Learning strategy

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Definition

According to Jasmina Hasanbegovic^[1] “learning strategies refer to Students' self-generated thoughts, feelings, and actions, which are systematically oriented toward attainment of their goals”.

Therefore, implementation of appropriate learning strategies is related to student's self-regulation behavior which in turn should be encouraged by pedagogical designs.

Typical strategic questions a learner might ask, are:

How to write a project thesis. How do I have to do a literature review?
How to structure my course and lecture notes? How can I cope with note taking ?
How to organize my time and keep track of various assignments ?
How can I tackle a difficult exercise, e.g. a math problem ?

Types of learning strategies

Globally, one could distinguish among the following kinds

Disciplinary heuristics (e.g. "Look at this and that" kind of advice)
General problem-solving heuristics
Metacognition

Cognitive vs. behavioral vs. self-regulating

Warr & Allan (1998) distinguish between three categories according to the kind of resources used in the regulation of behavior:

Cognitive learning strategies: skills in rehearsing a material to be learned or in organizing it into main theme
behavioral learning strategies: preferences for seeking help from others, for trial and error or for written instruction
self-regulating strategies: controlling emotions, motivation and comprehension [1]

Metacognition

See the metacognition article for details.

Blakey and Spence (1990) describe techniques that facilitate metacognition, or "thinking about thinking." Citing the educational value of student-owned learning, the authors suggest that thinking about one's own behavior is the first step towards directing that behavior and learning how to learn. The strategies they discuss as a means to developing metacognition include: "identifying 'what you know' and 'what you don't know'"; "talking about thinking"; "keeping a journal"; "planning and self-regulation"; "debriefing the thinking process"; and "self-evaluation."

Learning styles vs. learning strategies

Issues regarding learning style are somewhat related, i.e. students that willing and able to think in more abstract terms and/or to critically examine what they do may show better performance.

A learning style refers to the relationship between individuals and their ways of learning ^[2] whereas learning strategies refer to attitudes and behavior that is oriented towards goals. As an example, one could compare/oppose:

Learning style	Learning strategy
self-assessment	self-assessment
field-dependent	field-independent
cognitive level	plus meta-cognitive level
learner preference	learner competence

Instructional design considerations

It is important to engage students in strategic thinking, in particular more open designs like project-oriented learning.

There exist instructional design models like POME or at least simple pedagogical activities like asking students to blog from time to time about their own progress.