students who had attended more than half the workshops, by the end of the programme. The programme also showed several significant benefits on students' academic performance. Students who attended all the workshops on essay writing and examination taking, obtained higher essay and examination marks than students who did not attend these workshops.However, when we looked at the effects on academic performance of taking a deep approach and holding a more sophisticated conception of learning, the findings were not so clear cut. Depending on the measure used, there was conflicting evidence about whether examination performance or essay performance benefitted the most. The implications of these results are discussed with particular reference to the role of assessment, in enhancing the quality of student learning.     

Working collaboratively with teachers to promote effective learning

The work of educational psychologists (EPs) is often focused on those children identified as having special educational needs. This focus may restrict opportunities for EPs to become involved in the wider application of psychology within education. This article explores ways in which EPs can make an effective contribution to the enhancement of learning opportunities for all children by working collaboratively with teachers. As a group of EPs working in the same local education authority (LEA), we undertook a small‐scale action research project with teachers in order to explore ways to promote children's thinking and learning skills. The study involved us working with Year 5 class teachers in three mainstream primary schools over a six‐week period, with the aim of developing materials which helped pupils develop an awareness of their own learning techniques (metacognition) and a positive and confident approach to learning (self‐efficacy). Some of the benefits of and barriers to joint research are considered, as well as implications for future collaborative work between teachers and EPs.