MANAGING AND CARING FOR

THE SELF
LEARNING TO BE A BETTER
STUDENT
 KEY TOPICS

A. What happens during learning? Brain and behavior changes

B. Metacognition and study strategies
C. Managing your own learning: self-regulated learning

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Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge,
behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to
learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines; there is
also evidence for some kind of learning in certain plants.

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 WHAT HAPPENS
DURING LEARNING?
BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
CHANGES

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 LEARNING TO BE A BETTER STUDENT

Learning to be a better person is a lifelong process. Mental and

emotional maturity does not come with age. An individual has to
learn to control one’s thoughts, how to process have information and
how to motivate one’s self to learn. Emotional maturity refers to
one’s ability to control one’s emotion/behavior.

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 What happens
during learning?

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 BRAIN CHANGES

• Learning changes the physical structure of the brain. These structural changes alter the
functional organization of the brain; in other words, learning organizes and reorganizes
the brain.
• Changes associated with learning occur mostly at the level of connections between
neurons. New connections form and the internal structure of the existing synapses
change.
• Scientists actually have found that the brain grows more when you learn something
new, and less when you practice things you already know.
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The cerebrum as the large,
outer part of the brain,
controls reading, thinking,
learning, speech, emotions
and planned muscle
movements like walking.

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• Scientists actually have found that the brain grows more when you
learn something new, and less when you practice things you already
know.
• Brain cells actually change shape as we learn. And much of the
action happens as we sleep essentially "wiring" certain common
paths through the brain.
• Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to adapt to changes in an
individual's environment by forming new neural connections over
time.
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NEUROPLASTICITY OCCURS IN THE BRAIN AS
FOLLOWS:

1- At the beginning of life: when the immature brain organizes itself.

2- In case of brain injury: to compensate for lost functions or maximize
remaining functions.
3- Through adulthood: whenever something new is learned and memorized

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 BEHAVIOR CHANGES
Learning can be defined as the process leading to relatively permanent behavioral change or
potential behavioral change. In other words, as we learn, we alter the way we perceive our
environment, the way we interpret the incoming stimuli, and therefore the way we interact, or
behave.

Positive Behavior for Learning habits enable students to engage in learning, make good
academic progress and sustain good relationships with both adults and peers. Establishing
Positive Behavior for Learning habits helps students make smoother transitions into college,
employment and adult life.
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 JAMES O.
PROCHASKA
James O. Prochaska is a
professor of psychology and
director of the Cancer Prevention
Research Center at the University
of Rhode Island. He is the lead
developer of the Transtheoretical
Model of Behavior Change
beginning in 1983.

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 JAMES O. PROCHASKA
• He is internationally recognized for his work as a developer of the stage model
of behavior change.
• He is the principal investigator on over $80 million dollars in research grants
for the prevention of cancer and other chronic diseases.
• He is the founder of Pro-Change Behavior Systems.

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Prochaska has found that people who have successfully made positive
change in their lives go through five specific stages:

• Precontemplation
• Contemplation
• Prepastages
• Action
• Maintenance.

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 PRECONTEMPLATION

“Precontemplation is the stage at which there is no intention to

change behavior in the foreseeable future. Many individuals in this
stage are unaware or under-aware of their problems.” Some people
call this phase “denial.”

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 CONTEMPLATION

“Contemplation is the stage in which people are aware that a problem

exists and are seriously thinking about overcoming it but have not yet
made a commitment to take action.” Many people in this stage can be
described as ambivalent. They want to improve their blood sugar, but
are not yet ready to cut back on eating sweets.

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 ACTION
“Action is the stage in which individuals modify their behavior,
experiences, or environment in order to overcome their problems.
Action involves the most overt behavioral changes and requires
considerable commitment of time and energy.” During the action
stage, one implements the plans developed and information gathered
in the preparation stage.

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 PREPASTAGES

The Preparation stage can be considered the information gathering

and planning stage. The preparation stage is the most important. Fifty
percent of the people who attempt behavior change and skip this
stage will relapse within 21 days, according to Prochaska in his book,
Changing for Good.

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 MAINTENANCE

“Maintenance is the stage in which people work to prevent relapse

and consolidate the gains attained during action. For addictive
behaviors this stage extends from six months to an indeterminate
period past the initial action.”

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METACOGNITION AND
STUDY STRATEGIES

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 METACOGNITION

 literally “beyond knowing”, knowing what one knows and doesn’t know -
promoting a student’s ability to self-monitor levels of understanding and
predict how well (s)he will do on a particular task.
 refers to approaches used to help students understand how they learn; in other
words, it suggests procedures designed to 'think' about their 'thinking' for
students.

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 Metacognition (derived from the Greek root word "meta"
meaning "beyond" and the Latin word "cognoscere"
meaning "getting to know") refers to a student’s ability to be
aware of what they are thinking about and choose a helpful
thought process.

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• Metacognition is use as a strategy for learning by monitoring what have you
learned. This strategy helps you to be self-aware be a problem solver and take
control your learning.
• The key to metacognition is asking yourself self-reflective questions, which
are powerful because they allow us to take inventory of where we currently are
(thinking about what we already know), how we learn (what is working and
what is not), and where we want to be (accurately gauging if we’ve mastered
the material).

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF METACOGNITION

Metacognitive knowledge- this refers to the knowledge of what a

student does or does not know about his or her cognitive processes. It
involves considering their strengths, shortcomings, and finding holes
in their understanding. This form of metacognition often refers to the
awareness of abilities that can be used by students to solve a
question.

