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Topic outline

 

  • Time: 16 hours
    Level: Introductory

 
 

Introduction

  • Introduction Resource
  • This unit has been written because it is all too easy not to take an active approach to learning, thinking and doing, merely reading information but not actively engaging with it. The unit itself is a...
 

Reading 1 Learning and reflection

  • 1.1 Learning to learn Resource
  • This unit is about developing your effectiveness as a learner. For example, there are activities which invite you to apply theories to practice and also to criticise theories in the light of practical...
  • 1.2 Effective course study Resource
  • Research into how people study effectively suggests that it is important to pay attention not only to the content of what we are trying to learn but also to the process of our learning. Time spent on the...
  • 1.3 Learning beyond course study Resource
  • Learning how to learn has become an important goal in higher education. There is a national context in which an emphasis on ability to learn has come to prominence. It is now widely asserted that an ability...
  • 1.4 Reflection and course study Resource
  • Many of the units on the OpenLearn website include self-assessment questions and activities designed to require you to stop and think, sometimes to take action. This is also true of many Open University...
  • 1.5 Defining reflection Resource
  • Reflection is both an academic concept and also a word in common use, combining ideas of thinking, musing, pondering and so on. This everyday meaning is a good basis from which to start: reflection is...
  • 1.6 Making the most of your reflections Resource
  • The value of the work you do on all the activities in this unit will be strengthened if you can keep track of it and follow the development of your own ideas as they build up. It helps to keep your notes...
  • 1.7 Building on strengths Resource
  • A self-review exercise for your learning file
  • 1.8 Conclusions Resource
  • Could both of these students have got more from their involvement with the course if they had taken time to reflect on their goals and their strengths and weaknesses, especially at the beginning of study?...
 

Reading 2 What is learning?

  • 2.1 Different conceptions of learning Resource
  • Although we spend large amounts of our lives learning, intentionally and otherwise, it is quite unusual to spend any time thinking about what learning actually is. This reading gives you an opportunity...
  • 2.2 Memorising, understanding and doing Resource
  • You are now likely to be aware of various ways in which learning is diverse – as a process and in terms of its outcomes. In this final section is a very simple scheme for discriminating between the demands...
  • 2.3 The learner's repertoire Resource
  • Much of the learning required in this unit is a mix of understanding and skill development. Very little rote memorisation is involved. In learning generally, the different kinds of activity required for...
  • 2.4 Using a variety of methods for effective study Resource
  • You may find it difficult at this stage to recognise what kind of activity would be most helpful for which parts of course study. In any case, people differ in what works best for them. The important point...
  • 2.5 Back to your definition Resource
  • Now you have worked through this reading, reflect on your own version of what learning is, as you drafted it for your learning file at the start of this reading. Did you give more emphasis to the outcomes...
 

Reading 3 Models of the learning process

  • 3.1 The acquisitive model of learning Resource
  • What happens when we learn? I shall explore three explanations, or models, of learning which attempt to answer this question. These three models have particular strengths and weaknesses. The point is not...
  • 3.2 The constructivist model of learning Resource
  • This model of learning concentrates on what happens during the process of learning. It identifies the central role of concepts and understandings that learners bring to new learning and the way in which...
  • 3.3 The experiential model of learning Resource
  • The main proponent of this approach to learning, David Kolb, put forward a theory which he intended to be sufficiently general to account for all forms of learning (Kolb, 1984). He argued that there are...
  • 3.4 Conclusion Resource
  • The headings alongside each of the activities in this article were there to remind you of the three different types of learning to which you were introduced in Reading 2: memorising, understanding and...
 

Reading 4 Learning to act: managing and systems practice

  • 4.1 Introduction Resource
  • This unit teaches some aspects of systems thinking and practice. But what does it mean to be a systems practitioner, and is it different to being a manager? This reading attempts to answer those questions....
  • 4.2 What it means to be good at managing Resource
  • What does it mean to be ‘good at managing’ and what part does systems thinking and practice play? One way to explore the first question is to ask what you know about your work that a school leaver, or...
  • 4.3 New ways of thinking and acting: systems practice Resource
  • There are a wide variety of concepts and theories relating to management and managing. This unit is centred on the ideas and techniques that we believe define systems thinking, but it also draws upon concepts...
 

References and Acknowledgements

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