The document discusses strategies for becoming a self-directed learner in college. It recommends assessing your learning style, setting SMART goals, developing a study plan using various strategies, and evaluating your progress. Specific tips are provided for different learning styles, such as using groups for active learners and quiet settings for reflective learners. Reading roadblocks like vocabulary issues and lack of concentration are addressed, along with techniques for overcoming them, like using context clues and word parts to determine meanings.

1. Becoming Self-directed :
Secrets of Successful Learners
CHAPTER 1

2. “Your most valuable asset
[in learning] is a positive
attitude.”

3. Learning Goals:
1. assess yourself to find out if you
are self-directed.
2. identify your learning style
3. set SMART goals
4. develop a study plan
5. use strategies to solve problems;
6. evaluate your critical thinking.

4. Survival for first year college students
1. Get motivated - Find out what
motivates you. This will help you get
through tough times.
2. Make a commitment - A committed
person follows through on a promise.
3. Take the initiative - successful college
students take initiative to address
learning problems.

5. Survival for first year college students
4. Think positively - Always remember
that attitude plays a very important role
in achieving success.
a. Minimize negative talk.
b. Remember your successes.
c. Replace words that make you feel
powerless with expressions that make you
feel in control.

6. Survival for first year college students
5. Face your fears - "Sometimes, thinking
about something is harder than actually
doing it.
6. Find support
7. Enjoy what you are doing
8. Record your progress

7. Developing Personal
Leadership

8. SMART GOALS

9. Balance your
GOALS
ACADEMIC / INTELLECTUAL
SPIRITUAL
PHYSICAL
SOCIAL
EMOTIONAL

10. Make a calendar of activities

11. Inform someone about your Goal

12. Think bite-size

13. Reward yourself

14. Monitor your progress

15. Take heart!

17. L E A R N I N G S T Y L E
1.
•Likes to discuss
with others
2.
•Loves to learn
facts

18. L E A R N I N G S T Y L E
3.
• Pays more attention
to pictures
4.
• Likes to solve
problems step-by-
step

19. L E A R N I N G S T Y L E
5.
• Takes time to
process the lesson
6.
• Prefers
abstractions

20. L E A R N I N G S T Y L E
7.
• Focuses on words
8.
• Prefers materials
presented as a whole
story with details

21. ACTIVE vs REFLECTIVE
FACTUAL vs THEORITICAL
VISUAL vs VERBAL
LINEAR vs HOLISTIC

22. ACTIVE
vs
REFLECTIVE

23. • Likes to apply
the lesson to
real-life
situations.
They like to
discuss with
others what
they have
learned
Active
Learner
• Study in groups
• Teach the material to
someone
TIPS

24. • need time to process
the lessons discussed.
They need to see the
“forest as well as the
trees.”They appreciate
it when the teachers
pause and allow
students to make the
lesson “sink in.’
Reflective
Learner
• Study in a quiet setting
• Stop periodically to
summarize details
• Recognize what is important
and how it is relevant to the
overall topic.
TIPS

25. FACTUAL
vs
THEORITICAL

26. •Love to learn
facts, and they
easily remember
names and faces.
•Prefer concrete
details.
Factual
Learner
• Ask teacher to give
specific examples.
• Think about how the
theories discussed
relate to real life
TIPS

27. • Good at seeing the
forest. They do not
like repetition and
fact-based
learning. They are
comfortable with
abstractions
Theoretical
Learner
• Make sure you take time
to read questions and
directions in exams.
• Look for ways to organize
details into patterns.
TIPS

28. VISUAL
vs
VERBAL

29. •Recalls details in
terms of pictures
and images.
They pay more
attention to
pictures than to
words.
Visual
Learner
• Make diagrams to
synthesize the lesson
• Map details so you can
group the main points
and examples
TIPS

30. •Recall details in
terms of words.
When they read
texts, they focus
more on the
words.
Verbal
Learner
• Talk about what you
have learned.
• Outline chapters
• Recite information
while you are
reviewing
TIPS

31. Linear
vs
Holistic

32. • Like to solve
problems step-by-
step. Learn better
if the details are
presented in a list.
They learn from
professors who
sequence
materials from the
easiest to the
hardest.
Linear
Learner
• Organize random notes
in a way that makes
sense to you.
TIPS

33. • Initially experience
confusion but later,
are able to put pieces
together. They learn
better if materials are
presented as a whole
story with embedded
details.
Holistic
Learner
• Be patient with yourself. Don’t
lose faith in yourself, you will
get it.
• Preview chapters and articles
• Focus on one subject at a time
to help you “see” the total
picture.
TIPS

34. READING ROADBLOCKS

35. READING ROADBLOCKS

36. READING ROADBLOCKS

37. READING ROADBLOCKS

38. READING ROADBLOCKS

39. READING ROADBLOCKS

40. READING ROADBLOCKS

41. READING ROADBLOCKS
1. Lack of clear purpose in
reading
2. Limited vocabulary
3. Lack of concentration
4. Lack of confidence in your
reading ability
5. Limited awareness and use of
strategies

49. .Vocabulary Attack Techniques
. Context Clues
. Affixes and Root words
. Synonyms and Antonyms
. Vocabulary Assimilation

50.  Vocabulary played an important part in
language teaching and should be at the
centre of language teaching, because very
little can be conveyed without grammar;
nothing can be conveyed without
vocabulary.

51.  Discovery Strategies -- strategies that
are useful for the initial discovery of a
word’s meaning (Determination
Strategies)
 Consolidation Strategies --strategies
useful for remembering that word once it
has been introduced.
Word Learning Strategies
Word Learning Strategies

52. Strategies for the Discovery of an Unfamiliar
Word’s Meaning
(1)how to use dictionaries and other
reference aids to learn word meanings and
to deepen knowledge of word meaning.
(2)how to use context clues to determine
word meanings.
(3) how to use information about word parts
to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar
words.

55.  Synonym
A synonym, or word with the same meaning, is
used in the sentence.
ex: My opponent's argument
is fallacious, misleading – plain wrong.
 Antonym
A word or group of words that has the opposite
meaning reveals the meaning of an unknown
term.
ex: Although some men
are loquacious, others hardly talk at all.

56.  Explanation
The unknown word is explained within the
sentence or in a sentence immediately
preceding.
ex: The patient is so somnolent that she
requires medication to help her stay
awake for more than a short time.
 Example
Specific examples are used to define the term.
ex: Celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon,
and stars, are governed by predictable laws.