LEARNER GUIDE

National Certificate: New Venture Creation (SMME)

ID 49648 - Level 2 – 138 Credits

Unit Standard: 119460

Use language and communication in occupational

learning programmes

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Learner Information (Please Complete this Section)
Name & Surname:
Organisation/Venue:
Workplace Unit/Dept:
Facilitator Name:

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Learner Guide Information

The purpose of this Learner Guide is to provide learners with the necessary knowledge and
provide a comprehensive overview relating to the following skills program or unit standard: USE
LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION IN OCCUPATIONAL LEARNING PROGRAMMES, which has
been developed for the qualification: NATIONAL CERTIFICATE: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH, SAFETY
AND ENVIRONMENT ID 74269 LEVEL 2 – 120 CREDITS. This Learner Guide is to improve the skills and
knowledge of learners, and thus enabling them to effectively and efficiently complete specific
tasks. Learners are to attend training workshops/sessions according to SAQA requirements as
well as specified by their organization. These workshops/sessions are presented, and conducted
by a qualified facilitator.
Outcomes
Learners credited with this standard are able to:
✓ find and use suitable learning resources
✓ use learning strategies
✓ manage occupational learning programme materials
✓ plan and gather relevant information for use in a given context
✓ function in a team
✓ reflect on how characteristics of the workplace and occupational context affect learning
Assessment Criteria
The assessment process involves collecting and interpreting evidence about the learner’s ability
to perform a task, which will be achieved through a combination of formative and summative

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assessments. In this guide there may be assessments in the form of activities, assignments, tasks or
projects, as well as workplace practical tasks. The learner is to perform these tasks and provide
required and authentic evidence in their portfolio of evidence.
To qualify and receive credits towards the learning programme or unit standard, a registered
assessor and moderator will conduct an evaluation and assessment of the learner’s portfolio of
evidence and competency.
Learner Responsibility
The responsibility of learning rest with the learner, so:
• Be proactive and ask questions,
• Seek assistance and help from your facilitators, if required.

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 1
US: 119460, NQF Level 2 Worth 5 Credits
USE LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION IN OCCUPATIONAL
Learning Unit
LEARNING PROGRAMMES

Unit Standard The purpose of this unit standard is to facilitate learning and to
Purpose ensure that learners are able to cope with learning in the context of
learnerships, skills programmes, and other learning programmes.
Many adult learners in the FET band have not been in a learning
situation for a long time, and need learning and study strategies and
skills to enable successful progression.
Learners competent at this level will be able to deal with learning
materials, to access and use useful resources, to seek clarification
and help when necessary, and apply a range of learning strategies.
They do this with an understanding of the features and processes of
the workplace and occupations to which their learning programme
refer.
Learners credited with this standard are able to:
✓ Find and use suitable learning resources
✓ Use learning strategies
✓ Manage occupational learning programme materials
✓ Plan and gather relevant information for use in a given context
✓ Function in a team
✓ Reflect on how characteristics of the workplace and
occupational context affect learning
Learning Assumed
✓ The credit calculation is based on the assumption that
to be in Place
learners are already competent in terms of the full spectrum
of language knowledge and Use language and
communication in occupational learning programmes laid
down in the Revised National Curriculum Statements up to
and including GETC, or the unit standards at NQF level 1.

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 Session 1 Find and use suitable learning resources.
SO 1
Learning ✓ 1. Relevant learning resources are identified.
Outcomes ✓ Learning resources are used effectively through appropriate selection of
(Assessment information and acknowledgement of sources.
Criteria)

The context of Occupational Learning

Let’s set the scene of what is going to be covered in today’s workshop! Context means the
environment, what is happening around the learning and occupational learning would be
any learning that takes place within the work environment such as learnerships, skills
programmes and any other learning programmes.
Introduction
There is a great emphasis today on the concept of lifelong learning. That means we never
give up learning new things and opening ourselves up to new experiences. We need to
make the very most of all opportunities offered to us in a workplace situation to engage in
learning and improving our skills, knowledge and attitudes in every way possible. In order to
do this, we need to learn how to work optimally in a team, how to negotiate and manage
conflict. We need to explore how the job we do and the environment we operate in,
influences learning. This understanding will allow us to make the most of every learning
opportunity we have.
Function In A Team

• How does learning take place through communicating with others?

• What do you look for in a colleague on a team? (Rate the top 5 things.)

• Why is it important to participate fully if you are part of a team?

• What are the advantages of learning in a team?

These are the questions you should discuss as a group. Once you have done that, perhaps
we can look at what makes a good team player.
They can:
• Explain their own ideas
• express their feelings in an open but non-threatening way
• Listen carefully to others
• Ask questions to clarify others’ ideas and emotions
• Sense how others feel based on their non-verbal communication
• And will initiate conversations about what’s happening in the group if they
sense tensions brewing

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• Reflect on the activities and interactions of their group and encourage other group
members to do so as well
• Share ideas and insights to facilitate learning
• See the other team members as colleagues and not competitors so that there is co-
operation and mutual learning can take place.

Group Work Conventions

In order to work effectively as a team, you need to take responsibility for your role in the
team. You also need to learn to apply group work conventions in learning situations. These
group work conventions are:
Turn Taking
You need to make sure that you are an active participant in all group activities. This means
you do not sit back and wait for others to get things done and to come up with all the
suggestions. You take the initiative and you voice your opinions, even if you are nervous that
the rest of the group might not listen to you or appreciate your contribution. If they are
working effectively in a team, they will not shoot your ideas down – they do not want you to
do the same to them, so they will show the same respect that they expect from you.
You will also not dominate the group. You will make sure that yours is not the only voice
which is heard all the time. You give all members the space to contribute equally and
encourage those who are quieter to participate and contribute. Very often the silent people
have been observing and analysing and have valuable contributions to make. (If you have
that valuable contribution, make sure you share it!)
Rotation of Roles
In order to function properly, there should be some structure to your team, even an informal
one. As a group, you need to establish roles within the group so that each person knows
what his/her responsibility is. These roles can and should change as each person takes a turn
to assume a different role during the life of the team. Here are some of the roles which might
be assumed:
• Conducting: (Also known as Timekeeping): Keeping an eye on schedules and the
agenda and making sure that people are keeping to the time and the topic. Conductor
often lets you know when time is nearly up so that matters can be wrapped up properly.

• Chairing (or leading): Chairs make sure that everyone understands the goals of the group
and keeps the group on track and focused. They try to encourage an environment
which fosters creativity and learning where team members are respected, take risks and
feel safe expressing their ideas. They ensure that the group completes its tasks before
deadlines. (These are some of the tasks of a leader, depending on the group there could

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 be many more.)

• Recording (also known as minute taking) The recorder takes notes during meetings to
keep a record of what has been decided, tasks that have been assigned, when
meetings are scheduled, etc. S/he summarises discussions and decisions for the rest of the
group and then distributes a summary of each meeting (the minutes) to all group
members.
Reporting: Reporting is probably giving feedback to management or perhaps the team
itself on the progress of the team. This person would monitor the advancement of both
individuals and teams towards goals. The reporting could take the form of informal
communiqués to formal reports. This reporter would need to be monitoring the team :

− To see where their strengths and weaknesses are

− To see if their work is costing too much and achieving too little
− To help them see where they are going and whether they need to change direction
− To help them to make better plans for the future
− To be able to improve their monitoring methods
− To make their work more effective
− To be able to share their experiences
− To compare with others
− To analyse gaps in performance
− To criticise their own work

You will not be able to perform this in the short term; this is a function for a long-term team
project.
Conflict Management in Teams

It is almost inevitable that conflict will arise when you are working in a group.
That is human nature. It is how this conflict is handled that is important though,
and that is what we are going to discuss. There are three basic ways in which
conflict is usually handled in teams. Some of the ways are destructive and
lead to more conflict, therefore it is important to be able to analyse what is
happening in the team in terms of conflict and be open in discussing this.
Once you are able to look objectively at what is happening, you are able to
deal with the conflict in a constructive manner. Conflict should not always be viewed
negatively. If it is handled constructively it can lead to progress and innovation.

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ACTIVITY
Facilitator divides the large group into smaller groups. These groups
will work together for the rest of the day, every time an activity
requires group work. They will have the on-going responsibility of
monitoring their own and their group members’ participation in all
group activities. Facilitator can introduce the learners to the
participation evaluation worksheet so they know what they must
aim and look for in themselves and other group members

Look at the worksheet on the next page and decide for yourself as
honestly as you can, which is your usual style of handling conflict.
Then discuss as a group your different styles and discuss what as a
group you would like to aim for.
Debrief as a large group, sharing your general findings. (This
exercise’s aim is to get you thinking about different conflict styles
and the way that you interact)

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 How do you handle conflict?
An ostrich denies conflict The tortoise withdraws to
I’ll give in
exists because I
I’m getting out of this.
need you
People never agree
There anyway
is No
probl The
em puppy keeps peace but
becomes a doormat

avoid the issue

The hyena avoids the issue The weasel rationalises
by laughing You
must
It’s all very simple
Ha! Ha! believe
really – blah, blah,
me
blah
Ho! Ho! Hee- because
ee! I’m right!

The gorilla overpowers

The donkey is dogmatic, The owl’s feelings and The sheep conforms. He goes
judgemental and self- emotions are hidden along with the group rather
righteous than his own
I think
and
think
and
think Bah Bah
I am right Bah Bah
and you are Bah……
wrong
beliefs.
The giraffe feels he is too The canary makes a The peacock wants relation-
superior for conflict creative compromise ships with honest integrity. He
views conflict as neutral and
natural. I care
It just I’ll enough to
isn’t meet confront
done you
where half
I am way
up
here

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Conflict Management Styles
The three ways of handling conflict we spoke about before the activity:
Smoothing and Avoiding: The group who does this sees conflict as destructive. When they
define a problem, they do so to minimise differences. The participants in this group are
accommodators. When there is conflict or when they are attacked, they withdraw. They try
to avoid conflict in any way possible and want to maintain the status quo (the existing state
of affairs) at all costs.
Bargaining and Forcing: This group sees conflict as a win / lose situation and they are
determined to win. The problem is defined in terms of “what’s in it for me” and “what do I
have to lose”. The participants in this group are adversaries (competitors). Their philosophy is
“push when you have the advantage and compromise when you don’t”.
Confronting and Problem Solving: People in this group see that conflict can be healthy. They
define the problem in relation to the needs of the whole organisation (that means they see
the bigger picture and where this problem fits in to this). Participants in this group are
collaborators (they co-operate) and they see the interdependence of group members (that
means they see that each member has something to contribute so they are a colleague not
a rival). Members confront differences but in doing so try to be open and fair. Whatever they
do, they do with respect.
Teams Need Negotiating Skills
To negotiate is to “confer with others in order to reach a compromise or agreement” (Oxford
dictionary). Negotiation is a process by which at least two parties have to reach an
agreement. Once you have confronted the problems, you need to negotiate the solutions.

