Whether you are a student looking to give your GPA that quantum boost; whether you are a professional seeking to get the most out of the books you read; whether you're an OCKG (Obessesive-compulsive knowledge-gatherer); or whether you're just a good citizen of the planet looking to maximize your learning/studying experience, then this exposition, which is firmly grounded in the time-tested science of educational psychology, has been written to cater for your learning needs.
The problem with our schools,—and to bring it home—the problem with the entire Nigerian education system, as has been observed by myself and many others, is that in school we are taught what to learn but we are almost never taught how to learn what it is that we have to learn, leaving many of us squirming in the throes of bland rote memorization. (Which, if you don't already know, is the poorest, most unimaginative, most time-consuming, and most ineffective method of learning.)
That is why meta-learning (the awareness and understanding of the phenomenon of learning) is essential to master before even getting down to the actual learning process. (If you don't even know how to start a fire, then why bother gathering firewood?)
Let us begin by defining what learning is:-
Learning is, according to Wikipedia, "the process of acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviours, skills, values, or preferences".
Before you fall guilty of anthropocentricity, see what Wikipedia further said:- "The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machines". It doesn't end there, Wikipedia also had this to say:- "There is also evidence for some kind of learning in some plants".
And, for all you adherents of John Locke who believe that we are born as clean wax tablets, research has shown that learning begins even before birth, so a newborn is not necessarily impression-free. Of course, a foetus would not learn to solve quadratic equations while it's curled up in its mother's womb. Rather, the form of learning which takes places prenatally is known as "habituation" (This has been observed to occur as early as 32 weeks into gestation.)
Now that we have established the definition of learning, and also learned that even machines are capable of learning to some extent, let us now try to understand the things that fuel learning (in humans)—that will to power that propels a person to learn a new language, or to learn to play the violin, or to learn to write a computer code.
Consider these two scenarios:
Scenario 1: Garfield loves Maria for her intelligence. He knows it's pointless but his feelings nonetheless have taken a romantic turn. The major glitch however is that Maria speaks and understands only Croatian, while Garfield speaks and understands only English. In order to impress Maria, Garfield sets out determined on a quest to learn Croatian.
Scenario 2: Kunle was driving one day when he came across a purple gorilla riding a bicycle. Kunle was impressed by this unusual sight and has dedicated the remainder of his life to understanding everything about bicycle-riding purple gorillas.
Those two scenarios mirror the two major things that drive learning in humans. In Scenario 1, we see "motivation" playing a role in Garfield's desire to learn Croatian (romantic motivation in this case). And in Scenario 2, we can very clearly see the inalienable factor of "curiosity" playing a critical role in Kunle's wanting to learn about purple King Kongs. (You might not have been told, but before curiosity killed the cat, it first made it more knowledgeable.)
Motivation and curiosity are primarily what drives humans to want to learn. Besides, if man as a creature were incapable of learning, then the entire human race would have long gone into extinction. If we were incapable of learning or incapable of forming long-term memory impressions, then we wouldn't even remember that playing with fire is dangerous, or that snakes have poisonous venom, or that a scorpion's sting could prove fatal. Even if we as a species somehow managed to beat natural selection and did not go extinct, then we would very likely be at the bottom of the food chain. (Therefore, even at the evolutionary level, learning is necessary for survival.)
For the remainder of the article, we would touch on these two things in detail:
1) How to maximise your learning/studying (Conditions to have in place)
2) How to study, understand, and remember all you read
P.S.: In order to avoid generalizing to a fault, the other two units have been tailored to cater specifically to the learning needs of university/polytechnic students. But in practice, the principles are generally applicable to everyone.
Subsequently, too, the word "learn" will be interchanged with "study", since in the other two units we would treat the phenomenon of learning purely in the academic/scholarly sense.
How to Maximize Your Learning/Studying (Conditions to have in place)
In this unit we shall expound on these six conditions which must be considered and satisfied before getting down to study:-
1) Time management/structure
2) Motivation/curiosity
3) Attention
4) Circadian rhythm/conducive environment
5) Emotional equilibrium
6) Goal(s)
1) Time management/structure:
"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me/
For now hath time made me his numbering clock/"
The lines above are excerpts from the play "King Richard II" by William Shakespeare. The play is said to have been written sometime around 1595, and even though 422 years have elapsed since Shakespeare first put down those ingenious lines of drama, they still remain very relevant today (perhaps even more relevant today seeing as 16th century England did not have to grapple with social media and technology in all its guises—both of which by the way are one of the major time-consumers of the 21st century).
