What are Learning Strategies and Techniques?

Learning is a multidimensional process that shapes the behavior of individuals as a result of experiences. It is an important element that enables people to have the necessary knowledge and skills to have better living conditions.

The most important factor in the learning process is the students. In this process, there are many learning strategies that facilitate students' learning and make it permanent in their minds. It is very important to know these strategies correctly as well as applying them. So what are learning strategies? Is it always possible to apply the same strategy?

What is a Learning Strategy?

Strategy is the set of ways and means to achieve a specific goal. Strategy is used in many different contexts. One of these is learning strategy, which is the facilitation of self-learning through the ways and methods chosen by the learner.

Learning strategies enable the individual to integrate the information presented to him/her in his/her mind and make it permanent. Strategies require continuity and effort to yield a successful result. For this reason, it is very important for the individual to adopt the most appropriate learning strategy.

What are Learning Strategies?

Learning strategies are classified into 5 groups. These are;

1. Repeat (Repetition) Strategies
2. Signification Strategies
3. Organizing Strategies
4. (Monitoring Comprehension) Executive Cognition Strategies
5. Affective Strategies.

Recommendation:What are Memorable Study Techniques?

1. Iteration Strategies

These are mental repetition strategies that use information that is desired to be remembered. It is the most commonly used technique by people in the basic learning process. Underlining the important parts of the text and taking notes by writing the words without changing them are the basic characteristics of repetition strategies.

• Underlining: It is the determination of the main points in the text and underlining the points that the reader should pay attention to.
• Note Taking with the Same Words: Note taking in the margin of the text by using the words in the text in the same way. Note taking in the margin will make it easier for the learner to establish a relationship between the two when repeating.

2. Making Sense Strategies

Strategies that enable students to learn permanently and meaningfully by establishing relationships between information. Interpretation strategies are realized as a result of integrating newly learned information with existing information. These strategies include actions such as creating mental images, using them in sentences, and taking notes.

• Mental Image Formation: It is used in situations that enable the student to visualize mentally and imaginatively. It is the formation of a concrete entity in the mind as a result of images.
• Using in a Sentence: The use of key words in learning concepts related to various subjects.
• Summarizing: It is a way of summarizing the text. Important parts are distinguished and integrated in the mind, resulting in a content that is easier to remember.
• Note Taking: It is a way of explaining the main outlines of the text in relation to the content. By taking notes, it is aimed to make the information more permanent and useful.

3. Organizing Strategies

It ensures that the information to be learned is reorganized and made more meaningful. Outlining the text, creating schema, grouping, charting are among the organizing strategies.

• Outlining: It is to identify the main and supporting ideas of a text. Outlining aims to gain insight into the content.
• Schema Building: It is aimed to visualize the information and keep it in mind. By creating a diagram, the student learns a subject by associating it with its outlines.
• Charting: Reorganizing the information in the content in the form of a chart.
• Grouping: It is the most commonly used strategy. It is a grouping process created by taking into account the common characteristics of the information to be remembered.

4. Strategies for Monitoring Comprehension

Strategies that enable students to identify, execute and evaluate the way they learn. It helps the student to produce solutions to the parts that are faulty in the individual learning process. Self-evaluation, identifying the problem, producing solutions are the qualities included in the strategies of monitoring comprehension.

• Identifying Problems: Identifying the problems that prevent the student from learning.
• Self-Assessment: Self-assessment is the process by which an individual determines his/her level in the learning process.
• Directing Reactions: It is the ability of the student to direct his/her reactions to keep the student focused throughout the learning process.
• Solution Generation: It is the ability of the individual to offer a logical solution to his/her mistakes.

5. Affective Strategies

These are activities implemented to eliminate the emotional or motivational barriers that students face during the learning process. Even if students apply appropriate learning strategies, they sometimes have difficulty in reaching their goals due to the influence of emotional factors.

Affective strategies help to remove the disturbing factors from the environment. This strategy is used to provide motivation in the face of negative factors such as inability to concentrate, inability to focus on the subject and anxiety. In short, affective strategies are applied to eliminate the negative emotional factors that occur in the learner.

• Inability to Focus Attention: It is the inability of the student to focus his/her attention on the subject being learned during the learning process. In addition to negative thoughts, environmental factors are also effective in distracting the student. Staying away from both internal and external factors that will distract attention will ensure focus.
• Reducing Anxiety: It is the emotion that develops as a result of the student's fear of not being successful. This situation, which prevents learning, brings failure when it is not under control. It is possible to prevent this situation by studying regularly and building self-confidence.
• Motivation: It is the factor that mobilizes the learner to learn. It can be intrinsic and extrinsic. Motivation helps to increase the desire to learn in the learner. Therefore, it is a very important element in the learning process.
• Positive Attitudes: The negative attitudes of the student towards the lesson and learning should be determined and these attitudes should be eliminated. Positive behaviors contribute to the permanent learning of the student.

Learning strategies are a highly effective roadmap for individual learning. These strategies should be personalized and teachable. A student who makes his/her own self-assessment will be conscious of all the decisions he/she will make not only in school but also outside of school. For this reason, it is very important to know the correct strategy to be applied, when and how to apply it.