• The first rule to learn when you are negotiating is to work towards an agreement and
not a victory. If you go in with the idea that this is a win – lose situation and you must
win, then you will be aggressive and put the other party’s back up.

• Know exactly what it is you want from the negotiation – you cannot argue for
something if you are not clear about what it is you are arguing for.

• Make sure you understand the other side’s point of view completely. This will allow
you to work out whether you are negotiating about the same thing! Sometimes
misunderstandings have arisen and if you only understood where the other party was
coming from, you would not have to negotiate at all, you could agree straight away.
On the other hand, understanding their point of view means that you can put
forward your case in such a way that it is acceptable to them, because you know
exactly what it is that they are after.

• The Harvard Management school has done a great deal of research on negotiating
and many sources quoted the same finding as of vital importance. Make sure that

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 you understand and have a plan for “the best alternative to a negotiated
agreement” (Kaplan, 2005). In other words you must have a plan B. You must know
what will happen if you do not reach an agreement and what you will do next.
People who do not have this plan are working from a position of weakness and will
not be negotiating, but will be begging because they have to negotiate a
settlement. It is said that the stronger your plan B, the stronger your negotiating
position – the other party has more to lose.

• Be honest and get your facts straight. If you have done your homework and know
the facts better than the other party, you will be at an advantage. You should also
not try to make false statements or assertions – chances are you will be caught out
and you will lose credibility.

• Use silence to your advantage. Funny thing is people are often uncomfortable with
silence so they have to talk to fill the gap. Then they end up saying things they might
not have said and you have the advantage.

• And lastly, but very importantly – keep your temper! As soon as you become
emotional, you have given the other party the upper hand. When you are emotional
you cannot be rational and are likely to say things and make decisions that you will
regret later. When you are emotional, you often become rude or aggressive and this
will lose you negotiating strength. You start arguing about personalities, not issues –
remember you can never unsay things you have said. Chances are too that you
have to work with / deal with the other party after the negotiation, so why make it
unpleasant for the future?

Henry “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress.

Ford Working together is success”
How to Give Constructive Feedback

Please refer to the section on active listening which you will find in 4.9 “Interviewing and
Observing”. Being able to listen is the first step in being able to give constructive feedback.

“Constructive Feedback - Although it is important to evaluate proposed ideas and

suggestions, feedback needs to be presented with tact. Some tips that may help:

• Don't express an opinion as a fact - You may hate orange text on green, but that is
an opinion unless you can give a legitimate reason for your concern (such as that this
colour combination may be harder to read).

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 • Explain your reasons - If you do have a strong opinion, explain why you feel that way.
This will allow others to evaluate your comments more effectively.
• Restate the original idea - To be sure you have correctly understood someone else's
idea before you respond to it.
• Compliment another's idea - Even if you do not think it would work, some part of it
may be valid and could be usable in another form.
• Respond, don't react - If you feel like you're ready to explode, give yourself a few
seconds before speaking.
• Don't interrupt
• Critique the idea, not the person
• Be polite
• Avoid jargon” (Pyatt, 2007)

When you give feedback it is extremely important to avoid any negative comment that
would seem to be about the person, rather than the work or the behaviour. You should also
focus on yourself and your objection rather than on them and their problem. For example,
you might say "I don't understand why on this page we jump from this topic to that, and then
come back to the first topic" instead of "You made a mistake on this page" or "You are not
being logical here". The moment you say "You" people's defences go up.
You need to think about this feedback as you are going to evaluate yourself and your group
members for their group participation at the end of the course.

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How the Job and Environment Influence Learning
If we examine our jobs and the environment within which we work, we can ask ourselves the
following questions to determine whether they promote learning or not:

• Have the procedures to do the job been written down in a form easy to
understand?

• Am I able to access these procedures and am I encouraged to familiarise myself

with them?

• Has my organisation put steps in place so that those who are skilful / knowledgeable
can share their skills / knowledge with others who are not? (They should not just be
told to do it but encouraged and incentivised to do it.) This would be a coach or
mentor system.

• Does my organisation encourage us to find innovative solutions to problems, to

improve and become more efficient over time and to acquire new
skills?

• Is my organisation constantly looking for ways to improve and does it

encourage the giving and receiving of honest feedback?

• Does my organisation encourage learning and provide the safety that I

need to “make mistakes” while I learn. Am I too scared of the
consequences to try?

• Does my organisation give me the time to learn?

Environmental Features
There are two kinds of environment – the physical environment and the psychological
environment – that will influence the way we learn at the workplace.
Physical Environment: We need to have the space around us suitable to encourage learning.
This means we need:
• Physical space, including size, set-up, noise, furniture, cleanliness, odour
• Comfort/ ambiance
• Safety
• Accessibility
• Temperature
• Media
• Lighting
• Time of day (in other words are we able to access the learning facilities when we
need them – like being able to learn before and after work.
Psychological Environment: This means the non-physical aspects of learning – those aspects
which affect the mind.
• Peer influence

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 • Institutional pressure
• Family pressure
• Policies/protocols

• Management attitude.
All of this needs to be taken into account when we consider whether the place of work is
helpful to learning or not. What needs to change and what can be done to bring about
those changes?
Technological Resources

Does your workplace have the technological resources necessary to encourage learning?
These resources could mean computers with access to the internet, videos, multimedia
resources (meaning video, graphics, digital camera or scanner output, voiceover, music,
sound effects, text, captions and animation). Some learning does not require sophisticated
equipment, but for some learning it is essential, especially computer and internet access.

Communication Resources

Once again the primary communication resource is probably the computer with internet
access so that you can communicate via e-mail. Resources could be:

• Networked computers with word processing, Internet access, and e-mail.

• Printing

• Photocopier which can make overheads

• DVD player with DVDs

• Video player with videos

• Course materials

• Books and information

• Reference books

• Overhead projector / data projector for oral presentations

• Telephony
Communication Strategies
Communication strategies are usually employed if you are dealing with someone whose first
language is not English. Either you are the second language speaker and have some
difficulty in communicating, or you are dealing with a second language speaker who is
having difficulties.
Strategies that can be employed when one needs to communicate but does not have the
vocabulary are,

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 • “using mime and gestures,

• making use of synonyms and antonyms (a synonym is a word which has the same or
similar meaning to the original and an antonym is a word which has the opposite
meaning.),

• using circumlocution--saying what they want to in a different or roundabout way--

and,

• coining (making up) original words” (Williams 2006).

The student would use these strategies when

• “Explaining words and phrases they wish to say when they do not know the
appropriate English.

• Reacting appropriately when they encounter a word or phrase in English that they
are not familiar with.

• Recognising and correcting instances when they either use an English word
incorrectly or use one that their partner is not familiar with”. (Williams, 2006)
Multilingual Needs
South Africa is a multilingual society and we need to accommodate the needs of all people
especially in a work environment. English has become the de facto (in fact, whether by right
or not) lingua franca (a language adopted as a common language between speakers) in
business. This is not always fair, but it is a fact of life because English is a universal language.
This means that in a business environment (especially tourism and gaming) one has to be
able to speak English.
It is so important however, to realise that just because someone cannot speak the language
of instruction fluently, (usually English) this does not make that person language deprived or
deficient. That person will have a highly developed language ability in at least one
language. This language ability needs to be acknowledged and respected. Learners need
to be given the opportunity to shine in their own language to maintain their self-confidence
and enthusiasm for learning.
In a multilingual learning environment, learners should be encouraged to help one another
understand the learning material by whatever means available to them. The facilitator
should encourage the exchange of ideas and concepts in the mother tongue if necessary
with fellow learners acting as the interpreter between the facilitator and learners if and when
necessary. “Each learner is a source of knowledge, which can add to and enrich the
knowledge of other learners” (Heinemann, 2007).
In a classroom environment, various methods need to be explored to accommodate
multilingual learners. Visual aids and practical demonstrations can overcome the language
barrier in a learning environment sometimes.
Visual aids are:

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 • overhead transparencies, flipcharts, slides, presentation
software (like PowerPoint), handouts, white boards,
blackboards, physical 'props' which people can hold and
touch, yourself demonstrating an action or in a role play,
videos, CDs and DVDs, posters, computer multimedia,
photographs, charts and graphics (these will probably be on
slides, but you could have them on separate boards too). This is
a pretty long list, and I have probably left some out!

ACTIVITY
Break up into your designated groups
Each learner identifies their own sector and organisation and
discusses the advantages and disadvantages of being in that sector
/ organisation with respect to the features listed above (features of
the job and environment).
Each learner identifies what he/she considers the biggest challenge
to learning within his/her sector and organisation and makes a
constructive suggestion about overcoming or reducing the
challenge.
Debrief as a large group, sharing the constructive suggestions which
learners came up with.

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 Session 2 Use learning strategies.
SO 2
Learning ✓ 1. Information is summarised for learning purposes.
Outcomes ✓ 2. Specific techniques are selected and applied appropriately.
(Assessment ✓ 3. Relevant questions are asked.
Criteria) ✓ 4. Texts are read for detail.
✓ 5. Spoken input is listened to for detail.
✓ 6. Learning takes place through communicating with others in groups or
as individuals.

ACCESS, USE AND MANAGE LEARNING RESOURCES AND MATERIALS

There are many different kinds of resources and materials which can be used in a learning
environment. In this unit we will explore some of these resources and how they are used. We
will look at the occupational learning materials which can be found in the workplace and
discuss their use and significance. We take a closer look at the layout and presentation of
materials and look at some aspects of technical language and jargon.
Introduction
In order to cope with learning in the context of learnerships, skills programmes and any other
learning programme, you need to be able to make full use of all the learning resources and
materials that are available to you. With outcomes based education, you can no longer sit
back and expect teachers and facilitators to force feed you information in digestible bits.
You mostly have to do your own research and take responsibility for your own learning. You
have to provide projects and portfolios of evidence and this requires active input into your
own learning materials. How do you access useful resources? How do you seek clarification
and help when necessary? We will explore all of this in this unit.
Relevant Learning Resources Are Identified
Resource Centres
Resource centres would be places where a number of resources are gathered in one place
to facilitate learning. These resources might be any of the ones discussed below such as the
internet or printed media. If you have a resource centre in your work environment, then you
are extremely fortunate. You will find that these are mostly found in academic institutions.
General Texts
These would be text books and manuals and learner guides on particular subjects. They
could also include encyclopaedias and other reference books in print form.
Printed Media
This would be any information in actual hard copy print.