Typically, an academic semester comprises of six months, which is further split into three months apiece. It goes without saying that a student with good time management skills would have begun his studying way long before examinations (from the very start of the semester), so that by the time his exams are only one or two weeks away, he would merely be revising the learned material rather than reading his lecture notes or textbooks for the first time.
Another benefit of good time management is "Distributed learning/spacing".
Distributed learning or Spaced Learning, simply put, is when learning is split into minutes, hours, days, or even months, rather than done in one concentrated dose. For instance, if you were given a material to learn today and on which you would be tested the following day, and let's say you have 3 hours to learn that material, it would be best if you divided the 3 hours and studied for one hour per study session. After every one hour, take a short break (Pomodoro technique), or go do something unrelated to the study task at hand before coming back to complete your study. (With your attention and mental/physical energy re-vitalized.)
Distributed learning is the most productive and stress-free learning technique, which more than any other learning method guarantees long-term dividends, especially when it's accompanied with spaced repetition (we would touch on this later).
Distributed learning is also the one of the most natural way of learning since the time lapses give the brain ample time to form neural connections between the newly acquired information.
This is what distributed learning entails and, sadly, a student incapable of managing time properly would not be able to leverage distributed learning to his or her advantage.
(Mr. Ayodele Dada, the UNILAG psychology graduate who set the Internet on fire when he graduated with a perfect CGPA of 5.0, attributed the bulk of his success to "distributed learning/spacing".)
These are some ways of improving on time management: (a) Improve on self-discipline (b) Create and strictly abide by a study/school timetable (c) Avoid procrastination
b]2) Motivation/curiosity:[/b]
To maintain a sustained interest in what you have to study, to understand what you have to study, or to even be capable of offhandedly recalling what you have studied, then you must either be motivated to learn it or must be curious enough about it.
There would be instances when a certain course, topic, or even a lecturer's style of teaching stretches the boundaries of boredom, but even so there are myriad ways of inducing interest so as to facilitate learning. One of the simplest way to induce interest is to literally bury yourself in the course/topic. This can be done by reading extensively on it (not your school notes this time around), by watching YouTube videos that talk about the topic, by listening to several podcasts, and/or by asking an expert or a fellow student to break it down and explain in layman's terms. The idea is to bombard all your five senses with the "boring material" using all the mediums available to you. By steeping yourself in the genius loci of that which is to be learned, the otherwise "boring" and unfamiliar material would likely become interesting and familiar.
3) Attention:
An attentive mind is a present mind, and a present mind is a powerful mind, and also one that is likely to better understand and better retain whatever it learns.
William James—Father of Modern Psychology—once said that the sort of education that teaches a student to take charge of his wandering mind is an education par excellence. Samuel Johnson (English writer) also stressed on the importance of attention when he declared that:- "The art of memory is the art of paying attention"
For students who crave a fruitful study session, you are to approach every study session with 100% attention (It's non-negotiable). In fact, it has been proven that attention, that mindfulness, and that by being whole-heartedly attuned to whatever it is you are doing, increases productivity and slows down the rate of mental fatigue. Being attentive is also said to improve wisdom and problem-solving capacity.
Understand this, the brain is not built to multi-task, so your attention should never be divided when studying. This is the time you should also consider putting your phone in airplane mode and screening out both internal and external distractions. (Ensure that you are neither hungry nor dehydrated, as hunger and thirst are one of the major causes of internal distraction.)
A way of enhancing attentiveness is by practicing mindfulness meditation i.e a brief moment of physical and mental silence wherein you direct the flow of your thoughts and constantly bring back your wandering mind to the present moment (trust me, your mind will definitely wander).
10-15 minutes of meditation before every study session is enough to yield a bountiful study harvest. And its cognitive benefits are scientifically well accounted for as well.
4) Circadian rhythm/conducive environment:
Circadian rhythm basically means the body's biological clock. By Nature's design, night-time is universally best suited for sleeping, and daytime is universally best suited for working/schooling. But our circadian rhythm differs in the times we best assimilate information.
For some that time is at night, and for some at day. (Although a seasoned learner, so far as he is well rested, should be able to assimilate at almost any given period within the 24-hour frame.)
You have to know when you best assimilate information and then structure your study time-table around those periods.
