Learning How To Learn

LEARNING HOW TO LEARN

The brain is a magnificent organ. It has amazing abilities but unfortunately it doesn’t come with an instruction manual on how to use it to its full potential. Some argue that the greatest gift our brain gives us is its ability to learn new things every day. The goal of this article is for us to gain a better understanding of how to learn so perhaps we could become better learners backed by years of research. This article give an insight on effective new techniques on how to learn and reframe how we think about learning to help reduce our frustration and to increase our understanding. Hopefully, by the end of the article we would have enough ideas to improve on our learning skills

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU JUST CAN’T FIGURE SOMETHING OUT?

This is a complex situation for human beings. However, if you can understand even the basics of how the brain works you can learn more easily and be less frustrated. Researchers have found that we have two fundamentally different modes of thing. They are; focused mode and diffused mode.

Focused mode: We are familiar with the focusing. This is when you concentrate intently on something you want to learn.

The picture illustrates a thought represented by a pin ball. With the focused mode the problem you are thinking of solving is familiar with the person hence the “pinball” follows a familiar path

Diffuse mode: This more relaxed thinking style is related to a neural resting state.

The picture here describes the diffused mode where you have not thought that thought before so you don’t know what it feels like hence the “pinball” has to develop new pathways. You’d have to form new neural connections. Until you are able to solve a problem or understand a concept.

The bottom-line is when you are learning something new and difficult, your mind needs to go back and forth between the diffused and focused mode, that’s what helps you learn effectively. An example is when you are training for a weight lifting challenge, you just don’t wait till the day before the challenge to start lifting weight. The same way you’d have to start learning little by little until you form familiar neural paths in your brain.

PROCRASTINATION

When you find yourself doing something you really don’t want to do you activate the portion of the brain responsible for pain, the brain naturally enough tries to switch off that negative response by switching to something else. This process is what we know to be procrastination.

HOW TO OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION

Pomodoro technique

25 minutes of no interruption
Focus
Reward yourself when you exceed the 25th minute

Practicing is very important in math and science since this helps in strengthening the neural connections you make while learning. From the picture below you can see neurons linking together through repeated use. The more abstract something is the more important for you to practice to bring those ideas into reality for you. Practice makes permanent.

You are supposed to slowly build neural connections by continuous practice a little everyday instead of crumping everything all in one day

INTRODUCTION TO MEMORY

When you look back on your childhood you are drawing on portions of your brain related to long term memory but when I’m trying to bring a few ideas to mind to understand them to get a concept to solve a problem I’m using my working memory.

Working memory: This has to do with what you are immediately or consciously processing in your mind. The working memory can’t store large amounts of information at a time. You’d have to consistently repeat what you are trying to learn. Repetition is necessary so you don’t forget what you are learning.

Long-term memory: This can store large amount of information at a goal. When you are trying to put information into your long term memory you have to revisit it severally to ensure that you would find that information when you need it later in the future. Long term memory is very important because it is where you store fundamental concepts and techniques that are often involved in whatever you are learning

When you encounter something new you often use your short-term memory to handle it. If you want it in your long term memory it takes a lot of time and practice. In other to achieve this you have to do spaced repetition. Repeating what you are trying to learn over a number of days. Extending practice over a number of days is the most effective way of getting things into your long-term memory.

IMPORTANCE OF SLEEPING IN LEARNING...

Sleeping is such a very important way of keeping your mind healthy and rid of toxins. Getting too little sleep over too long of a time can cause depression, diabetes and a lot of dangerous diseases. When you sleep, you allow your brain to wash away toxins. When you sleep your brain erases the less important aspects of learning and focuses on the most important aspect.

Procrastination and memory

CHUNKING

When you first look at a brand new concept it first doesn’t make much sense as you see in the picture below.

Chunking is the mental leap that allows you to unit bit of information together through meaning. The new logical whole makes the chunk easier to remember and also makes it easier to fit the chunk into the bigger picture of what you are learning..