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This obviously includes the books discussed above, but would also be magazines, periodicals,
brochures, pamphlets, newspapers, trade journals, in-house publications and the like.
Visual Media
More and more information and entertainment is acquired through non-print media such as
television, movies, photographs and the internet (and the visual side of magazines). There
are videos, DVDs, CDs, audiotapes and the like. Even though this is such a powerful medium
and has such a great influence on our lives, many classrooms still focus on text-based
learning and so people have not been exposed in full to the potential of visual media. The
internet with the World Wide Web has a wealth of information just waiting to be accessed. If
you know how to harness its potential, you have all the information you could want at your
fingertips.
The Internet
If you are a member of the electronic generation and are one of those mouse potatoes (you
know the sort of person who spends hours in front of the computer with just the mouse for
company?) then all of this will be old hat to you. If you are not familiar with the internet, then
go to Annexure A where I have put together some notes on the internet and search engines
to give you the basics.
The internet is millions of computers (and the data stored on them) around the world
connected together by telephone lines, cables or satellites and radio waves. All the
information stored on these millions of computers could be available to you if you know how
to access it (and in many cases if you are willing to pay!).
Other People
One of the most underused resources available to us, is the other people around who have
the skill and experience in whatever it is that we are trying to learn. So often we ignore that
excellent resource right under our noses and we spend hours trying to access text or
electronic resources when we could just ask someone.
If you approach people with the correct attitude, you would be amazed at how much
people are willing to share. They need to feel that you are willing to learn and that you are
not a threat or competition. They are then often very willing to share their expertise. There are
probably people in your work environment, who have been doing a certain job for years, but
no-one ever asks them to share the experience gained over the years and so they sit on a
mine of information.
Approach people with respect and make sure that they realise that you are not a know-it-all
and you will see that most people love teaching.

Plagiarism and Acknowledging Sources

This has become the scourge of the modern world – plagiarism! It means taking someone
else’s ideas, thoughts and words and passing them off as your own. This is stealing and is just

18
not acceptable. There are many tools being developed nowadays to detect plagiarism and
teachers and lecturers / facilitators can use the tools to detect plagiarism. They type the
phrase or sentence they are suspicious of into the tool and it will find where on the internet
that phrase / sentence can be found. It has become easy to detect plagiarism so that is one
more reason not to do it. Besides which it is just dishonest. If you have used someone else’s
ideas, they should be given credit for their ideas. It is important that you use quotation marks
and have an accurate bibliography.

• If you use someone’s exact words and you don’t put them in quotation marks, even if
you have them in your bibliography that is plagiarism.

• If you have paraphrased an author’s ideas and not cited the author, that is
plagiarism. (Citing is putting his/her name in brackets at the end of the sentence
/paragraph and then making sure that the correct reference is in your bibliography)

• If you have built on someone else’s ideas, adding your own ideas and interpretation
to their ideas and not acknowledged them that is plagiarism (it doesn’t matter if 90%
is yours, you still have to acknowledge the 10 %!)

• If you have found a phrase that says exactly what you want to say in such a clever
way and you just stick it into your writing without acknowledging your source, that is
plagiarism (yes even a phrase!)

• If you have written your article in the same order with the same flow as your source
article, then you are following the reasoning style of the author and that is plagiarism.
Plagiarism is intellectually dishonest. If you are writing for any kind of academic qualification
and it is found that you have committed plagiarism, you could be stripped of the
qualification. In addition you could then receive any other punishment which the academic
institution sees fit. If you are writing a report in your workplace and you commit plagiarism,
you could be fired.

PLAGIARISM

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How to Acknowledge Sources
You might want to check the bibliography at the end of this learning guide to see how
sources have been acknowledged. This is not the only way of doing it; there are different
more formal ways too.
Within Text

• If you are quoting someone within your text (either a paraphrase or a direct quote)
then the source must be cited:
According to Jones (2003) the purpose of the learning strategy is to…..
OR
The purpose of the learning strategy is to …… (Jones, 2003)

• If you are using direct quotes, then you need to give page numbers too.
Jones (2003, p98) states that, “the purpose of the learning strategy is to…..”

• If your reference has more than one author, then you cite this way:
The purpose of the learning strategy is to …. (Jones & Schoeman, 2003).

• The second time you cite them, you can abbreviate to :

According to Jones et al. (2003), the purpose of the learning….

Bibliography at the end

Books:
1. DU PLESSIS, P., CONLEY, L. & DU PLESSIS, E. 2007. Teaching and learning in South
African schools. Pretoria: Van Schaik. 165 p.
(Note the author/s, the date of publication, the title, the place of publication, the publisher
and then the page number referenced.) Many sources tell you not to number your
bibliography that is a matter of choice.
Magazines
BELLIS, I & VAN ZYL, K. 1995. The Changing Paradigm of Opportunities for Learning. Human
Resource Magazine. 26 – 28.
(If the magazine publishes 12 editions per year, you might want to add June before the year
1995 otherwise it might be difficult for people to follow up the reference)
Internet article
KILLEN, R. Outcomes-based education: Principles and possibilities. University of Newcastle,
Australia. http://www.acel.org.au/affiliates/nsw/conderences01/ts_1.html. Date of access 5
Feb. 2007.

(Very often you will find that after the name of the article, people put [online] always in
square brackets, to indicate that this came from the internet. Many people feel that putting
the URL is enough to tell readers that.)

20
Use Resources Effectively
It is very important to use the appropriate resource for the task at hand. You need to
evaluate what you are doing and decide what the best source is from the ones we
discussed above. For example, if you are learning about an in-house operation that is
particular to your working environment, you will probably find that the best source of
information is something put together by the work itself.

If it is something more generic (general, common and non-specific), then you might want to
use more general resources (such as encyclopedia or the internet)
When using text-based resources, it is important that you know how to get around the
resource efficiently. (See Layout and Presentation of Material below)
The Internet
You do need to be very careful of the information you get from the internet. Some of it is very
good and some of it is absolute rubbish. When you publish a book, there are all sorts of
restrictions and finally you have an editor who checks the work. If it is scientific, there are very
strict checks and balances to ensure reliability. The internet has no such checks and
balances. Almost anyone can “post” (publish to the internet) almost anything.
The internet also tends to cover the subject you are researching about more superficially (on
the surface) than actual books do. In a book, you have far more space to go in depth, but
on the internet you are limited, so if your research is serious, you would not use just the
internet. In this case it might just stimulate ideas and give you hints about what line of thought
to follow.

How do you know if the information is reliable? There are certain things you can do.

• Check to see if there is an author. Most people who have written something
worthwhile want to be acknowledged for their work and so will make sure their
names are there. If the author is there and you want to know how reliable his/her
work is, do a search on the internet for the author. You will then find out if they have
published before and in what sort of places they have published.

• If people have cited their sources, that is a good indication that the information they
have given is verifiable (they can prove and support the information)

• Check out the website and who is responsible for it and who maintains it.

• Evaluate the spelling, grammar and punctuation used in the information. If there are
mistakes, I would be very hesitant to use the information provided.

• Read the information critically and try to decide for yourself why the author has
published to the net. What is in it for him/her? You will find that many of the useful

21
 sites have been sponsored by academic institutions to inform their students. If this is
the case, then see if the academic institution seems reasonable and reliable.

• If you have found the information in a blog (see Addendum A if you need
explanations) then you have to be very careful in evaluating the motives of the
person posting the information – do they want to inform or persuade? If it seems that
their motive is to persuade, be very careful of the truth of the information.

There are advantages to using the internet; the information can be very up to date because
it is so easy to post articles. Books do take so much longer to get published. There is such a
huge amount of information on the internet that you are sure to find what you want.
The amount of information is a disadvantage too, because you have to sift through so much
to find the relevant material. The art to this is learning how to use the correct key words when
you search. (Key words are the words you type into the search engine when you are
searching). You have to think hard about what the most unique word is in the topic you are
researching. If you can combine it with a few other unique words, you might filter out more.
Some good search engines allow you to use AND, OR and NOT in your searching (Boolean
logic) to filter out more of the information you do not want and find out more that you do.
These search engines will teach you how to use these words (usually under Advanced
Options).
The internet is a wonderful tool if you learn to use it with care.
Organise Occupational Learning Materials for Efficient Use

You need to make sure that you are using the correct
learning materials for the learning programme that you are
doing.
For example, let’s say you were on a course to teach you
about customer service in the tourism and hospitality industry.
You might have a project to develop a questionnaire to test
customer satisfaction. You now have to think about the
learning materials that you would use for the project.
First you would decide on the steps to take for the project e.g.:

• Find information on which to base your questionnaire

• Develop the questionnaire from the information you obtained

• Use the questionnaire to ask the customers questions

• Share your findings from the questionnaire with the relevant people.
How would you go about finding the information for your questionnaire? You would source
all the information on customer service that you could from your work environment.

22
 • Guidelines from staff handbooks on customer service

• Hints and tips from any induction material the company uses

• Training material that the company might have on customer service.

• Text books or handouts on the subject

• Videos on customer service (these are quite readily available and most organisations
have them)

• Information from tourism and hospitality websites on the internet (use a search engine
to access these).
Once you have assembled all the information, you will use learning and research strategies
to extract the relevant data (see Unit 3 below for details). You will examine the information
and organise it from the most relevant to the least relevant and spend the most time on the
really relevant information.
You will extract the kind of things you really need to know about how your customers are
reacting and put those questions in your questionnaire.
Once you have conducted your research (for example interviewed at least 20 customers),
then you need to assemble the data in a way that is relevant to those people who can use
the information (like your manager).
You will investigate the most effective way of presenting the data (like charting (putting it in
a graph) or creating a comparative table or similar.
The reason for going into so much detail about a theoretical example is to get you to think
about the most efficient way of collecting and organising your data. Think of your end goal –
your outcome - and work from there.