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DIFFERENT TYPES OF METACOGNITION

Metacognitive regulation- this relates to the various approaches that

students can use to control their thoughts and feelings. This involves
how well they prepare, monitor and measure their performance. For
instance, it is an example of metacognitive regulation to recognize
that a specific strategy does not give them the results they want and
to decide to pursue another one.

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TECHNIQUES FOR USING METACOGNITION
WHEN STUDYING
• Use syllabus as road maps- Putting things on a road map help you to identify
topics in a chronological order and will help you recognize connections
between topics.
• Summon your prior knowledge- before you read your textbook or attend a
lecture, look at the topic that is covered and ask yourself what you know about
it already such as answering pre-assessments.
• Think aloud- just verbalizing your thoughts can help you make more sense of
the material and internalize it more deeply. Talking aloud is a great way to test
yourself on how well you really know the material.
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TECHNIQUES FOR USING METACOGNITION
WHEN STUDYING
• Ask yourself questions – as what is said earlier, the key for metacognition is
asking self-reflective questions. Take the time to be introspective and honest
with yourself about your comprehension.
• Use writing – writing can help you organize your thoughts and assess what
you know. Write out what you know and what questions you have about the
learning objectives for each topic you are learning.
• Review your exams – Reviewing an exam that you’ve recently taken is a great
time to use metacognition. Look at what you knew and what you missed.

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TECHNIQUES FOR USING METACOGNITION
WHEN STUDYING
• Take a timeout – When you’re learning, it’s important to periodically take a
time out to make sure you’re engaging in metacognitive strategies.
• Test yourself – Self-testing should be an integral part of your study sessions so
that have a clear understanding of what you do and don’t know.
• Figure out how you learn – It is important to figure out what learning
strategies work best for you. It will probably vary depending on what type of
material you are trying to learn but it will be helpful to be open to trying new
things and paying attention to what is effective for you.

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MANAGING YOUR OWN
LEARNING: SELF-
REGULATED LEARNING

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 SELF-REGULATED LEARNING

Self-regulated learning is a cyclical process, wherein the student

plans for a task, monitors their performance, and then reflects on the
outcome. The cycle then repeats as the student uses the reflection to
adjust and prepare for the next task. The process is not one-size-fits-
all; it should be tailored for individual students and for specific
learning tasks (Barry Zimmerman, 2002).

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THE CYCLE OF SELF-REGULATED LEARNING

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 1. PLAN, SET GOALS, AND LAY OUT
STRATEGIES
This first step of the cycle may be overlooked by many students as
they dive headlong into a task. Encouraging students to establish a
plan before they start working on a task will help them strategize
right from the start. Although students may see this as taking a step
backward, it will ultimately help them be more efficient with their
time and effort.

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 Guide students though this process by helping them ask themselves the following
questions:

• Analyze the learning task. Is this a task I've done before or something new? Does it
build off of a task I've done before? How much time will it take?
• Set goals. What are the intermediate checkpoints and sub-goals? Can I complete an
outline with two weeks to go, and then a rough draft one week prior to the due date? That
would allow time to get extra help as needed.
• Plan strategies. Will I need resources from the library, a color printer, help from lab
partners? Given my needs, when should I get started on this task?
• Set expectations for the outcome. Given how much time I have available, my strengths
and weaknesses, what type of outcome would I like? Do I need to "ace" this, or is it OK if
I can just complete it successfully? 33
 2. USE STRATEGIES AND MONITOR
PERFORMANCE

In this phase, students carry out the plan that was outlined in the
forethought phase. Ideally, students can proceed with confidence
because they have already established a detailed plan of action.

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 Here are some key points you can use to coach students through this
phase.
• Use self-observation to reflect on the actions taken by the student and the
effectiveness of the results.
• Because things don't always go smoothly, have students make a plan for what to do
when obstacles arise.
• Prompt students to stick with the strategies, even though it may be tempting to
revert back to known (but ineffective) strategies. Unfamiliar approaches may feel
inefficient at first, but learning the method can be as important as learning the
material.
• Have the students monitor their progress on the intermediate goals, and the
strategies they are using. At the same time, you can also monitor their progress and
offer feedback.
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 3. REFLECT ON PERFORMANCE
Many students focus solely on the extrinsic outcome of their grade.
While grades are important, you can help students reflect on how
they think they did on a particular assignment, and why. This self-
reflection can help them understand why they earned a certain grade
and how to improve their performance. Activities like an exam
wrapper can solidify this process.

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• Ask students to evaluate their own performance and their results. Students should
compare their performance to their original goal, rather than comparing themselves to
others.
• Reflect on the effectiveness of strategies used. Did they select an appropriate
strategy? Did they follow through with the selected strategy?
• Encourage students to attribute poor outcomes to the effort made and/or the strategy
used. Students should be coached to not attribute failure to lack of ability.
• Help students manage their emotions, and in time, direct them toward productive lines
of thinking about how they can improve their performance. Even if their outcome is
not what they had hoped, they can still learn from the experience.
• A key part of this process is that students use this reflection to plan for the next task.
How will they adapt their planning, strategy, time management, and self-monitoring?
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 GROUP 3 (BSED SS 1-1)
ABRERA
BALAGTAS
BUENAFE
COSTALES
ELPOSAR
GEPANAGA
MARISTELA
SANTOS
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