This text is part of the special Women’s Leadership booklet
How can we help children and adults learn better, organize themselves better and succeed in their studies? Different research carried out by women examines the question.
Cognitive education: learning to learn
Cognitive education leads children and adults to develop a better understanding of what is going on in their head when they are learning and to develop better learning strategies. In short, it is about learning how to learn.
At the University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), cognitive education has been studied for more than 35 years thanks to an approach developed by researcher Pierre Audy.
“When we talk about cognitive efficiency, we are talking about learning or solving problems with pleasure, ease and confidence, while avoiding the waste of time, energy and resources”, explains Louise Lemieux, visiting professor and coordinator of the Cognitive Education Research Unit (UREC) at UQAT.
The “Teach Me to Learn” program, based on cognitive education, is a partnership between UQAT and the Center DÉBAT, a literacy center in Montreal. Lise Duplain, co-founder and director of this centre, came into contact with this approach more than 25 years ago and used it with adults in socio-professional reintegration. Subsequently, the program was used in several schools.
A study was conducted with about twenty groups of sixth-grade students from three schools and their teachers, who had attended program workshops during the 2020-2021 school year in order to document their perception of its effects on their learning. The results of this study, entitled “A treasure to share”, were recently presented by lecturer and principal researcher France Pelletier as well as by Louise Lemieux.
Among the most striking results, we note that 100% of teachers recommend that learning strategies be taught, as is done for French and mathematics.
“We measured the perceptions of students and teachers on the effects of the program, says Louise Lemieux. The children who have taken it note that they have improved their ways of doing and understanding certain things, as well as their feeling of self-efficacy. We also found that teachers were asking for this program for their class, year after year. »
These results and Center DÉBAT’s experience over the years demonstrate the relevance of cognitive education to improve learning strategies, at any age.
“The development of learning strategies, in a more formal way, will always remain an element to put forward, says Louise Lemieux. The world of education is increasingly aware of this. »
For a better transition to higher education
For young people or adults in Quebec who return to school, the transition to CEGEP or university is not always as simple as one might think.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education has given the University of Quebec (UQ) the mandate to conduct a vast research project that will continue until 2025 in six regions in order to understand how we can facilitate this transition to higher education.
Séverine Parent (main researcher), Michelle Deschênes and Edith Jolicoeur, all three professors of education sciences, Nancy Michaud, professor of accounting sciences, and Marie-Ève Gonthier, lecturer and consultant in pedagogy and techno-pedagogy, represent the University of Quebec at Rimouski (UQAR) on the scientific committee of the UQ project.
At UQAR, we focused on digital skills, an essential aspect of higher education. “Young people are good users of their tools and spend many hours on their screens, but when we talk about digital skills, it’s broader,” explains Séverine Parent, professor of educational technology and digital literacy at UQAR. .
“According to the ministry’s reference framework, digital competence has 12 dimensions. When we look at it in detail, we see that young people are not so skilled in all dimensions. We are thinking, among other things, of critical thinking, content production, information literacy. Young people are good at communicating with tools, but in the context of our research, we are interested in their use on school benches. When you make the leap to college, these are no longer the same platforms as in high school. »
The research project therefore focuses on the transition between high school and college, as well as between college and university. During the first year, the researchers went to survey the students to find out if they know, use and appreciate the measures in place to develop their digital skills.
“Our objective, thereafter, is to improve the measures, says Séverine Parent. Then, in the final year, all the sites related to the project will meet to share the results, paint an overall picture and develop a model to support the transitions. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the Duty, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of Duty did not take part.