Occupational Learning Materials

Material Advantage Disadvantage
Videos / DVDs / They can give you graphical You need equipment to access the
CDs representations of the information information and sometimes you
you need which can really bring the have to sit through a lot of
message home (for example unnecessary material to get to the
customer service videos are very relevant parts. They are expensive
instructive) to make, so companies tend to
keep them for a long time and the
material can be quite outdated

23
Material Advantage Disadvantage
Internet Up to date information readily You need computers with internet
accessible. There is a vast amount access and if the equipment is old it
of information and so you are sure can be very slow. There is so much
to find what you are looking for. If information you might take a very
you have good equipment it can long time trawling through loads of
be fast. irrelevant data to find the gems.
You cannot always guarantee the
reliability. (see previous section for
detail)
Texts Good to have hard copies where The material can be outdated and
you know the source of your is not always easy to access.
information. Visual texts can be very
useful
Handouts Often sourced from the company Sometimes they do not go into
and they can be relevant and with enough depth and sometimes are
just enough information not to not carefully put together in terms
overwhelm you of sources so you cannot quote
them with confidence.
Text Books They usually cover the topic in They are usually very expensive and
depth and they are easy to use it is sometimes not worthwhile
because they will have a contents buying the whole book for just the
page and an index. They are a chapter you need. Because they
reliable and accurate source of are expensive, they are not always
information and can usually be as readily updated.
quoted with confidence.
Charts (graphs) They are a very good graphical You have to understand them in
way of representing your order to use them properly. Too
information – a picture can be often people use charts without
worth a thousand words and they really understanding them properly
can explain information very clearly and so they make nonsense of their
data by using the wrong kind of
chart simply because it looks good.
Maps If it is relevant to use a map, If there is colour coding and you do
sometimes this is the only way the not have a colour printer, they can
data can be expressed and using lose a great deal of their impact by
them is a must. being printed in black and white.

24
Material Advantage Disadvantage
Plans They can explain things in a very Not always easy to make unless you
unambiguous way (in other words have the ability to think and work in
you cannot make mistakes when a 3D way. Can sometimes be messy
interpreting them) and can show and unclear if not done properly
you what to do clearly and
accurately (see examples of plans
on the next pages)
Diagrams A good way of learning if you learn You have to be able to draw these
better in pictures than in words. – not everyone has that ability and
they can be bad if not done
properly

25
Room set-up plan for the Buthelezi Suite

Key
1m
1
round

table

2m

round 2
9
table

3
8
3 m table

Ground floor plan

Chain Hotel and Conference Center

4
7

2 m table

5
6
Fire exit

Chairs

26
 Conference room 2 Conference room 1
Garden

Restaurant
Kitchen 1

Store room 5 Bar lounge

Toilets including
Reception Hall and Lounge disabled
4
3 Hallway
Lifts
and
stairs
Entrance

Ground floor

Reception hall & lounge 6 7 G6 – G12

Rooms

Layout and Presentation of Materials Lake and nature

Car park reserve

In order to use materials effectively,

you need to be very familiar with
how materials, especially books,
work. Usually when you are doing
research, you only need to access
a small piece of information from the particular text. If you do not know how to navigate
Ground floor
around the book efficiently, you will spend a great deal of time sifting through a large
amount of information to get the small bit that you want. Rooms G6 – G12
Index

The index is usually found at the end of a text book. If you are using a set of encyclopaedias,
then usually there is a separate book or two which contains the index. An index will give you
an alphabetised list of all the key words found in the book. It is especially useful if you are

27
looking for a specific concept or reference. You will find the word you are looking for and
next to it will be the page number. If you are looking to buy a text book and the book has no
index, I would think twice before buying it. It is almost impossible to use a reference book
without an index. It would mean having to read the whole book to find the relevant
information.
Often the index will be divided further into primary references and secondary references.
Primary means it is an important reference, the main section on that particular topic. A
secondary reference means that the topic or word is mentioned in passing and it is not the
most important place that it can be found in the book. Primary references will be in bold and
the secondary one in normal print or sometimes in italics.
Many good libraries (especially academic ones) have indexed the titles or authors of
periodicals or scientific or business magazines. This means you can consult these indexes
(indices) to find particular articles or references.
Many of the good journals and business or scientific and academic magazines have been
captured electronically and you can search an electronic index by key word or author or
subject or date. Often you have to subscribe to either the library or a particular journal
before you have access to the index or the articles.
Contents Page

The contents page is usually found in the front of the book. This will give you a good overall
view of the topics covered in a book. It is always a good idea to go through the contents
page before you either purchase the book, or take it out of a library. Usually it will be a list of
chapters and the main headings and /or subheadings within the chapters with page
references. This also speeds up your search for information if you can use the contents page
to take you directly to the relevant information.
Glossaries
These are sometimes in the front, but more usually at the back of a book and will give you a
list of all the words and concepts which the author believes might be difficult or confusing for
the reader with the definition or explanation of the word. This is particularly useful if it is a
technical book with lots of technical jargon. When you encounter a difficult or confusing
word in a book, before you use a dictionary, check if there is a glossary. Sometimes
dictionaries will give generalised explanations of words, but glossaries will give the definition
specific to the topic covered in the book.
Electronic Texts

We have already discussed internet articles in some detail previously in this learner guide.
Read the sections on how to use search engines to access electronic texts again. Also read
the parts about checking the validity of the information you have found on the internet.

28
HTML and PDF
When you have found an article you would like to use on the internet, it is usually in one of
two formats. The first is HTML (which stands for Hypertext Mark-up Language if you are
interested!) What this means is that it is text especially for a computer.
When you read a book, the text is two dimensional and static. When you read
hypertext, it can be dynamic with things like hyperlinks so that if you move your mouse
over a hyperlink it becomes a hand and if you click you can be taken to other related
information in a different place. Sometimes with hypertext, you move your mouse over
something and a bubble of sorts appears giving you a definition or explanation. You
can get linked to graphics and there can be sound and animation.
If you want to download the file (that means make a copy of the file on your own
computer) then you can go to “file, save as” on the menu. This will save the whole web page
and can take a lot of space because it has lots of bells and whistles.

PDF stands for Portable Document Format and this format was invented by Adobe Systems.
You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free from the internet and this allows you to
read pdf files. (You cannot read them without Adobe Reader.) These files can contain text
and graphics, but there is nothing fancy about this one – no links or animation just plain
printable files. They can be read on any system using any hardware and that is why they are
so popular. If you see that the document has two versions, an HTML version and a PDF
version, then the pdf version will usually take less space than the HTML one (though not
always).

Usually with pdf files, you have to download the file from the internet, then open Adobe
Acrobat Reader and use that to open the file you have just downloaded. This means you
sometimes exit out of the internet by mistake while doing this and then you have to start from
scratch. This can be such a pain in the neck when you have taken trouble to search for
something specific.

With html files, you look at them before you decide whether you want them or not. With pdf,
you have to download them and then open them, only to find very often that they are
completely unsuitable. When you are working with internet restrictions, this can take space
that you can actually ill afford.

29
ACTIVITY
The facilitator has compiled a worksheet which requires learners to
use the index, glossary, contents page and electronic text to
complete (like a scavenger hunt).There is a race to see who can
complete the worksheet first, getting it all right with a prize for the
first person or the most correct (facilitator to decide).
Debrief as a group at the end of the exercise so that everyone
knows where they went wrong and what the correct answers are.

How to Approach Technical Language and Jargon?

The term jargon means words or expressions in speech, signing or writing that are used by a
particular group, trade or profession. Jargon can be used in a professional situation, like
medical jargon for example. People in the medical profession might understand the medical
jargon, but lay people (people not from that profession) will not understand. The word jargon
has negative connotations because many people use jargon to make themselves appear
clever and superior. It often has the opposite effect! People use jargon so that they appear
part of the crowd who knows so that the listener/ sign reader who does not understand feels
excluded, that is why it has negative connotations.

30
Technical language doesn’t have the same negative connotations as jargon. However,
it is also language that will get used by a particular profession, trade or focus group.
Usually, technical language will be understood by more people than jargon. It is,
however; still not appropriate to use technical language if your audience is not able to
understand you. (SAQA Glossary).
You have to be aware of your audience at all times. If you are using jargon with an audience
who does not understand the terms you are using, they can become angry and frustrated.
If you do not understand the technical language or jargon being used, then the best way to
seek clarification is to ask the person using it to explain! There is no shame in not
understanding these forms; there is shame in using them with an inappropriate audience.
Failing an adequate explanation, you will have to research the technical terms either in text
books or on the internet.

ACTIVITY
Break up into your designated groups
The facilitator will have to provide a selection of different media in order
for the learners to research the following topic:
Make a case for why South Africans should spend their leisure time in
your industry.
The group should allocate resources to each member. Once they have
researched the topic, they should report back to their group. The group
should discuss

• the relevance of each contribution

• the ease with which the person found the information

• the reason he/she found so little/ so much information

• the sequence in which they would present if they needed to

Each group should appoint a spokesman and they should report the
findings to the large group in a debrief session.

31
32
 Session 3 Use Learning Strategies and Research
SO 3
Learning • Identify and use learning strategies and techniques
Outcomes • Identify and use questioning techniques
(Assessment • Use and evaluate different resources
Criteria) • Conduct research and information gathering
• Evaluate and present research and information
• Conduct interviews and observations
USE LEARNING STRATEGIES AND RESEARCH

We have learnt in previous units what learning and resource materials are and why we
should use them. In this unit we will look at how we go about learning – what are the
techniques and strategies we can employ to make that information clearer and make us
able to remember and make good use of it.
Introduction
We have all the information at our fingertips because we have learnt what learning
resources are and we are even not so wary of using the internet anymore. What is the next
step? It is no good just having the information; you have to make good use of the information
too. So in this unit, that is exactly what we are going to teach you to do.

• We will define strategies

• We will learn all about summaries

• We will examine a list of different learning techniques, their uses and procedures (like
mind maps and brainstorming)

• We will learn the value of questioning and examine its different forms and functions

• Context comes under the spotlight, how does it influence our learning?

• We will briefly discuss conducting research again and dealing with findings

• We will learn how to classify and evaluate information and how to read critically

• We will learn the value of interviewing and observing and briefly touch on electronic
resources
What is a Learning Strategy?
A strategy is a plan of action! How are going to go about doing something in the most
effective and efficient way. A learning strategy therefore, is going about learning in
the most efficient and effective way. Everybody learns differently, so you have to
find the way that works best for you. The way to do this is to be exposed to different
strategies and try them all out; picking the one that suits you best.

33
One of the most important learning strategies that you can master is time management.
Sound strange to have time management as a learning strategy? Think about it though, if
you leave everything till the last minute, no matter how effectively you usually learn, you will
not have enough time to do yourself justice. It is not easy if you are working and studying at
the same time, you have to set priorities and goals and stick to them no matter what. You
have to cut out all the things that distract and waste time and make sure that you examine
what you are avoiding and why you are avoiding it. You have to be ruthless with yourself in
terms of getting the job done.