When you are focusing your attention on something connections of ideas are being made in your brain this is however different from the random connection of the diffused mode. Focusing your attention to connect parts of the brain to tie together ideas is an important part of the focused mode of learning and it is what gets you started in creating a chunk.

The ability to male chunks is greatly reduced when you are stressed or afraid. Chunks are pieces of information that are bind to make meaning.. Its like binding the letters C-A-R-L to form the name CARL.

HOW TO MAKE A CHUNK

Every discipline is a little different. Chunking in history is different from chunking in playing a musical instrument. One is mental and the other is physical. They are both different but similar in ideas.

Focus – The first step is simply to focus your undivided attention on the information you want to chunk devoid of all forms of distractions. When you first begin to learn something, you’re making new neural paths connecting them to existing neural patterns in different part of the brain.
Understanding- The second step is to understand what you are learning. You can figure out the idea or main ideas naturally or at least you can grasp those ideas when you allow the focused mode and diffuse mode in thinking to take turns to figure out the main idea behind what you are trying to learn. Understanding is like a superglue that helps hold together the underlining memory traces together. You can create a chunk without understanding but it would be a useless chunk that won’t fit in with or relate to other material you are learning. Understanding isn’t enough to show that you are done. You have to test yourself shortly after and this creates the neural pattern on how to do it.
Gaining context – So you can see not just when but how to use the chunks. Context means going beyond the immediate problem but going more broadly so you can see not only how but when to use the chunk. This helps you see how your newly formed chunk fits into the bigger picture. Practice helps you broaden your network of neurons that are connected to your chunks, ensuring its not only firm but also accessible for many different paths

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER LEARNER

Physical exercise: As you learn new information new neurons are created in your brain. These neurons die over sometime and physical exercise is one of the best ways to sustain these new neurons created. Exercise helps other organs not just the brain.
Practice makes perfect.

LEARNING USING METAPHORS AND ANALOGIES

One of the best things to do when trying to understand concepts is to create a metaphor or analogy for them and its better if these metaphors are visual. A metaphor is just a way of realizing that one thing is somehow similar to another.
Example I remember when I was in primary one of the best use of this concept was when we were told to imagine the map of Ghana as a pregnant woman. This made it very easy for me to be able to reconstruct this map back then.

These techniques can be applied in all learning fields not just art. Metaphors give a physical understanding behind of the sensual idea behind a process or concept you are trying to understanding.

HOW CHANGING YOUR THOUGHTS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

We can make significant changes in our brain by changing how we think. A key to success is perseverance and coupled with the flexible ability to change your mind and admit errors. Anyone can change their brain so even the less gifted can do marvelous things.

Approaching new information with a goal of learning it on your own can give you a new path into mastering it. Often when you are taught by a single teacher or from one textbook, it’s only when you take other materials or watch lecture videos from other teachers is when you see that relying on one teacher or text book gives you only a partial version of the full reality of the subject. Taking responsibility for your own learning is one of the most important things you can do.

No matter how good or bad you are academically there would be people who would continually criticize you. It is important to tune people out and try to be the best you can be.

THE VALUE OF TEAM WORK

The left hemisphere interprets the world for us. It can cause us to be overconfident.
The right hemisphere of the brain helps us to step back and put our work into big picture perspective. It helps us get onto the right track when tackling problems.
The brain has the potential for rigidity and dogmatism. Be aware that the brain as the ability to make you believe that a wrong way of thinking or the wrong approach to answering a question is right and hence you cling unto it.

One of the best ways of catching a blind spot scenario is to brainstorm or to work in a team because sometimes no matter how much you brainstorm it can never be compared to working in a team with people who are knowledgeable about the topic.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A TEST

Practice solving numerous problems
Learn with a study group and always ensure that some of the members are smarter than you are.

HOW TO APPROACH A TEST

Always alternate between the hard and easy problem but make sure to start with a hard problem and switch to the easy as soon as you find yourself getting stuck.