Approaches To Learning Skills

Approaches to learning (ATL) skills help you “learn how to learn”. These skills help you succeed in school as well as giving you skills for your future life.

ATL skills are organised into five categories:

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Interacting, presenting and expressing your ideas in written and other forms

SOCIAL SKILLS

Being able to collaborate and cooperate with others

SELF-MANAGEMENT SKILLS

Being able to organise yourself, your work and your time well. Self-management also includes the ability to manage your emotions, to be aware of and to reflect on, the effect your emotions and behaviour has on others.

RESEARCH SKILLS

Being able to effectively gather, sort, compare and analyse data from a balanced range of media (internet, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, podcasts, videos, reports, movies etc.)

Research skills also includes recognizing the quality, relevance and accuracy of the selected forms of media and recognizing the work of others through the use of references and an accepted bibliography.

THINKING SKILLS

Being able to consider a range of ideas, issues and problems, before analysing, comparing and evaluating these ideas to formulate and develop an argument or hypothesis.

Thinking skills also includes the ability to troubleshoot, come up with new ideas, make connections and transfer your thinking from one subject/topic to another.