Your positive attitude will go a long way in getting things done. If you look for the enjoyable
and good in every task and give credit to yourself for everything that you achieve, you will
go a long way in progressing in your learning.
Why and How to Write a Summary?
A summary is a brief account of something. All the details and examples have been left out
to leave you with just the main points and core of the original. In a summary you are trying to
capture as accurately as possible the full sense of the original, but in a more condensed
form.
When do you need to summarise?

• When you are studying and need to process large quantities of information,
summarising can make you learn and make the quantity more manageable

• When you are part of a team, you might be given part of the research to do and
need to present your findings in summary form.

• When the original is technical and perhaps complicated, your audience might need
a simplified summary.

• You sometimes even have to summarise your own work. For example, you have
written a report and your boss wants to know if it is worthwhile reading the whole
thing, s/he might just read the summary. (Formal reports all have to have summaries.)
How should you summarise?

• You have to read the passage several times before you start writing

• Then read selectively. Read the opening paragraph and the conclusion. Read the
first sentence of each paragraph. What you are trying to do is to get an overall sense
of the author’s main points and the flow of ideas.

• Underline (or highlight) the main points and those examples which are essential to
clarify the main points

• You will leave out all other examples, all analogies (one thing used as an example for
something else), and all inessential explanations. Authors often restate their points for
clarity and for emphasis; you would leave all of that out in a summary.

34
 • When you start writing, make sure you use the author’s name right at the beginning,
preferably in the first paragraph. “In his article on pickpockets, Justice Brown is at
pains to warn victims…”

• Summaries are usually written in the present tense (present historical to be really
accurate). What I mean by that is we usually say things like: “The author states in his
article, that pickpockets always study their victims”. Other similar verbs that we often
use are: argues, says, implies, finds, concludes, contends, notes, believes and many
similar ones. Throughout the summary (unless it is a very short one) you remind the
readers that you are summarising someone else’s work by using the verbs listed
above. So I could say, “Brown further notes that pick pocketing takes a great deal of
skill”.

• When you are writing your summary, keep your eye on the following: What is the
purpose of the author (why), what methods does he use to accomplish the purpose
(how) - in other words what are the key points. What are the results (what) and what
does the author conclude from the results (so what?).

• In summaries, a paragraph should become a sentence, a sentence should become

a phrase and a phrase a word (as long as it flows)

• You would be an absolute genius if you could write a summary correctly at the first
attempt. You need to write a draft and then check to see if you have used your own
words, if you have added unnecessary information, if you have maintained the full
sense of the original, if it is logical and flows and makes sense on its own. Once you
have made the corrections, you will write your actual summary.

• A summary is usually about a third of the length of the original. (If you can make it a
quarter without leaving out too much, great!)
Mistakes to avoid

• Do not plagiarise by using the author’s exact words without acknowledging

them.

• Do not use direct quotes unless you have to because they make the summary
very long (and usually clumsy).

• Do not put your own interpretation on the summary – especially in the middle
of it. If you want to interpret (if you are doing a critical summary) make sure
your audience knows when you are giving your opinions.

• Don’t write short, choppy sentences that do not flow and are difficult to read.

35
Why summarising is an important skill to master?

• When you summarise, you have to learn to read critically and with such
attention to detail that you hugely aid your learning process.

• You show the reader that you have understood the original.

• The more you summarise, the more you learn how to take out the main points
from a body of work. You learn to tell between the main points and the less
important ones.

• You actually become a better writer too, because you have learnt how an
author structures their work, how they handle main points and how they move
from one point to another. (Even bad writers can teach you something,
because you are able to see that they are bad and why they are bad. That
means you can avoid the mistakes)

• Because you have to stick to the author’s intentions, it teaches you to be

objective and to write factually.

ACTIVITY
Follow the rules and techniques and summarise the following passage.
The facilitator will discuss the model answer on the following page. If
appropriate, get a learner or two to read their summaries.

Artificial environments
Living in space was once an idea confined to science fiction. It is now close to becoming a
reality as new developments are made in space technology. One experiment in particular is
likely to provide more of the information needed to set up a new settlement in Space,
particularly on Mars. This is the Biosphere II project, in the desert north of Tucson, Arizona in
the USA.
Biosphere II consists of two linked glass and steel structures which are totally sealed from the
outside world. One of these glass houses contains several tropical habitats in miniature – a
rainforest, a small desert, even a 7.5 metre deep ocean with tides and a coral reef. The other
glass house is used for growing food and keeping animals. Eight researchers have been living
in Biosphere II since December. They will live in their sealed environment for two years,
growing their own food and recycling their waste products.
The aim of the experiment is partly to try to understand better how the ecosystems of the
earth work. But it will also help scientists to plan how the first settlers in Space will support
themselves, as it would be far too difficult and expensive to supply a Space colony with food
and fuel from Earth. It will be important for Space settlers to be able to purify their air and

36
water and grow their own food, becoming self-sufficient as quickly as possible. (English in
Context)

Learning Techniques
Queens University in Canada has an article on learning techniques on the internet. In this
article they quote someone called Howard Gardner as saying that there are different kinds
of intelligence and knowing our own kind might help us to learn in the most effective way. :

• “Linguistic intelligence - describe the material out loud, or use question and
answer format.

• Logical-mathematical intelligence - use a flowchart or diagram for the material.

• Spatial intelligence - make an image of the material.

• Musical intelligence - play background music as you learn.

• Interpersonal intelligence - teach someone else.

• Intrapersonal intelligence - ruminate (that means think about for a long time) on
the material.

• Bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence - use index cards sorted in different ways.”

(Gardner, no date)

37
Brainstorming
Just look at the word itself – brainstorming – creating a storm in the brain. When you
brainstorm (and this can be an individual or group activity) you are putting forward all the
ideas you possibly have on a subject without editing or censoring in any way. It does not
matter how off the wall or bizarre the idea is, it should be written down.
If you are in a group, one person usually acts as scribe and writes all ideas usually on a
flipchart. If you are on your own, you can write on a piece of paper in the form of a mind
map (see below).
The main rule of brainstorming (especially in a group) is that you are NOT allowed to criticise
or ridicule ideas, no matter how bizarre they may seem. The only way you can unlock
creativity and innovation is if brainstorming is given the freedom to say anything.
Group brainstorming has the huge advantage of being able to pool ideas. You might reach
the end of your creative thought in one direction, but someone else may be able to build on
that.
If you have done an individual brainstorming session, you can then sit down and group the
ideas into some sort of logical sequence, discarding those which are not useful and
expanding on those which are. You might then want to organise them further into topics and
sub-headings.
Brainstorming is a good way of unleashing the creative side and generating radical and “out
of the box” ideas.
Group Analysis
A group is introduced to new or unfamiliar material. There is then a series of questions asked
about the new material which the group has to answer. These questions are usually of the
order that will stretch the group and require analysis, interpretation and synthesis. The
material will be anything that students can analyse collectively. They have to work as a
group and present their answers as a group. This means that they have to come to some sort
of consensus as a group, sharing ideas and perspectives and debating the final results which
they will then have to present.

This learning method can be very beneficial because it is designed to make people think
and analyse. If you follow the conventions of good group work (for example no-one
dominating and all ideas given respect and entertained etc.) then this can be enriching for
all as everyone learns from other members of the group.
Peer and Self Assessments
We are going to have an example of peer assessment and self assessment at the end of this
session. There will be evaluation forms to fill in where you rate the participation of members in
your group and your own participation. Peer assessment is therefore, evaluation by your
fellow student/s; self assessment is where you evaluate yourself.

38
Peer assessment can be useful if it is handled with respect and sensitivity. You need to focus
on the work / assignment and not on the personality. Peer assessment is not an opportunity
to bad mouth a group member you don’t happen to like! It is usually more effective if it is
done anonymously.
Many people find it difficult to learn in formal environments with pure teacher led instruction.
If you have peer assessments, the peer involvement makes for alternative learning and many
students gain a great deal from this.
Because you have to assess someone else’s work, you have to think about what the
assessment criteria are and this will make you think about your own work and how you can
improve it.
Having to assess someone else’s work makes you learn assessment and evaluation skills.
These are skills which you will need for the rest of your life. You also have to justify why you
have assessed the person’s work the way you have so it makes you think deeply, not just
about assessing, but about the work itself.
When you are being assessed by your peers, you need to make sure you are not defensive
about the assessment. Stay open minded and learn from what has been said
In self assessment, it is of no use unless you can be objective and honest. You need to make
sure that you use it as a learning experience where mistakes are opportunities and not
failures.
Mind Maps
These are also known as concept maps. It is a graphical representation of the links between
concepts and terms covered in course material. For example here is one on reading skills
and strategies from the University of Aberystwyth in Wales.

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(Aberystwyth University Student Study Guide)
Mind maps are especially useful if you have a high degree of spatial intelligence and like to
learn with pictures more than words. Use short nouns and descriptive verbs – make sure your
entries are not too long or you defeat the purpose. Every mind map will look different; they
will not necessarily follow the pattern of the one shown above. You need to be creative and
flexible when developing one. Many people take notes (see below) in the form of mind
maps.
Note Taking
This is one of the most important skills that you can acquire for not only learning but also for
the business world in general. Why is it so important? It teaches you the skill of picking out the
most important points and logically sequencing ideas and concepts.
When you are listening to a lecture or attending a meeting, you cannot take down every
word. If you try to do this, you will miss large parts of the lecture as you try
to catch up all the time. This means you have to concentrate and you
have to understand what you are listening to /viewing or reading in order
to take logical notes. Notes provide a permanent record that you can
refer to at a later date and use as revision for studying or referral from the
meeting.
It is no good just taking down random words, they will make no sense as
you try to read them at a later stage. The only way you can do this is if you go back and re-

40
write the notes just after the lecture / meeting, filling in the gaps. Better than random words is
picking out the main points.
I find it very useful to divide my page in half lengthwise and only write on one side during the
lecture / meeting. Then, when I go over the notes, I have space to make comments, to
expand on the points, make summaries or write down questions that I can ask about later.
Concentrate on the essentials and making sure that one point connects to the other – there
must be a logical sequence. A good lecturer will indicate when a main or new point is
coming up – but not all lecturers are good. Sometimes in meetings things are not always
logical or sequential, so that is why you have to concentrate at all times.
As was said above, you might want to use a mind map to take notes. This is especially useful
to show the links or connections between ideas and topics. This method really makes you
concentrate on the relationship between things and makes you analyse and synthesise.
Memorising

Queens University in Canada has very useful tips on techniques you can use to assist you to
memorise:

• “Decide to remember.

• Take regular breaks.

