LEARNERS GUIDE

This module has been prepared to assist you in organizing your own learning so that you may learn more effectively. You may be returning to study after many years from formal education or you may possibly be unfamiliar with a self-directed learning mode. This module gives you an opportunity to manage your own learning and to manage the way in which you use your resources and time. Self-directed learning requires that you make decisions about your own learning. You must recognize your own pattern and style of learning. It might be useful if you were to set your own personal study goals and standard of achievement. In this way you will be able to proceed through the course quite easily. Asking for help when you need it, ought to be viewed as creating new opportunities for learning rather than as a sign of weakness. The module is written based on the topics laid out in the Proforma. How long you take to go through a topic clearly depends on your own learning style and your personal study goals. There are tasks set within a topic to help you recall what you have learnt or to make you think about what you have read. Some of these tasks will have answers and or suggested answers. For tasks that do not provide answers, you might find it helpful to discuss them with someone like a colleague, or to make notes of your answers and take them along to the next tutorial session. Tasks that have been set for tutorial discussion or to be handed in at the next interaction session. You should bear in mind that the process of learning that you go through is important. So, instead of racing through the tasks and the reading, do take time to reflect on them. Assignments are part of the assessment for this course. All assignments are expected to be submitted on the date as scheduled. There will be an examination at the end of the course. The date and time will be made known to you on a later date. The written examination is expected to take place in an examination venue to be identified. You will find that icons have been used for various purposes. Appendix A gives you an explanation of what the icons mean.

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Here are some useful hints for you to get you going. 1. Find a quiet study corner so that you may set down your books and yourself to study. Do the same when you visit a library. 2. Set a time every day to begin and to end your study. Once you have committed a set time, keep to it! When you have finished your module, continue to read prescribed books or Internet materials. 3. Spend as much time as you possibly can on each task without compromising your study goal. 4. Revise and review what you read. Take time to recollect what you have read. 5. Consult sources other than what have been given to you. Do not accept information at face value. 6. Start a filing system so that you know where you have kept that insightful article! 7. Find a friend who could help you study.

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