Download Learning How to Learn

Powerful Mental Tools to Help You
Master Tough Subjects
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Hello! My name is Veronika. I tend to become a
professional lecturer in Economics and an expert of
teaching economic subjects. So I have a desire to
master and apply techniques of effective learning so
as to be able to teach others efficiently. This Project
will be definitely useful for my teaching career and
as an assistance in learning for my family as well.
In the Project I am going to focus mainly on 3 topics:
(1) Key techniques proven by research to help students
learn most efficiently.
(2) Procrastination.
(3) Memory.
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The aim of this Project is to make my contribution in
teaching others how to learn efficiently.
I
strongly believe that teaching back is one of
the best ways to learn something really well.
Teaching students or immediate explanation
of new information to your relatives or
friends drives you to the zone where the
magic happens!
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Preface
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The real life shows the following facts:
Students are very busy category of people having many subjects to learn
during relatively limited period of time. Additionally, they often have
part-time jobs, daily routine and tend to spend time for fun as well.
Self-organization and time optimization become important issues.
Students like postponing their studies to the last possible moment and
then have problems with understanding and memorizing the material
and, as a consequence, have panic during tests and exams.
Many students, in some extent, have low confidence in their abilities
thinking that they are not at all remarkable. When they get high
achievements they do not always consider it as a result of their own
efforts and abilities but just as a luck (Imposter syndrome).
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I strongly believe that each student has abilities to learn. That is why,
in spite of the fact what a subject a lecturer teaches, it is always very
important to help students in learning process and inspire them.
 Firstly,
lets get start from useful study tips:
In order to organize
efficiently your busy days
create a planner journal
and a weekly list of key
tasks. Then each day on
another page of your
planner journal write the
list of tasks that you can
accomplish.
It is better to write the
daily task list the evening
before. It has been proven
that this helps your
subconscious to grapple
with the tasks on the list so
that you can figure out how
to accomplish them.
Do the hardest
things earliest in
the day, when you
are fresh
Start with the things
which need your
focused mode of
thinking, i.e. high
concentration
Do a little work
every day, gradually
allowing yourself to
grow a neuroscaffold to hang
your thinking on
Have enough sleep, 7-9
hours.
When you sleep your
brain cells shrink. It
erases the less
important parts of
memory and
simultaneously
strengthens areas that
you need or want to
remember.
Dreaming about what
you are studying can
substantially enhance
your ability to
understand. It
consolidates your
memories into easier
to grasp chunks.
Don’t be afraid of
making mistakes.
They are valuable
because they also
teach us.
Following these basic rules will definitely help you
to organize your day more efficiently and be ready
for studying.
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When you are learning something new, especially something that is a
little more difficult, your mind needs to be able to go back and forth
between the two different learning modes – diffuse and focused.
In order to focus on your work use a “Pomodoro” technique. Most
anybody can focus for 25 minutes. So set a timer for 25 minutes, turn
off all interruptions and then focus. And last important things is to
give yourself 5 minutes reward (cup of tea, web surfing, etc.). An
intense 25 minute work is like your mental gym, followed by some
mental relaxation. If the necessary work has not being done, so after
working on 4 Pomodoras give yourself a reward for 20-30 minutes.
Reward gives you motivation which is, in turn, controlled by a
particular chemical substance Dopamine. It has very powerful effect
on learning.
During bigger breaks you can move on to the diffuse mode of thinking
which allows to look at things broadly from a very different, bigpicture perspective. Have a walk, do jogging, make some exercises
and or at least change your focus to something different which lets
your mind run free. During this time you are able to catch nice ideas
from the diffuse mode and then take them into the focus mode and
build on them. That is what helps you to learn effectively.
Use a lively visual metaphor and analogy to help
simplify matters. It helps to glue an idea into
your mind because they make a connection to
neural structures that are already there. At least
it helps you get a sense of what is going on.
 “Teaching back” technique. Talk to somebody
and try to explain to them your ideas.
 Draw concept maps so as to enrich the
relationships in the material.
 Make notes on the margin while reading a book.
Writing out notes that synthesize main ideas is
very useful. Do not highlight more than one
sentence in a paragraph. Otherwise highlights
will be too many and they might be misleading.
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Permanent practice and repetition. In order to
enhance and strengthen the neural connections you
are making during the learning process it is important
to practice with ideas you are learning. And the more
abstract something is, the more important it is to
practice in order to bring this ideas into reality for
you.
Practice by recalling. After you’ve read the material
, simply look away, and see what you can recall from
the material you’ve just read.
Practice on ready solutions in order to knit those
concepts into your own underlying neural circuitry.
Merely glancing at a solution and thinking you truly
know it is an illusion of competence in learning.
Recall material when you are outside your usual
place of study. So you become independent on the
queues from any one given location.
