Learning to Learn: Reference Tools, Study Habits and Test Strategy (CASAS Competency 7)
The Learning to Learn area is the study-skills domain: setting a goal, choosing the right reference tool, taking notes, checking your own understanding, and using test-taking strategies deliberately. Items ask what a learner should do next, which resource fits a need, or which study method suits a situation.
Core rules and concepts
- Match the tool to the need. A dictionary gives meaning, spelling and pronunciation. A glossary defines terms used inside one book. An index gives page numbers. A table of contents shows how a book is organized. A thesaurus gives synonyms, not definitions.
- Preview before reading: headings, bold words, captions and end-of-chapter questions signal what matters.
- Notes should record the main idea plus supporting details, with title and date on every page, written in your own words.
- Monitor comprehension: if a paragraph does not make sense, reread it, use context clues, look the word up, or ask, roughly in that order.
- Goals work when they are specific and dated: finish unit 3 by Friday beats study more.
- Test strategy: read the whole stem, predict the answer before reading choices, eliminate wrong choices, do easy items first, and change an answer only for a stated reason.
Worked example
A learner meets an unfamiliar technical term in a textbook chapter and needs its definition as the book uses it. Which resource is best: a dictionary, the book's glossary, the book's index, or a thesaurus? Reasoning: the question asks for the meaning in that book, so the glossary at the back gives the author's own definition, including any special sense the word carries in the subject. The index lists page numbers but not meanings; a dictionary may give a general meaning that does not fit the chapter; a thesaurus offers synonyms, which cannot define an unknown concept.
Traps that cost marks
- Skimming past NOT, EXCEPT or best in the stem, then answering the opposite question.
- Choosing a familiar habit such as rereading or highlighting over the strategy the situation calls for, such as self-testing or asking for help.
- Using an index when a definition is required.
- Ignoring directions that specify how many answers to select.