The OU live session was small, almost personal, since there were only two of us present, but we discussed the paper and the questions raised, and the input of another student was informative and helpful.
I think that there are three predominant and predicable parts to learning and understanding;
- Understanding: it is necessary to understand the course materials, as without this understanding, assessment cannot take place (this is true for teachers and for learners).
- Memorising: Good, old fashioned, learning by 'rote'. Again, this appears to be applicable to both parties, the teacher has to know the course work ahead of the learner, and the learner is usually interested in 'knowing the answer'
- Strategic Approach: This is simply about achieving high grades - the learner finds out from the teacher what the examiner wants to hear. That is then all that is learnt, since that is all that is needed.
Point 3 can narrow the learning perspective to the degree that the learner actually knows very little about the subject. Point 2 works well for some kinds of knowledge, but not others, but Point 1 is probably the most important.