A conducive environment is also pivot to assimilation. Some prefer to have a white noise in the background during study (white noise could be a rotating ceiling fan or Mozart's Lacrimosa playing softly in the background), while some students prefer to consume knowledge while perched in the safety of absolute silence. Again, you have to figure out what environment is most conducive to your learning and assimilation.
5) Emotional equilibrium:
Before any study session, ensure that you are emotionally balanced. If you are still grieving your boyfriend's betrayal or the loss of a romantic relationship, then perhaps you might consider putting off studying until you have mastered your emotions.
Grief, anxiety, fear, and generally all negative emotions are things that cause the mind to wander. If you study without being rid of these emotional shrapnels, then be certain that your study session would be very likely be a complete waste of your time and energy.
6) Goal(s):
It is often said that abuse is inevitable when the purpose of a thing is not known. The same applies to learning. A student ought to have clearly outlined study goals before settling down to study.
The student must ask himself:- "Do I want to merely get the gist of this topic or do I also want to learn the elaborative details?" "Am I reading on World War II so as to understand the causes and effects of the war, or am I also reading so as to accumulate factoids, such as names of the key players and important dates?"
A student must know what it is that he wants to extract from every study session, and it's advisable that these study goals be as specific as possible. Remember, the brain wants order, not chaos.
How to Study, Understand, and Remember All You Read
In this unit, we shall look at the processes involved in effective studying. Haven already fulfilled the requirements in the previous unit, you are now ready to get down to study. The first thing you must do is to:-
1) Skim/Preview:
Always take a rapid glance through the table of contents, the headings and sub-headings, rather than just plunging straight ahead to read. If you like, you could also read a synopsis of the topic you want to study on Wikipedia or any other vetted online platform. Doing this (skimming/previewing) would help with "schema activation" (i.e it would serve as a form of background knowledge and also erect the basic framework on which further knowledge can be easily built upon)
Skiming/previewing also helps in priming your mind, and it gives you a rough idea of what to expect when you eventually start reading. (That way you can easily deduce the vital from the incidental).
Next is:-
2) Reading:
The reading process must be an entirely active process. It helps if you sit on the edge of your chair, and never assume a slouching posture during this stage (unless you're reading Playboy magazine or Celebrity gossip).
Run your fingers across the page, and make annotations or take notes. (Doing these involves your "muscle memory".)
And, whenever you encounter a sentence, or a paragraph, or a concept that you don't fully understand, stop to reflect deeply on it—a productive study session is one marked by reflective pauses.
Also, visualise—with full imaginative bandwidth—whatever it is that you are reading. Make the words come alive, smell it, taste it, feel it, and hear it replay over and over in your mind (subvocalization). (Know this, the bridge between our minds and the physical world are our sensory organs, so if you want to be less forgetful, more aware, more informed, and much more smarter than the Average Joe or Jane, then you must lean heavily on your senses so as to accrue as much sensory inputs as is possible.)
Usually, the study stage is where all the cognitive legwork is done and if you put in 100% of your attention and labour during this stage, then you would have already gotten 90% of the job done.
On a personal note, I dislike having to re-read a material either because I failed to understand it the first time (due to inattention) or perhaps because I couldn't remember what I've read due to sloppiness during the encoding stage. That is why I have cultivated a life-long habit of focusing all my attention and effort during the reading stage, and 99% of the time, I have never had the cause to re-read a material due to lack of initial understanding or an inability to recall what I have read (Besides being an expert mnemonist, my natural memory has grown remarkably eidetic from this mindful habit of involving all of my senses whenever I study)
After studying, next on the agenda is:-
3) Summarizing:
Take all those annotations and notes you made during the study stage and re-write them in your own words. (This is a form of active learning too.)
Your summaries should be highly condensed and straight to the point, and don't use more words than is necessary. (These summaries are what you will use in revising before and during the examination period.)
After summarizing in your own words, next is:-
4) Review/Recall:
There is something called "Desirable difficulty" in learning psychology. Simply put, a desirable difficulty is a learning task that is somehow difficulty but also very rewarding (especially in the long-term). In the review stage, you are going to use a desirable difficulty so as to get an accurate assessment of your overall assimilation. What you would do is to turn your eyes away from your summary notes and then try to recall all you have learned thus far. (This would be your first review of the material). While doing this might be difficult initially, it would imprint the information better in your mind than if you just re-read your summaries.
Research has proven that those information that we struggle a bit with before recalling actually get more strongly impressed in our minds than those information which we easily recall. (In other words, “More mental pain, more mental gains”)
This task of trying to offhandedly recall what you have learned during the review stage will accomplish 2 things:
(a) It would consolidate what you have learned
(b) It will help to identify the loopholes in your understanding
[...]
