How do you learn to learn better? Going Back to Basics How do you learn to learn better? Sandeep Puthanveetil Satheesan

It Starts With… One Thing… I Don’t Know Why !! Why do some people… find it so hard to study? procrastinate till the last moment? forget what was learned in the past?

It Doesn’t Even Matter… How Hard You Try !! Brain is not like a computer wherein you can easily store and retrieve information – just by a few mouse clicks. It takes proper effort to build proper neural connections. Understanding how brain works helps a lot to learn new concepts efficiently and with long term benefits. Without such an understanding, we cannot put good effort in the right direction while learning.

Keep That In Mind… I Designed This Rhyme !! Focus, Focus, and Focus is Only One Form of Focus. Two modes of thinking / learning: Focused Mode: Comes into picture when you are thinking about a known concept or thought. Works well when you are following a known procedure one step at a time. E.g. Adding two numbers, literary criticism. Best enhanced with concentration. Diffused Mode: Comes into picture when you are thinking about new a concept or thought. Works well when you have to look at things from a broad perspective. E.g. Err… it can be any new thought. Best employed when you wander in thoughts / are just about to sleep.

I Wasted It All… Just To Watch You Go !! Procrastination - act of delaying more important tasks by occupying oneself in less important tasks. Learning is in a way hard (but not difficult)– it activates areas of brain that is associated with pain. Brain resorts to something pleasant and you feel temporarily happy. It later becomes a habit. Result: You put off the important work! Ways out: The initial unpleasant feeling will go away soon. Hang in there! Try focusing on the process rather than the product. Pomodoro technique: 25 mins of uninterrupted learning + 5 mins break

To Remind Myself How… I Tried So Hard !! Short-term memory (a.k.a. working memory) Deals with what is being processed currently in mind. Analogous to a blackboard in which the drawings can disappear soon. Widely believed that it can hold up to four chunks of information. Long-term memory Analogous to a storage warehouse. Need to revisit it at least a few times to store information permanently. Can store billions of items. Spaced repetition with increasing intervals - reinforces long-term memory Sleep - helps clean up toxins that build up in the brain Erases / weakens less important memories Strengthens more important memories Sometimes we forget what we learn soon: We may not have done what is called spaced repetition. Try repeating what you studied over increasing spaced intervals to reinforce it in the long memory. Recall is one of the best ways to memorize. A procrastinator may still be able to study lot of concepts a day before exam but it’ll not get stored in the long-term memory deeply – ring a bell? Sleep helps to clean up toxins that build up in the brain. It also erases less important memories and strengthens the more important memories.

References “In the End” by Linkin Park. Lyrics from http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/linkinpark/intheend.html Clip-arts from Microsoft Office.com Lectures by Dr. Barbara Oakley on Learning How to Learn, Coursera

But In The End… It Doesn’t Even Matter !!