• Review notes regularly: after an hour, after a day, after a week, after a month,
after six months. (You'll need an organised way of making sure that this happens,
but it is extremely effective.)

• Use multisensory memories, i.e. remember using as many representations as you

can. (see 4.4 learning techniques above)

• Generate visual images that involve moving, interaction, and colour.

• Use the same background music to review as when you learned, and perhaps
associate particular music with particular topics.

• Organise meaningfully using key words (see below)

• Look briefly at a mind map, then put it away and try to recreate it. Repeat until
you can reproduce it perfectly.

• Use flash cards with the key content on them.

• Use higher-order mind maps to connect individual mind maps together.

• Use mnemonics or acronyms. *

• Review at bedtime.

• Number points.

• Over-learn, i.e. learn beyond the point at which you have complete recall.

• Compress the amount of material by chunking and using keywords. “

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* A mnemonic is a random word /phrase/ sentence or rhyme or number sequence that you
make up to help you to remember something. So the rhyme, “Thirty days has September
…etc” is a mnemonic to remember how many days each month in the year has. Roy G. Biv is
a mnemonic to remember the colours of the rainbow in sequence. Here is one for
remembering the planets in sequence: “My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming
Planets."
An acronym is when you use the initials of words to form a new word, like AIDS is an acronym
for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. You can use acronyms as mnemonics.
Key Words and Underlining

Picking out the most important words (key words) and either memorising them or writing
them down can be a very useful technique for learning. Underlining or using a highlighter is
another way of picking out the key words or phrases. You have to be careful though when
you use the underlining technique – you can overuse it and then everything becomes key
and the important points no longer stand out. You have to be careful that underlining does
not become a substitute for reading properly.
Skimming and Scanning
Skimming and scanning are specialised reading techniques. We discuss reading in general in
4.9 below.
Skimming:
This is used to identify the main ideas of a text. It is usually done at three or four times the
speed of normal reading. You need to familiarise yourself with texts before you get down to
serious learning. Skimming will allow you to do this. You look at titles, headings, subheadings,
illustrations, maps, and charts.
I often use skimming when I have read an article and I want to find information in that article
again. Your brain retains an image of what you have read, so if my brain tells me that the bit
was at the bottom left hand side of a page that is where I will look first at all the bottom left
hand sides of the pages until I find the information I am looking for. Usually it is in that place!
I seldom read a newspaper, I skim the headlines, first paragraph and perhaps any other bold
text there might be. Only rarely will I read a whole article and that is usually only after I have
skimmed it.
You can go about skimming in different ways. You can read the first paragraph and the last
paragraph and then the first lines of other paragraphs in between. Or you can read the bits
that are different, like headings and subheadings, italicised texts, look at diagrams and
graphs and their captions etc. The point with skimming is not to get bogged down in the
detail at this time – you are getting an overview.
Scanning

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This technique is usually used when you are looking up a word in a dictionary, or an entry in
the telephone directory. You will move rapidly down a page and your brain is only looking for
the specific word so it filters out most of the other information. I use this technique when
looking at an article to see if it is relevant to what I need at the time. I scan it quickly picking
out key words. If I find the key words on the topic I’m reading up about, then I will skim the
article – which is looking in a bit more depth.
Questioning Techniques
Only when you are asking questions are you really thinking. Imagine what would have been
invented or discovered if no-one asked questions? Superficial questions bring
superficial answers and then no learning takes place. One of those is, “is this
going to be in the exam?” Once that kind of question is asked, then it is quite
evident that no learning is taking place!
Questioning is a two way interaction. Not only does the facilitator / lecturer ask
the learner questions, but the learner should be asking questions too. There are
some educators who believe in the Socratic method of teaching (this comes from the Greek
philosopher Socrates). This method is to teach by only asking questions. You do not input
knowledge; you merely extract the information by asking questions. To do this, you need to
know the kind of questions to ask.

Checking Understanding.
Not only does the educator ask these questions, but the learner should be asking these too.
You need to make sure that you do understand what is being taught and so should be
asking questions like “If I understand you correctly, then the formula works like this…..” Do not
be afraid to get it wrong – the educator would far rather you checked in the beginning than
if you left it until you were hopelessly confused.
Clarifying Meaning
You need to make sure you have the bigger picture. The information you have just received
should be related to what you already know and form a bridge to what you still have to
learn. You need to learn the relationship between things so that you can see where parts fit
in to a whole. Nothing can be seen in isolation, nothing stands alone. It is your job to make
sure that the meaning of what you have been taught is clear to you and that you know
where it fits in to that bigger picture. In order to do this, you need to make sure that you are
asking for clarity if you do not understand. “Do you mean….?”, “So would you say that….?”,
“Can you explain that further?”
Getting Information
So many people (especially in a work situation) do not like to show that they do not know
something, so they hesitate to ask questions to get information. People who do know have
far more respect for those that are prepared to ask questions than those who pretend that

43
they know something, when in actual fact they don’t. You need to be prepared to get
information by asking those “How, what, when, where and why” questions.
Getting information means that you are focusing on the recall of facts. Either you are getting
information from the educator, or the educator is getting information from you (or your
group).
The Accuracy of Information
Never take facts at face value. You always have to confirm the accuracy of the information
(remember what we said about information from the internet in an earlier section?). The
measure of an active scholar is one who is not prepared to just accept what s/he has been
told.

• You know that you have to look at the source (where does the information come
from and how trustworthy is the author? What are the motives of the author in
presenting this information?)

• What is the scientific basis for the information?

• How current is the information (in other words was it written a long time ago and
have things changed since then?)

• What are the author’s values and biases?

Those four categories above are at the fairly literal level of questioning, in other words what
you see is what you get. You will, however, progress along the levels of questioning as your
learning progresses too. It has been said that one starts at a pure knowledge level. Then you
progress to comprehension where you understand. Then you implement or use the facts /
information. Next you analyse and in order to do this, you need to ask probing questions. You
then synthesise, making new from what you already know and finally you evaluate. To reach
these higher levels, you need to be able to ask the kinds of questions which stretch and
make you think on a deeper level. Examples are: When you are asked to compare and
contrast things or justify your statements or thinking. When you are asked to summarise or
criticise – these are all indications of a deeper level of questioning, one which shows you are
progressing in your learning. You should always be asking yourself the kind of reflective
questions like these when you have completed any kind of project or assignment:

• What did I achieve with that / learn from that?

• What did I do well that I can do again?

• What can I improve on?

• What was a mistake that should not be repeated?

• What would I do differently if I had to do the same kind of project / assignment next
time?

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 ACTIVITY
Break into your designated groups
Look at the information on Learning Techniques above (Brainstorming,
Group analysis, peer and self- assessments, mind maps, note taking,
memorising, key words and underlining and skimming and scanning)
Each person in the group is to write down four questions on that
information

• Checking understanding

• Clarifying meaning

• Getting information and

• Confirming accuracy of information.

Share your questions with the group. As a group decide what kind of
question each one is. (You might like to see if you can answer each
other’s questions)
As a large group, make sure you debrief discussing those kinds of
questions and how you can tell what is what.

Why Does Context Influence the Way We Understand Texts?

Context means the circumstances surrounding the thing we are considering. So if I say that a
word needs to be understood in context, I mean that we need to look at everything
surrounding that word. We have to look at the words preceding or following the one in
question. If that is not enough to make us understand, we need to look at the paragraph or

45
the whole passage. What sort of publication is the word found in and who is the author?
What is the author’s aim in writing? All of this is the context.
Context in English is vitally important because there are so many words which can have
more than one meaning (ambiguous). Look at the word “hand” for example. It can have
many meanings. To give someone something (hand me my book), to assist someone (please
give me a hand), applause, cards dealt to someone playing a card game, a way of
measuring a horse’s height, and of course the thing at the end of your arm. When I say the
word “hand”, how do you know which one I mean? Only by the context. That is why context
influences the way we understand text.

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Sometimes the author will realise that the word might be difficult or ambiguous, so s/he will
give you clues as to the meaning. These clues can be:

• Synonyms (words similar in meaning to the original word). E.g. The diamond ring was
radiantly shining on her finger. The word shining is a synonym for radiantly so we can
work out what it means.

• Antonyms (words with the opposite meaning to the word in question). E.g. In the
pirate story, the soldiers fought against the buccaneers (soldier opposite of
buccaneer which means pirate)

• Comparison clues where the author compares the unfamiliar word with something
that is familiar. “John is as passive as a bear in winter.”

• Contrast clues where the author contrasts the unfamiliar

word with something which is familiar. “I prefer to read
novels with an intricate rather than simple plot.”

• Explanation where the author actually gives an explanation

or definition of the word. E.g. “When you pilfer something,
you steal in little amounts for example taking pens from
work.”

Conducting Research, Gathering Information and Evaluating Research Findings.

Do you remember the assignment we spoke about in a previous section – compiling a

questionnaire to test customer satisfaction? We spoke about doing research to be able to
compile that questionnaire. Finding the relevant information is not always an easy task. My
first instinct would always be to ask those who know where the relevant information can be
found. In other words, consult those who have experience, who work with that kind of
information, who have done it before. (See interviewing and observation below).
There are two kinds of research, primary research and secondary research.
Primary
In this kind of research you go out and get the information yourself by observing people,
conducting interviews, doing surveys and on-the-job analysis. It can also be found in reports
by the source. So if you were conducting research about a famous person and they had
written an autobiography that would be a primary source.
Secondary
This is when you look up the information in books, journals or magazines or internet articles
and the like.
Most of the time for big projects, you have to do both. It depends on your topic and the way
that you need to present your results, which kind of research you use. For practical, hands-on

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topics, primary research is usually more appropriate. For more intellectual, theoretical topics,
you might concentrate more on secondary research.
How do you go about starting your research?

• Decide what your topic / project is. If you have to decide on your own topic (that
means that a boss / facilitator / learning programme has not given you the topic),
then make sure that you do not have too broad a topic. Do not let it cover too wide
a range of subjects or too long a time span. It might sound great in the beginning but
you will find that you will not be able to cover any aspect properly and the whole
project might end up being superficial.

• If you have been given the topic already, make sure you understand the topic
properly. If you are unclear about any aspect, make sure you ask for
clarification.

• Once you have understood the topic, make sure you understand
what you are aiming for. What is it that you want to analyse or
discover? Break the large topic down into sub-topics so that you know
where the focus of your research is going to be.

• Decide how you are going to go about sourcing (gathering) the

information. Who are you going to talk to, observe or survey? What secondary
sources are you going to use? How are you going to source these secondary
sources? Who knows about them and can help you? (Like librarians or administrators
in training departments).

