Can We Improve Our Ability To Learn? (3)

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Can We Improve Our Ability To Learn? (3)
It Is Better to Understand New Material Than Simply to Memorize It By Rote

Information is consolidated from short-term memory into long-term memory by rehearsal. Rehearsal can take form of reading over class notes (try reading them aloud) or it can take form of describing significant concepts in new words. The traditional hour-long lecture may effectively fill up working memory so that if no effort is made to consolidate material into long-term memory quickly it may all be forgotten. It is more difficult to hold material in short-term memory, so material that is not moved into long-term memory is more likely to be lost.

A good teacher can help students by refraining from pointless digressions, such digressions maybe interesting but they also fill up short-term memory with unrelated facts. Information loss seems to occur when new data actually interferes with data that is already in working memory.





It is better to understand new material than simply to memorize it by rote. If new material is well understood, then a few forgotten details can be derived from the context of what has been remembered. In contrast, if rote-memorized material is forgotten, it's gone.

The brain strives to make connections and to make sense of new information. This is why it can be helpful to fit new concepts into the context of previously well-learned concepts. If you already have a related memory, typing new material to that memory will strengthen the old memory and help to consolidate the new material. This may amount to filling in mortar around existing bricks rather than laying an entirely new row of bricks.



A wise teacher will also help students by pointing out some of the interesting associations. This can be done by asking questions or by presenting material in way those foster connections. A new student of biology, for instance will probably spend some time defining the properties of living organism. This can be a fairly dry exercise unless the teacher asks questions to make the material more relevant. One way to make the properties of a living organism more compelling is to ask students to consider whether a virus alive. Does a virus satisfy the properties of a living organism or are there features that we would all agree define life that are lacking in a virus?

"THE EVOLVING BRAIN", The known and Unknown, R. Grant Steen, 2007, pages 135 - 136

Can We Improve Our Ability To Learn? (2)

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Can We Improve Our Ability To Learn? (2)
It Would Be Good To Figure Out Your Particular Learning Style !

When learning new material, it is crucial to use your strengths. For example, most people learn things that they hear more efficiently than things than they see. Yet this is not true for everybody, and it is useful to learn your own strengths and weaknesses. Indeed, there are some students who learn best if they are allowed to touch and play with objects that are related to a lecture, this may be why laboratory classes are so often popular with students.

It would be good to figure out your particular learning style so that you can better utilize your strengths. If you learn best by seeing, make sure that you draw out new ideas or that you find good illustrations for concepts that you find difficult.



It is also helpful to involve as many sensory modalities as possible when learning new information. An oral presentation supplemented with visual material will be understood and remembered better than oral presentation alone. A lecture that is well illustrated engages two modalities of sensory input, whereas a lecture alone engages only the ears. This strategy is consistent with the idea that words and pictures a processed in different way by the brain and that engaging both processes makes it more likely that the material will be remembered.



In the past, children were often taught to read by listening to a teacher say the sound that each letter makes so that these sounds could be learned and combined. Now, children may be given plastic letters and encouraged to play with them as they hear the sounds. Memory can be augmented if use motor skills concurrently; this is perhaps why reading is enhanced by note taking. The process of distilling knowledge into a few simple sentences and the act of writing out those sentences can improve comprehension and retention of new ideas.

"THE EVOLVING BRAIN", The known and Unknown, R. Grant Steen, 2007, pages 134 - 135