Abstract
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
The object of this research project was to determine if
learning strategies of first year students with
different intellectual abilities differed and if these
differences also applied to male and female students of
different language groups.
The project comprised of two parts. The first part
consisted of a literature study which defined the
concepts of intelligence, learning, cognition, metacognition
and learning strategies. This was followed by
a discussion of possible reasons why intelligent
students fail to use effective learning strategies . The
second part included an empirical investigation of the
differences in the learning strategies of first year
students with different intellectual abilities. The
students were divided into the following groups:
Afrikaans speaking male students, Afrikaans speaking
female students, male students from other language
groups and female students from other language groups.
It was evident from the literature stUdy that learning
strategies consist of self-management skills that the
learner acquires, presumably over a period of years, to
govern his own processes of attending, learning and
thinking.
Researchers agree that the mastering of learning
strategies by a student can influence the success of his
university career. When attending university even the
intelligent students need effective learning strategies.
Some students fail to acquire affective learning
strategies while still at school. These students cannot
cope with the large quantities of study material and
consequently they may underachieve or even fail.