If you follow the instructions up to this point, then you are sure to triple your assimilation rate in no time. But it doesn't end here. The human mind, unfortunately, is one organic contraption that's susceptible to forgetfulness, especially if the initial impressions or if the encoding process was not strong enough (perhaps you were multi-tasking while reading, perhaps you failed to take notes or draw diagrams and mind-maps, perhaps you didn't visualise the concepts, or perhaps the concepts were ones that demanded an extreme degree of abstraction which you aren't naturally capable of).
Nonetheless, there's an antidote for memory decay. In order to beat the forgetting curve (Ebbinghaus effect) and to guarantee the transfer of learning from the short-term memory (hippocampus) to the long-term filing cabinet (neocortex), we must play to the strength of our brains by repeating the learned material over gradually increasing spaced intervals (This is known as spaced repetition)
What the above means is that after you have completed a study session (or after receiving a lecture), you should ensure to review the material within the first 20-24 hours. Then review it again after 2/3 days has elapsed. Then review it again after 15/20 days. (It all depends on your schedule and preference.)
This here illustrates how spaced repetition works:-
Day 1:- Read about the 36 Decans of ancient Egyptian astronomy
Day 2 (which is within 20-24 hours of learning the 36 Decans):- Reviewed the material by recalling all I learned about the 36 Decans, and then glanced through my summary notes to see what I missed
Day 10: Repeated what I did on Day 2
Day 30: Repeated what I did on Day 2 and Day 10
The idea is to gradually increase the intervals between the review periods, and it is generally agreed that this (spaced repetition) is the most efficient and effective way of transferring knowledge to long-term memory. Remember that you should always try to offhandedly recall what you have learned whenever you review rather than just re-reading your notes.
Personally, what I do (and I think you will find this very helpful) is to go to the bottom of each of my summary notes as soon as I've formulated them and list out all the key things I have learned on that particular topic, and then I put them in a bracket.
Something like this:- "(Nutrition, types of nutrition, photosynthesis, parts of a plant, parts of a cell, differences between plant cell and animal cell, examples of multicellular organisms)"
During my review sessions I go straight to the bottom of my summary notes and look at each of the words I have written in brackets and then try to offhandedly recall everything that I can about them. (I never write the definitions in the bracket. I only write the names of the concepts and then mentally reel out all the details about them).
This way I am using a "desirable difficulty" to enhance my understanding and recall, rather than just re-reading my notes which, as scientific research has proven, tends to give many students the "illusion of understanding". This method that I utilize is very similar to the use of Flashcards, except that I find it much more time-economical and comfortable than using flashcards. But if you think Flashcards would serve you better, then you should use them.
In conclusion:
Always remember that understanding should be prioritized over memorization.
Bear in mind too that learning should be a fun process. You should as well be limitless in your creativity when it comes to learning.
Here is a fun fact:- I once learned the first 20 digits of pi some 5 years ago by setting the first 20 digits of pi as my phone's password. I reasoned that I would learn it more quickly if I had the benefit of regular exposure. (That's just me being creative.)
Induce motivation in yourself so as to assimilate and retain information with greater accuracy (motivated encoding); look for patterns in the materials you are to learn and connect it to past knowledge (]learning by association); formulate creative and memorable mnemonics (elaborative encoding); turn words, numbers and concepts into mental pictures and make those pictures randy, bizarre and funny (Von Restoff effect); teach a complex sociology concept to your dog or to your shadow if you can't get a human audience (Feynman technique), or convert the complex concept into a catchy rap song. And most importantly, have fun while doing all these things.
Closing remarks:
It happens even to the best of us that sometimes our minds would inevitably go blank, and there are also times when we get that tip-of-the-tongue feeling when trying to recall an information (i.e. we are certain that we know the information but we can't quite lay our hands on it in that moment).
When something of this sort happens, especially in examination halls, it's incredibly helpful if you try to recall some information that's related in some way to what you are trying to remember (I like to call these "neighbouring memories").
For example, if you were trying to recall the "characteristics of a Tropical Rainforest" but are unable to, you could turn your mind towards recalling the "characteristics of the Southern Guinea Savanna" instead—they are both similar in content and the latter is very likely to bring the former to remembrance. (Triggering remembrance by using the "neighbouring memories" works 95% of the time.)
