How We Learn

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How We Learn

• ESP Orientation 2005
• Mike Walker, Learning Strategist
  September 1, 2005

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Seminar Outcomes

• I hope ? you will
• recognize the diversity of both learning theories
  and strategies
• understand that learning is NOT a passive process
• be motivated to explore your your own diversity
  and uniqueness as a learner
• evaluate and adopt the learning strategies
  appropriate to your learning needs

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Part I - How Do We Learn?

• Learning Theories Theorists

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How Do We Learn?

• Were we taught to learn?
• Did we have learning class as babies?
• What is the process by which we are presented
  with new tasks or information then demonstrate a
  skill or write a paper?
• How might learning happen?

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Theories of Learning

• tabula rasa or blank slate
• John Locke
• Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690
• simply that the mind is like an empty vessel
  waiting to be filled

• Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
• 4 Developmental Stages
• based on the idea that the developing child
  builds cognitive structures--in other words,
  mental "maps," schemes, or networked concepts for
  understanding and responding to physical
  experiences within his or her environment.

(source Online www.funderstanding.com)
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Theories of Learning

• Behaviorism
• B. F. Skinner
• a theory of animal and human learning that only
  focuses on objectively observable behaviors and
  discounts mental activities. Behavior theorists
  define learning as nothing more than the
  acquisition of new behavior.

• Control Theory
• William Glasser
• behavior is never caused by a response to an
  outside stimulus. Instead, the control theory
  states that behavior is inspired by what a person
  wants most at any given time survival, love,
  power, freedom, or any other basic human need.

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Theories of Learning

• Observational Learning
• Albert Bandura
• a social learning theory which states that occurs
  when an observer's behavior changes after viewing
  the behavior of a model.

• Social Cognition
• L. S. Vygotsky
• a social cognition learning model asserts that
  culture is the prime determinant of individual
  development. Humans are the only species to have
  created culture, and every human child develops
  in the context of a culture.

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Theories of Learning

• Brain-based Learning
• This learning theory is based on the structure
  and function of the brain. As long as the brain
  is not prohibited from fulfilling its normal
  processes, learning will occur.

• Neuroscience
• The nervous system and the brain are the physical
  foundation of the human learning process.
  Neuroscience links our observations about
  cognitive behavior with the actual physical
  processes that support such behavior. This theory
  is still "young" and is undergoing rapid,
  controversial development.

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Theories of Learning

• Right Brain vs. Left Brain
• This theory of the structure and functions of the
  mind suggests that the two different sides of the
  brain control two different "modes" of thinking.
  It also suggests that each of us prefers one mode
  over the other.

• Learning Styles
• This approach to learning emphasizes the fact
  that individuals perceive and process information
  in very different ways. The learning styles
  theory implies that how much individuals learn
  has more to do with whether the educational
  experience is geared toward their particular
  style of learning than whether or not they are
  "smart."

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Theories of Learning

• Constructivism (current theory in favour)
• a philosophy of learning founded on the premise
  that, by reflecting on our experiences, we
  construct our own understanding of the world we
  live in. Each of us generates our own "rules" and
  "mental models," which we use to make sense of
  our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply
  the process of adjusting our mental models to
  accommodate new experiences.

• Multiple Intelligences
• This theory of human intelligence, developed by
  psychologist Howard Gardner, suggests there are
  at least seven ways that people have of
  perceiving and understanding the world. Gardner
  labels each of these ways a distinct
  "intelligence"--in other words, a set of skills
  allowing individuals to find and resolve genuine
  problems they face.

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Guiding Principles of Constructivism

• Learning is a search for meaning. Therefore,
  learning must start with the issues around which
  students are actively trying to construct
  meaning.
• Meaning requires understanding wholes as well as
  parts. And parts must be understood in the
  context of wholes. Therefore, the learning
  process focuses on primary concepts, not isolated
  facts.

• In order to teach well, we must understand the
  mental models that students use to perceive the
  world and the assumptions they make to support
  those models.
• The purpose of learning is for an individual to
  construct his or her own meaning, not just
  memorize the "right" answers and regurgitate
  someone else's meaning.

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Things you didnt learn in school

• Walk and run
• Talk -- at least one language
• Ride a bike
• Swim
• Give directions
• Bake cookies

• Draw a picture
• Plant a garden
• Baby-sit
• Build models or crafts
• Interact with others

You are already an expert learner!
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However, learning in a new environment may
require . . .

• new skills
• new attitudes

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Unfortunately

• Some minds are like concrete thoroughly mixed
  and permanently set

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• Nude Descending a Staircase
• Painted in 1912 by Marcel Duchamp (1897 - 1968)
• . . . symbolic painting. . . a dynamic form of
  cubism

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Basic Precept

• Your mind is like a parachute -- it only works
  when its open.
• Anonymous

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Part II - Learning the Brain

• How might these theories apply to you?