• What permission do you need to use the sources?

• Plan your output. What form will your results take? For example will you be giving a
presentation, writing a report, developing a portfolio of evidence, writing an exam?
This will definitely influence your sources.

• Think about your own attitude to the research. Do you have any biases or pre-
conceived ideas about the topic that will influence your research? Often we only
look for the information which supports our ideas and ignore that which does not
confirm our own thoughts and notions.

• Remember to acknowledge your sources and avoid plagiarism.

Evaluating the Findings
Normally you find far more information than you actually need. How do you go about
deciding what should be used?

• Make sure you stick to the topic. The information you include must be relevant.
Always think of the scope of the topic as you evaluate the research.

• Don’t try to twist the information to suit a great example or anecdote you found just
because it is great – examples must support the data.

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 • Think about your audience and the reason for doing the research – make sure your
findings are appropriate to the context.

• Go over the guidelines about internet articles which you will find in 3.4 Using
Resources Effectively. It is most important that you evaluate your sources before you
use any material from them.

• It is not only internet articles which need your scrutiny. You need to evaluate the
authority, usefulness and reliability of all the information you are using in your
research, whether it be from books or articles. How accurate is the information, can
you get the same thing from more than one source? How current is it, remember that
information changes all the time and you need to make sure that things haven’t
changed since your source was published. It the information bias free or was it
written from only one political or ideological position?

• Before you buy a book, you can do a search on the internet and read book reviews
and outlines to see if it really is what you need.

• Look at the magazines or periodicals that you are consulting and decide whether
they are scholarly, popular or sensational. If they are sensational, that is they are
trying to arouse the strong reactions of the public, then think twice about using the
information.

• If you have to write a report, make sure that you understand the format of reports. It
needs to be structured correctly and so do research on the structure if you have to.
In understanding and clarifying your topic, make sure that you understand the format
of your output too. You must know exactly what the person, who is going to evaluate
your work, is looking for. If you are not sure, ask.

• Sort your information into primary and secondary sources if necessary, so that you
can incorporate and acknowledge them differently.

• Make sure that you evaluate the detail according to the brief you have been set –
not too much and certainly not too little detail.

• As you are sorting and categorising your information, make sure you look at your brief
(what you have been told to do) over and over again so that you can ensure you
understand and are sticking to the questions.
Reading and Viewing
We have already touched on some of the reading techniques you can employ when you
are learning such as skimming and scanning. There are other techniques which are relevant
too. What you have to remember as with all learning techniques, is that you need to suit the
method to the context.

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The most important question to ask yourself when you are about to read something is:”Why
am I reading this? What do I want to get out of this?” Answering this question will determine
how much time and attention you will give to whatever it is that you are about to read.
You cannot read everything and you cannot read everything in the same way. Some
reading is easy and moves along quickly. Other reading is actually difficult because there is
so much information packed into a paragraph or a sentence (and let’s face it, sometimes it
is downright boring!). But if it is part of the learning programme, it has to be done.
We just need to explore some strategies to tackle the reading which does not move along
quickly. Successful students read effectively and remember what they read. If you are a bad
reader, it does not mean you are dumb, just untrained. You do not need all of the strategies,
just the ones that work for you.

• First and foremost – know why you are reading. Sit down to read with a plan in mind
and a positive attitude. What am I going to have taken from this text by the end of
my reading?

• Have a notebook on hand and think about what you want to achieve. Note down
questions about what you are aiming for and read with the goal of answering those
questions.

• Scan the material to get the gist, looking at headings, diagrams, charts, italicised or
bolded text etc.

• Skim next, looking at the first lines in a paragraph and at any summary or conclusion
there might be. (Look at the notes on skimming and scanning again)

• Once you are really familiar, then you can get down
to the real reading. Make sure that you concentrate
on the relevant bits. Don’t waste time on reading
parts that are irrelevant or only perhaps relevant. It is
a waste of time and is frustrating. (Make sure you
make use of the index and table of contents we
spoke about in the previous unit).

• Make notes at the end of a chapter or section. Here

is where your summary skills will come in handy. If you are able to (if it is not a library
book etc) make notes in the margins, underline important facts and write down
questions for things that are not clear. (Remember with dense reading, even
professors have to read something more than once.)

• Do not try to conquer the whole lot at once. If it is difficult material, take frequent
breaks.

• Many people feel that they are perfectly capable of working with the TV on, or loud
music playing or roommates partying in the background or children playing in the

50
 same room. It has been proved that studying effectiveness and reading
comprehension is drastically reduced by such major distractions. Background soft
music can sometimes be an aid, but if you find it at all distracting – switch it off.

• Reading should not be a passive activity where you just sit quietly looking at the
book. Talk to the text, argue with the author, and ask questions. Very often explaining
to someone else what you have just read makes it clearer to you too.

• If you don’t understand something, don’t get bogged down and frustrated. Read it
slowly again, or read it aloud. Perhaps you can consult another source which might
give you an idea so that the third reading makes sense. If you still don’t understand,
before you tear the book, ask someone!

• If it is really difficult and you have finally understood it,

write it in your own words because the chances are
the next time you come to read it, you will have
difficulty again. Your own words will clarify again.

• Always try to fit what you are reading into the bigger
picture. How does this fit in with what you already
know?
Interviewing and Observing
An interview is a very convenient way of obtaining information from an individual or group of
people especially if they are expert or knowledgeable about a subject.
Observations involve taking organised notes about occurrences in the world. Observations
provide you insight about specific people, events, or scenes and are useful when you want
to learn more about an event without the biased viewpoint of an interview.

In order to conduct an interview, there are a few things that you need to bear in mind.

• It is important to establish a rapport with your interviewee. This means you

need to make them feel relaxed and willing to speak to you. You do this by
making sure that you show respect at all times, even if you don’t particularly
like the interviewee.

• Make sure you have done your homework before you interview so that you know as
much about the subject as you can and if you are interviewing the person for their
life story, make sure you know as much about the person as you can beforehand.

• The best kind of interview is a semi-structured one where you have questions that you
want to ask and know what information you are looking for, but – you are able to
adapt the questions and go where the interviewee is leading if it is relevant to your
topic.

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• The follow-up question is very important to develop. You follow-up your previous
question with one which makes your interviewee expand on the point or go in the
direction you need them to go.

• You need to make sure that you are not dominating the interview. It is the
interviewee who should be doing most of the talking.

• You need to work on your listening skills before you interview so that you can engage
in active listening. Active listening means:
− You concentrate while the person is talking
− You don’t interrupt
− You don’t think of the next question while s/he is still answering the last
one
− You try as far as possible to put yourself in that person’s shoes and see the
world as they see it (empathy).
− You don’t finish his/her sentence for him/her.
− You don’t judge their vocabulary, grammar or accent;
− You aren’t dying to tell them something
− You don’t tell them about your experience making theirs seem unimportant;
− You aren’t communicating with someone else in the room
• Make sure that you are aware of your own biases and keep them out of the interview
situation. Do not try to get the information that will support your own point of view, try
to get the information, no matter what the point of view because that is honest. You
have to be as neutral as you possibly can.
• Do not ask leading questions to get the answer you want. For example, don’t start
your questions with “Don’t you think….” or “Do you agree that…..”
• Be very careful of “Why” questions in an interview. That kind of question often makes
people defensive – they feel the need to justify their actions or position. Try to
rephrase “why” questions to “How” questions. So for example, you would not say
“Why did you arrange the room like that?” but, “How did you come to arrange the
room in this particular way?”
• Don’t ever be afraid of silence in an interview. You give the person time to think of
the answer and you also show that you actually do expect an answer to the question
you have asked. It also gives you time to formulate your next question properly
because…
• You should never ask long winded questions so that by the time you get to the end of
the question, the interviewee hasn’t a clue about what you have actually asked.
• Don’t ask two questions at the same time because usually the interviewee will only
answer one of them.

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 • Non-verbal encouragers such as “uh-huh”, or head nods are important just as “Is that
so,” or “that must have been bad” etc.
• Make sure you don’t waste time by either you straying off the topic, or allowing your
interviewee to stray off the topic. Bring the focus back to the topic on hand by asking
good follow-up questions.
• You cannot really do an interview properly unless you are recording the interview. It’s
important to use really good equipment that is not going to break down at any
stage. Trying to write everything down and recall all the facts, including tone of voice,
hesitations etc., is impossible.
Observations
It is very difficult to get true and honest data with observations, because the mere fact
that they are being observed makes people change their normal behaviour. You need
to take this into account when you are analysing the data gathered from observations.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
• It is important at the beginning of your observation to write down the date, time, who
is present, what the circumstances are and what it is that you have come to observe.
• Be very careful about taking notes when you are observing. Note taking can be
obtrusive and remind people that they are being observed. If you feel that the note-
taking is changing / influencing the behaviour to any great degree you need to
curtail (severely limit) it.
• If you are not able to take lots of notes, you have to become an excellent listener
and you have to try to develop your memory and eye for detail.
• If you have not taken detailed notes, make sure that you write up your observations
straight after the session. You should not do anything else until you have done this.
• When you are observing, you do not know what is important and what is trivial, you
will only understand significance when you are analysing your data. It is important
therefore to record the most accurate detail you can.
• Make sure when you are writing (and therefore when you are reading) your notes,
that you know what is observation and what is your interpretation of what you have
observed. Make sure you can separate the two so that when you are writing your
report or giving your presentation, you are able to report honestly.
Electronic Resources
We have spoken at length in this learner guide about the internet and using the internet to
conduct research. (See Addendum A for a brief guide to the internet). Here we are briefly
going to discuss the kinds of resources you will find on the internet.
Electronic Journals
Unfortunately, there are not many electronic journals which can be accessed by people
using general internet access. Most of the reputable electronic journals with serious research

53
articles require some sort of subscription. Either you pay per viewing (that means you pay for
the article itself) or you have to subscribe to the journal long term. If you pay for the article,
you do so after reading the abstract. This means you are only able to read an academic
summary of what the article is about and based on that you have to decide whether you
are willing to pay the price (usually in American dollars) for the article or not.
The other way to have access to restricted journals is to belong to an academic library. All
students at all universities (and most reputable colleges) in South Africa will have access to
many academic journals through being a student. You will have to enter your student
number and password and then you are given access to journals that others would have to
pay to access. The university is already paying an annual fee to subscribe to many of the
journals.
Organisations
Depending on the type of research you are doing, there are certain organisations which
allow you to access their libraries and virtual libraries. For example, the Constitutional Court
allows you to research on human rights issues. Yenza is an organisation which allows some
research and is trying to encourage the spread of education in South Africa:
http://www.nrf.ac.za/yenza/research/ejourn.htm
If you wanted for example, to do research on women abuse, you could access individual
websites like POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse).
Many government departments (like the department of labour) have websites which can
aid in research.
The NQF and SAQA (National Qualifications Framework and South African Qualifications
Authority) have websites which will give some guidance.
If you belong to a particular industry, it will have its own SETA (Sector Education and Training
Authority) for example the one for the Tourism, Hospitality and Sport is the THETA and their
website is: http://www.theta.org.za/
You need to know what research you are doing to know which organisation to consult. Do
remember to cite your sources if you have used information from a website!