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Retrieval practice via self-testing. Repetition of
information improves learning and memory. If
information is repeated in a distributed fashion or
spaced over time, it is learned more slowly but is
retained for much longer. Self-testing could be done,
for example, with the help of flashcards, ANKI
program.
A large number of experiments on retrieval practice
have been done in the lab (Rawson & Dunlosky (2011)
and Roediger & Butler (2011) for recent reviews) and
in educational settings. In general, retrieval practice
is a powerful means of improving retention in
learning foreign language vocabulary, general
knowledge facts, visual-spatial materials (such as
maps), science or social science in middle school
classrooms, statistics and biological basis of behavior
at the university level.
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Distribution (spacing and interleaving) of practice in learning
facts and skills. ‘Spaced repetition’ technique involves extending
the learning practice over several days instead of repeating
something 20 times in one evening. This is like building the brick
wall: if you don’t leave time for the mortar to dry, that is, time
for the synoptic connections to form and strengthen, you won’t
have a very good structure.
Both spacing and interleaving impose a time delay between
practice trials with the same repeated material. The primary
difference between the two is the type of information that is
practiced in between presentations of the same information. For
spacing paradigms, the target information to be repeated is
simply spaced out in time (say a fact might be studied every
5min) with irrelevant activity during the 5-min periods. For
interleaving of practice, students study completely different
examples of a given concept or topic that are spaced across time
(e.g., in math, students would solve various types of problems all
mixed up, so that practice on any one type of problem is spaced
but with other types of problems occurring between examples of
the same type).
Both spacing and interleaving have positive effects and they are
often used together. Although spaced and interleaved
presentations of information (or practice on problems) results in
slower initial learning, a large body of research shows that it
leads to more durable learning and retention.
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Explanatory questioning (elaborative interrogation
and self-explanation) as a study strategy. Elaborative
interrogation has strong positive effects when applied
to education. Self-explanation involves students
monitoring their learning and describing, either aloud
or silently (i.e., to themselves), some features of their
learning.
The elaborative interrogation and self explanation are
related because both strategies encourage or even
require students to be active learners, explaining the
information to themselves (perhaps rephrasing in
language they understand better) or asking themselves
why the information is true.
Empirical evidence supports the effectiveness of
elaborative interrogation (Pressley, McDaniel, Turnure,
Wood, & Ahmad, 1987) and self-explanation (Berry,
1983) in measures of learning, relative to reasonable
control conditions. Both strategies slow reading
(relative to simply zipping through the text, as some
students do), but they improve comprehension and
learning.
As a summary, here I
suggest to look at the
results of the research
of Dunlosky, J., et al.
(2013) on 10 learning
most used techniques
and evaluations of their
relative utility
Generating an
explanation for why an
explicitly stated fact or
concept is true
Explaining how new
information is related
to known information,
or explaining steps
taken during problem
solving
Writing summaries (of
various lengths) of tobe-learned texts
Marking potentially
important portions of
to-be-learned materials
while reading
Using keywords and
mental imagery to
associate verbal
materials
Attempting to form
mental images of text
materials while reading
or listening
Restudying text
material again after an
initial reading
Self-testing or taking
practice tests over tobe-learned material
Implementing a
schedule of practice
that spreads out study
activities over time
Implementing a
schedule of practice
that mixes different
kinds of problems, or a
schedule of study that
mixes different kinds of
material, within a
single study session
 Note:
There may be contexts in which the
low utility techniques are useful.
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Preface
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Procrastination is a very common thing observed among
students.
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What procrastination is about? When you look at something
that you really rather not do (ex., solving problem, reading
a textbook, preparation to a test), it seems that you
activate the areas of your brain associated with pain. Your
brain looks for a way to stop that negative stimulation by
switching your attention to something else (ex., chatting
to a friend, surfing the net, eating). You feel easier and
happier, but temporarily…
Procrastination is a bad habit which takes a lot of neural
resources. It shares features with addiction. Remember,
habits are powerful because they create neurological
cravings.
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There are some useful techniques and tips how to tackle
procrastination:
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“Pomodoro” technique is one of
the most effective.
Set a timer for 25 minutes, turn
off all interruptions and then
focus.
And last important things is to
give yourself 5 minutes reward
(cup of tea, web surfing, etc.).
An intense 25 minute work is like
your mental gym, followed by
some mental relaxation.
If the necessary work has not
being done, so after working on 4
Pomodoras give yourself a
reward for 20-30 minutes.
Reward gives you motivation
which is, in turn, controlled by a
particular chemical substance
Dopamine. Naturally, it has very
powerful effect on learning.
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“Zombie responses” is the lazy
person’s
approach.
Zombie
responses are habitual responses
the brain falls into as a result of
specific cues. Habit is an energy
saver for us. They could be good
and bad. Tackling procrastination
as a habit consists of 4 steps:
(1) Cue (this is a routine). What we
do in response to that cue matters
so change reaction to the cue
(here and only here you need to
apply your will power).