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The Potential of Your Brain

• Three basic learning modalities
• Eight intelligences

• Trillions trillions of brain cells
• 100 billion neurons in thinking brain
• 20,000 possible connections between neurons
• Three brains in one
• Two sides to the brain

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The Triune Brain

• Reptilian (lower)
• basic body function
• fight or flight
• Limbic (middle)
• mammalian
• regulates immune hormone systems, sexuality,
  emotion (memory?)
• Cortical (higher)
• reason, use language, plan, think abstractly

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A Simple Model of Learning Information
Processing

• Sensory Input
• Decoding
• Processing
• May include Storage and/or Retrieval processes
• Encoding
• Physical Output

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Our Auto Pilot

• The brain helps us to learn, naturally and
  intuitively
• Demonstration 1
• Demonstration 2

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Demo 1 - Count the Fs

• FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-SULT OF YEARS OF
  SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EX- PERIENCE
  OF YEARS.

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Demo 1 - Count the Fs

• How may Fs were there?
• FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-SULT OF YEARS OF
  SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EX- PERIENCE
  OF YEARS.
• Many of you ignored the unimportant words - -
  automatically subconsciously!

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Demo 2 - Count the triangles?
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Our Auto Pilot

• The brain helps us to learn, naturally and
  intuitively
• Our brain wants to help us make sense of the
  world - achieve equilibrium
• Learning occurs because of disequilibrium -
  discomfort or a sense of wonder is natural

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Part III - How do We Remember?

• Learning Memory

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What is Memory?

• chemical connections between neurons caused by
  strong associations
• created by action, sensory or emotional event
• sustained by repetition

• Memory neural traces in your brain

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Where is Memory?

• Reptilian (lower)
• basic body function
• in the cerebellum
• skill memory
• Limbic (middle)
• mammalian
• hippocampus
• long-term memory
• Cortical (higher)
• prefrontal cortex
• working memory

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The Three Rs of Memory

• Registration
• something comes to your attention that has
  meaning
• Retention
• a conscious decision to remember followed by a
  strategy to make it happen
• Recall
• ability to remember usually linked to
  strategy/technique used in retention

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Another IP Model - Attention and Memory
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What do we remember?

• Demonstration 3
• Primacy effect
• Recency effect
• Frequency effect
• Distinctiveness effect
• Organization effect
• Reconstruction effect

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One Technique to Remember

• Demonstration 4
• Half of the class - heads down
• Read the following list - Ill give you 15 seconds

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Demo 4a
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Demo 4b
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Demo 4b

• Tally the score for the two groups

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Example of Chunking

• Random list
• verses
• Chunked list

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How do we forget?
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Overcoming the Curve
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Overcoming the Forgetting CurveAnalogy the
Fishing Trip
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So Review

• 10 min - After class or in evening by rewriting,
  typing organizing notes (Cornell)
• 24 hr - During the week (before lab or next class
  if you have two periods a week)
• 1 week - Before class the following week
• Therefore, when you study for your midterms and
  finals, you have already reviewed the material 3
  times

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Improving Your Memory

• Relax
• Be active
• Use many intelligences
• Organize your time
• Chunk material
• Create strong associations

• Practice output
• Review early and regularly
• Develop memory aids
• Practice, practice, practice
• Sleep on it

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Memory Aids/Techniques

• Basic
• flash cards
• mind maps
• mnemonic devices - auditory and visual
• rhymes, rhythms, songs

• Advanced
• ( See Mind Tools web site)
• Memory Peg System
• Linking System
• Location Method (Roman Room)
• Rhyming Method

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Internet Resources - Memory

• Mind Tools-Memory Techniques Mnemonics
• http//www.mindtools.com/memory.html
• The Memory Page
• http//www.premiumhealth.com/memory/
• Exploratorium The Memory Exhibition
• http//www.exploratorium.edu/memory/
• University Sites
• www.mtsu.edu/studskl/mem.html
• www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/memory.htm
• www.uic.edu/depts/counselctr/ace/memory.htm

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In Summary

• Theory to Practice -
• What can you do to improve your learning?

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We Learn... William Glasser

• 10 of what we read
• 20 of what we hear
• 30 of what we see
• 50 of what we both see and hear
• 70 of what is discussed with others
• 80 of what we experience personally
• 95 of what we teach someone else

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Or Simply

• Tell me and I will forget
• Show me and I may remember
• Involve me and I will understand
• Ancient Chinese proverb

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• Therefore active multi-sensory learning is
  most effective!

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Whats Next?How Do YOU Learn?

• Lets take a break?

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Questions?

• . . . lets take a break!