Learning How to Learn

Learning How to Lea

“An educated person is one who has learned how to learn…how to adapt and change.”

Objective:

Most individuals do not know how to learn, or they do not know how to learn in the most effective time saving way possible that is conducive to their learning style. Many students still use re-reading and highlighting key words as studying techniques that have been proven to be un-productive where as practice testing and evenly distributing the time of studying as opposed to cramming last minute are the most beneficial methods of studying (Oxenham). Salvador Dali and Thomas Edison were both pioneers and masters of knowing how to learn. They were able to use both of their Focused Mode brain activity and Diffuse Mode brain activity to solve problems. When something becomes too difficult for us to understand, we must take a step back, look at the bigger picture and even sleep on it or meditate on the idea to help the brain understand the problem and potentially even solve it (Oakley). Individuals who have mastered the art of learning are more able to adapt to changes, solve problems, and make more connections between different subjects.

Reflective:

My gut reaction to this statement was that it was bold, I interpreted it as stating stubbornness or having the inability to adapt to change is an indicator of someone’s lack of intelligence. But just because someone makes a statement doesn’t mean the opposite is true as well, those who know how to learn and maybe some who are still trying to figure it out, are more easily able to adapt to change.

Interpretive:

I personally believe there is much more depth to the reasoning behind why people have trouble adapting, most of it is psychological and a result of their past experiences. I have also experienced students in the classroom who are reluctant to change their ways, and it can come across as a lack of ability to see the bigger picture and open-mindedness. I loved Barbra Oakley’s analogy of the brain being like a pinball machine, and when we focus in on a problem our brains get stuck and trapped in one tiny area, we need to sleep on it, to allow our brains to relax into diffuse mode in order to see the whole picture and use new parts of our brain to solve the problem. Overall the root cause of an inability to adapt to change is the narrow mindedness around a subject, to overcome this, one must take a step back to widen their perspective on the situation.

Decisional:

There are a number of techniques that can help students learn better and more efficiently, I am going to start promoting these techniques to my students and incorporate them into my lesson plans.

Create Awareness of Poor Study Habits – I am going to teach my students that last minute cramming, re-reading the textbook or notes, and highlighting key points are unproductive study habits.

Forgetting Curve – I will go over previously learned course content at the start of class and continue to review content throughout the course.

Practice Testing – Incorporating quizzes, even if not marks during every class, to help students get an idea of what my tests will look like and even re-use some of the same questions.

Focused and Diffuse Modes of Thinking – I could present a difficult question at the end of a lesson to have the students think about it, even suggest the option to use Dali and Edison’s method of waking themselves up just as they are falling asleep to solve the problem.

It is important for students to learn how to learn in order for them to use their time most efficiently to help them understand concepts in the easiest and fastest way possible, reducing frustration and increasing satisfaction in their studies. Learning how to learn is so important because with out that foundation students are not able to learn effectively.

Cherry, K. A. (2007). Forgetting. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/cognitivepsychology/p/forgetting.htm

Oakley, B. (2014, August 5). Learning How to Learn. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O96fE1E-rf8

Oxenham, S. (n.d.). The lesson you never got taught in school: How to learn! Retrieved from http://bigthink.com/neurobonkers/assessing-the-evidence-for-the-one-thing-you-never-get-taught-in-school-how-to-learn