| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to determine, by means of a review of literature and an
empirical investigation, the influence of a learning strategies pro!:,rramme on low
achieving Black Secondary School students' academic achievement.
From the review ofliterature and the empirical study it was concluded that the effective
use of learning strategies have an influence on academic achievement defined as Grade
Point Average (GPA). It was also concluded that the effective use ofleaming strategies
can make learning more etTicient and effective.
It was concluded from the literature review that variables such as self-efficacy, intrinsic
values, test anxiety, strategy use and self-regulation have an influence on cO!:,TJlitive
development and a subsequent influence on the efficient use ofleaming strate!:,ries, which
in turn influence academic achievement. The literature review indicated that learning
strategies involve three types of strategies, namely cognitive (such as elaboration and
organisation); metacognitive (strategies used to monitor learning) and resource
management strategies (such as time management, management of one's environment,
exertion of effort and help seeking).
Motivation is also important for effective learning. Motivation processes such as
expectancy, self-efficacy and attributions affect the learner's thoughts positively (when
a learner is highly motivated) or negatively (when the learner lacks motivation). Expectancy (the individual's belief that what he/she desires will follow his/her
involvement in a particular task) motivates the learner to participate in learning tasks
when it is at a high level. A low expectancy level, on the other hand, causes less
involvement as a learner will opt tor non-participation rather than being labelled a
failure. The more successful a learner is, the higher his/her self-efficacy becomes.
Self-eflicacy is a learner's personal beliefs relating to his/her capability ofperfonning
a learning task successfully. High self:efficacy stimulates etTort and persistence when
problems are encountered and is thus a determinant of learning involvement and high
achievement. Learners become involved in particular learning activities because they
regard themselves capable of performing such activities and they tend to avoid activities
perceived as beyond their capabilities. High achievement level associated with high self:
efficacy, is characterised by learning strategy use as the learner will do everything
possible to aid his/her learning so that success is achieved. High achievers develop a
positive outlook in their learning experiences and this affects their attributions.
Attributions, which are defined as the learner's interpretation of the causes of his/her
successes or failures, determine future perfonnance. A highly motivated learner
attributes his/her failures to controllable, internal and unstable causes such as effort,
which enable the learner to work towards improvement. A less motivated learner
attributes his/her failures to stable causes such as aptitude and thus limits the learner's
chances for improvement as aptitude is fixed.
The empirical study indicated that learning strategies influence academic achievement.
The learning strategies (memory, summary and test-taking) which were taught to the
subjects during the experimental treatment are good predictors of academic achievement as these variables contributed significantly to academic achievement. | en_US |
