SUMMARY OF LEARNING STRATEGIES

Learning strategies are sets of activities, techniques and tools adapted to the needs of the community for which they're designed, the goals they desire and the nature of the fields and subjects, all with the purpose of making the learning process more efficient and effective.

Brandt (1998) defines learning strategies as, "The methodological strategies, andragogy and resources that vary according to the goals and previous education of the participants, taking into account their skills, capabilities and limitations." It's important to mention that learning strategies are - along with the subjects and objectives of learning - main components of the actual learning process.

To continue the analogy, we could explain the use of learning strategies and what they're supposed to be, starting with the distinction between techniques and strategies:

TECHNIQUES: specific activities the students perform when they learn: repetition, underlining, diagrams, asking questions, deducing, inducting, etc. They can be used mechanically.

STRATEGY: a guide of the actions to follow. Because of this, they're always conscious and intentional, directed towards a goal related to learning.

A LEARNING STRATEGY can be defined as:

The process by which the student chooses, coordinates and applies procedures to accomplish a learning goal.

From this point of view, learning strategies are not counter to study techniques in the slightest; they're actually considered a more advanced stage based on these techniques.

It becomes obvious then, that there is a close relationship between study techniques and learning strategies:

Strategies take charge of establishing what's necessary in order to properly study. They determine the proper techniques to use; they control their application and make decisions based on the results.