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY
Facilitator to give each group a choice of 3 topics. Each member of the
group will be presenting to their group. Groups must:
• Choose 1 of the 3 topics
• Decide how they will break the topic into manageable sections
• Assign sections to each member of the group
• Discuss and decide how they will sort and sequence the sections
of their presentation
• Discuss and decide what sources and research techniques each

54
 person will use.
• Each person will be responsible for evaluating their own
contribution and deciding what will go into their segment (which
should only be between one and two minutes)
• Each individual will then present to their group and one other. This
is to save time, if the class is big. If the class is small enough, then
they will present to the whole group.

After all the presentations, the large group will debrief. To be discussed:
(with specific reference to specific presentations)
• How effective information gathering techniques were.
• How relevant the information was to the topics chosen
• How appropriately the findings of the research were presented
• How appropriately the research steps were planned and
sequenced.

SELF ASSESSMENT

Fill in the following questionnaire to test your learning in this unit. If

you are struggling with any of the answers, ask your facilitator to go
over the material again.
1. Give two reasons why in the business world you would write a summary.

2.Give a brief explanation of what brainstorming is

3. Why are questions to check understanding asked?

4. Why is context important to consider when reading/viewing a text?

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5. Why do you need to put your interviewee at ease during an interview?

INTEGRATED ACTIVITY
This is the integrated activity for unit two that your facilitator spoke about
at the beginning of that unit. Each learner fills in an evaluation form for
each member of his/her group (including himself/herself) to evaluate
his /her participation in the group with respect to his /her ability to work
in a team, handle conflict and negotiate.

The group will discuss the feedback given to them in the group and
make a list of 3 things they can work on to become more effective in
group work situations.

Generalised findings will be reported back to the large group.

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 Evaluating Group Participation, Conflict Management
and Negotiating Skills
Name of student:

1 2 3 4 Total

Did a full share

Did an equal of the work – or
Did almost as share of the more; gauged
Did less work
much work as work, did work what needed to
Equal Work than others. Did
others; seldom when asked; be done and
not ask for help
asked for help. worked hard did it;
most of the time. volunteered to
help others

Consistently and
Contributed
Contributed to Contributed to actively
knowledge,
Contributing the group only the group with contributed
opinions, and
to the Group when occasional knowledge,
skills without
prompted. prompting. opinions, and
prompting.
skills.

Collected very
Did not collect Collected some Collected a
little information--
any information basic great deal of
some related to
that related to information-- information All
Research and the topics. /
the topics / most related to information
Gathering Information had
Missing, invalid, the topics. Most presented was
Information some
or information accurate --all
inaccuracies OR
inappropriate presented was related to the
was not
information accurate topics.
understandable

Did not address Unclear or Demonstrated Demonstrated a

the issue or inadequate an thorough
Use of Sources topic under explanation of understanding of understanding
/ Information discussion topics; few the topics and of the topics
Found Inaccurate or supporting facts, issues and issues
no explanation or lack of researched. researched.
of one or more relevance of Logical Thoughtful,

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 viewpoints; supporting facts. arrangement of logical
some points not viewpoints explanation of
supported. adequately viewpoints;
supported with relevant facts,
relevant facts, statistics and/or
statistics and/or examples were
examples. clearly tied to
the ideas

Disrupted the
Quite often Was only very Stayed focused
focus by
needed to be occasionally on the task and
Focus following own
reminded of the distracted from what needed to
agenda
task at hand the task. be done.

Neutral; neither Exceptionally

Positive;
Critical; encouraging nor positive and
supportive;
negative, discouraging; constructive;
Attitude mostly
withdrawn or disinterested in encouraged
constructive and
aggressive the performance other group
cheerful
of others members

Valued and
respected the
Needed knowledge,
Often rude and Showed
occasional opinion and skills
Sensitivity to insensitive to sensitivity to the
reminders to be of all group
Others the feelings of feelings of
sensitive to the members and
others others.
feelings of others. encouraged
their
contribution.

Was always
talking, never Usually did most Listened and
Listened, but
Listening to allowed of the talking, spoke a
sometimes
Team mates anyone else to rarely allowed reasonable
talked too much.
speak others to speak. amount

Handling Withdrew or Tried to bring Tried to find a Was willing and

Conflict became everyone round compromise for able to deal

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 aggressive to his /her point of the conflict with conflict in a
when conflict view with every fair and
arose conflict reasonable
manner.

Often sided with

Making Fair Usually wanted Usually Always helped
friends instead of
Decisions to have things considered all team to reach a
considering all
/Negotiating his/her way. views fair decision
views

Total Points:

(For the self-assessment, change the third person to first person, i.e. s/he to I or me or my).

Conclusion
In this module you have been introduced to working in groups and the conventions and
principles of making team work productive and rewarding. You can deal with conflict and
know how to negotiate to achieve constructive aims.
You have an understanding of how your job and environment influence your learning. You
can cope with and make the most of the circumstances in which you find yourself when you
start any learning programme.
This module has taught you to access and use suitable learning resources. You can deal with
any learning material that you have access to and you know to seek clarification or help
when necessary.
You have been exposed to a number of learning strategies and are now able to choose the
ones that best suit you and use them when you are involved in any learning or skills
programme.
Now you are able to conduct basic research and understand, analyse and present findings.
You understand the importance of judging your sources and acknowledging the ones you
use.

We hope that you have found this module useful and informative. Good luck with any
learnerships, skills programmes or other learning programmes you might tackle. We are sure
you will succeed!

The Internet
If you cannot remember the definition of the internet, take a minute to go and read it again
in the learner guide.
What would you use the internet for?

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 • You can find research information on the internet (much of the information for this
learner guide was obtained by looking on the internet, take note of the bibliography
and you will seen the many internet references)

• You can stay in touch with people (social and business) by using e-mail (electronic
mail)

• You can join specific interest groups where you can obtain and exchange
information (especially useful if you have a particular hobby or interest or perhaps
even an illness)

• You can join social networking sites such as Facebook where you are able to
conduct a social life and “talk” to friends and exchange information and maintain a
social calendar. This is true of all sorts of chat rooms and the like.

• You can do most of your banking via the internet – pay accounts, transfer funds,
check balances, order credit cards and cheque books etc.

• You can do on-line shopping such as e-bay or even mundane things like grocery
shopping from Pick ‘n Pay or Woolworths etc.

• You can book airline tickets, holidays, accommodation, car hire etc all on-line.
What is a search engine?
You have probably heard a great deal about search engines and wondered what they are
and what they are used for. Because the internet is so incredibly huge and information is
stored in all sorts of places, enterprising people started search engines which literally mean
the instrument which drives a search. What they have done is categorised millions of bits of
information according to key words so that when you use a search engine to look for
information, it will go and look at all the databases it has access to for the key words that you
have typed in and find all the relevant information for you.
So for example if I want to start keeping bees, I will type in “bee keeping in South Africa” in
the search engine and press go and the search engine will find all the millions of articles
containing those words.
The most used search engine is Google. In fact it is so widely used that there is a new verb in
the Oxford dictionary which is “to google” which means to search on-line for some particular
information, as in “I googled bee keeping in South Africa and found more than a million
articles.”
http://www.google.com is the way to access Google. What you see in blue (or underlined) is
called the URL (which stands for universal resource locator) but basically means the address.
Every site has to have a unique address (just as every house on the planet has a unique
address). In most word processors, as soon as you type a URL, it automatically turns it blue
and underlines it. This means it is now a hyperlink which means if you move your mouse over

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the URL, it will turn into a hand, indicating a hyperlink. Click on it and if you are connected to
the internet, you should be taken to the site whose address you have just clicked.
Other search engines:
http://www.altavista.com
http://www.yahoo.com
http://www.lycos.co.uk
A meta search engine is a search engine which automatically submits your request to many
search engines to find the optimum information for you. Ask Jeeves is one such meta search
engine http://www.ask.com . Another one like it is Genius http://www.geniusfind.com/
Downloading files
Please read the section on HTML and PDF in 3.6.4. Usually you will be able to download the
files by going to File on the menu and choosing Save As. With HTML files this can sometimes
become something of a problem as you might be saving the pictures and banners and side
boxes as well and this makes the document long and awkward. In this case it is better to
highlight the information that you want, copy it to the clipboard and paste it in a new word
processing document.

When you are copying or downloading from the Internet, make sure
you take down all the details at that time: the author, date, site and
IMPO
URL. When it comes to doing your bibliography, it is almost
RTAN
impossible to find the same information if you have not noted it at
T
the time.
If you are downloading a PDF file (from Adobe Acrobat) usually you only have the Adobe
reader which means you cannot edit this file in any way. That means you are not able to add
the information about the website etc to the document. You have to make sure that you
take down the information in a separate place, making sure you can match the document
you have downloaded with the information that you take down.
E-mail and Blogs
E-mail stands for electronic mail. It gives you the ability to communicate with anyone who
has an e-mail address very rapidly. All you need is access to the internet and you can get
free e-mail accounts from places like Hotmail and Yahoo. If you have a service provider (that
means the company you pay every month to have access to the internet) then you will
probably have an e-mail address through your service provider. Each person who has e-mail
has to have a unique e-mail address and this means unique not just in South Africa, but in the
world.
If you want free email and you have access to the internet, you will go to the Yahoo or
Hotmail site and then follow the instructions which you will see on the screen.
Blogging

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This is a way of ordinary people posting information to the internet without having to be a
programmer or know HTML. There are certain sites which allow you to set up your own
BlogSpot. This can be in the form of an online personal diary which everyone can read, or it
can be more serious and be comments about news or any subject you choose. Some blogs
are funny and not serious, others contain misinformation and others have serious articles and
commentaries. You have to be very careful in judging the source of the information. If you
want to start your own blog, then you need to use a search engine to find blog sites and
choose the one that you want to use. Many are free, others there is a charge.
If you need more help with the internet, use the internet itself to help you! There are many
sites which give on-line tutorials about the internet. Use a search engine to find them – you
really can do that now!

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