This is a learning strategy that can be used in any course to assist a
learner with establishing a schema (discussed in your text) for
learning new content.
Step 1: Survey the text
- Flip through the pages and read the chapter titles, out loud –
do NOT just read the titles from the Table of Contents page! You must
flip through the pages to benefit from the layering effect of this
exercise. - You are only reading the chapter titles and supplemental material section titles
Step 2: Survey the chapter
- flip through the pages of the chapter in which you are preparing to work
- read the chapter title,
- then read (out loud) the section headings,
- then start back at the front of the chapter and read (out loud)
the subheadings. You must do headings and subheadings separately.
Step 3 – Survey the sections
- Return to the first page of the chapter on which you are preparing to work
- Read the terms in bold out loud
- Read the terms and definitions in the margins out loud
- Read the Tables, picture captions, and insert sections
- NOW you are ready to begin reading the chapter – you should now
be able to make fewer highlights and take fewer notes on those items
that are unfamiliar or unclear and that appear to be most significant.
Repeat steps 1-3 each time you begin to work in a new chapter. Try
this technique with other textbooks and/or manuals in which you are
working in order to learn new content. An analogy to this exercise is
putting together a puzzle: first you find the corners, then you find the
edges, once you have created the ‘frame’ you then begin to fill in the
pieces. That is what you are doing when you apply this strategy to a
textbook.
Week 1 Drop Box Assignment:
Reflect on your reactions to this activity: What insights did you
gain from this activity? What conclusions can you draw from this
activity about how people learn? What conclusions can you draw about
yourself as a learner? To which chapter in the text do you think this
activity relates and why?
Use APA Format. Textbook is Educational Psycology Bruce W. Tuckman, David M. Monetti
ISBN-13: 978-0-495-50034-6
ISBN-10: 0-495-50034-8