(2) Going into habitual zombie
mode. In order to change reaction
to the cue you need to have a plan
so develop new ritual.
(3) Reward. Find ways to reward
good study habits. It helps to
create new habits.
(4) Belief in your habits, that you
can do it. To change a habit you
need to change your underlying
belief.
 Learn
to focus on process
not product.
 Process means flow of time
and the habits and actions
associate with that flow of
time. Focusing on process
allow yourself to back
away from judging yourself
(ex., am I getting closer to
finishing?).
 Product is an outcome (ex.,
homework, finishing a test
in time); it often what
triggers the pain that
causes
you
to
procrastinate.
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Create a planner journal and a
weekly list of key tasks.
Each day on another page of your planner
journal write the list of tasks that you can
accomplish.
Think about process oriented tasks and
product oriented tasks.
Don’t make the items on the list too big
because you’ve got other things to do.
Be realistic of what you can reasonably oat
any given time.
Make most important and dislike tasks
earlier.
Maintain healthy leisure time along with
the hard work. “Finish time” is important in
a planner too.
It is better to write the daily task list the
evening before. It has been proven that this
helps your subconscious to grapple with the
tasks on the list so that you can figure out
how to accomplish them. It is important to
admit that once you make a list it frees
your working memory from problem
solving.
 Get
used yourself to no
procrastinators’ thinking:
 “Quit wasting time and
just get on with it, once
you get going, you’ll feel
better about it”.
 Develop
a new
community.
 Hangout with classmates
or virtually hangout with
book mates who can do
philosophy that you too
want to develop.
 Developing and
encouraging culture with
like-minded friends can
help us remember the
values that, in moments
of weakness, we tend to
forget.
Make a procrastination test here:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/science-andsensibility/201006/procrastination-test-uncover-procrastination-patterns
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Preface

Memory is only a part of learning and developing expertise but it is
often an important part.
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We have outstanding visual and spatial memory systems.
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We have two major memory systems: working memory and long term
memory.
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Working memory is the part of memory that has to do with what you
immediately and consciously processing in your mind. Your working
memory is centered out of the prefrontal cortex, although there are
also connections to other parts of your brain so you can access longterm memories.
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Long term memory is like a storage warehouse where you store
fundamental concepts and techniques that are often involved in
whatever you are learning about. Long term memory is immense.
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There are some useful techniques and advices to improve memory:
Repetition is needed so your metabolic
vampires—natural dissipating processes—don’t
suck the memories away. In order to enhance
and strengthen the neural connections you are
making during the learning process it is
important to practice with ideas you are
learning. And the more abstract something is,
the more important it is to practice in order to
bring this ideas into reality for you.
 “Spaced repetition” technique helps with moving
something into long term memory. This
technique involves repeating what you are trying
to retain, but what you want to do is to space
this repetition out. Briefly repeat what you want
to remember over several days. Perhaps for a
few minutes each morning and each evening.
Gradually extend time between the repetitions.
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Memory palaces are useful when you need to
relate unrelated items in your mind. This is a
way of grouping things you want to remember. It
involves calling to mind a familiar place (like the
layout of your house) and using it as a sort of
visual notepad where you can deposit the
concept images that you want to remember.
 The first few times you try these techniques it
will be difficult and more time consuming, but
the longer you use it the easier and quicker you
will be able to employ these techniques.
 Using these memory techniques allows you to
more deeply internalize the information you are
using, allowing you to use it much more
effectively than if you were to simply try to
memorize it by repeating it many times.
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 Create
meaningful groups and abbreviations.
 Create
Index cards. ANKI Program might be
very useful too.
 Handwriting
helps you to more deeply
encode that is convert into neuro memory
structures what you are trying to learn.
Be passionate
persistent.
and
Don’t give up.
Remember,
Lady
Luck
those
who
trying.
favors
keeps
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Lecture materials of “Learning how to learn: Powerful mental tools to
help you master tough subjects” by Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence
Sejnowski.
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J., Nathan, & M.J., Willingham, D.T.
(2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques:
Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.
Rawson, K. A., & Dunlosky, J. (2011). Optimizing schedules of retrieval
practice for durable and efficient learning: How much is enough? Journal
of Experimental Psychology: General, 140, 283–302.
Roediger, H. L., III, & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval
practice in long-term retention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15, 20–27.
Pressley, M., McDaniel, M. A., Turnure, J. E., Wood, E., & Ahmad, M.
(1987). Generation and precision of elaboration: Effects on intentional
and incidental learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning,
Memory and Cognition, 13, 291–300.
Berry, D. C. (1983). Metacognitive experience and transfer of logical
reasoning. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 35A, 39–49.
Roediger III H.L., Pyc M.A. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to improve
education: Applying cognitive psychology to enhance educational
practice . Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 1, 242248.