Learning How To Learn
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- 31 December 2022
People begin to learn things from the moment they are born until they breathe their last. In particular, after they begin going to school, they suddenly find themselves in a very intense learning process.
However, many people, unfortunately, neither receive an education nor read a single book about how this lifelong activity takes place. As a result, the learning activity, an actually easy and enjoyable process, may become torture.
Especially in schools, most students do not want to study since they do not know the learning tricks, making them perceive the lessons as difficult and tedious. Well, is learning actually a tedious and difficult activity? Are there any tricks to learning in an easier and more enjoyable way? We will now take a look at the most basic information we need to know about learning.
IF WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND LEARNING DYNAMICS, WE NEED TO KNOW OUR BRAINS BETTER.
The most vital organ that plays a role in learning is undoubtedly our brain. Therefore, we must first find out how our brain works and which factors affect its performance. Our brain is made up of about 100 billion neurons, or brain cells, that are connected to each other. The learning activity actually occurs when these brain cells form connections with each other. When people learn something new and try to recall it later, an electrical signal goes to where the information is retained in their brain, bypassing the gaps between the brain cells, namely synapses. If the signal reaches that place successfully, the information learned can be recalled. One of the main points about learning has to do with this signaling quality. The two factors that affect this the most are nutrition and sleep. People should pay attention to their nutrition and sleep to improve their learning.
EAT WELL TO LEARN WELL
Avoiding excessively fatty, salty, and sugary foods is crucial for both physical health and mental performance. In addition, regularly eating foods rich in omega 3, B12, and vitamin D is good for increasing memory power. If you quickly forget the things you have learned, having these substances checked in your blood values plays a huge role in terms of determining the problems you might have with your memory.
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SLEEP
Another significant factor affecting your learning performance is sleep. Pay attention to sleep for an average of eight hours every day, adjust your bedtime accordingly to wake up with the sunrise, and not to disturb your sleep pattern by sometimes going to bed late and sometimes going to bed early. Increasing your general knowledge about sleep will offer great benefits both in terms of healthy living and increasing learning performance.
LEARN SPEED READING AND MEMORY TECHNIQUES
Books are one of the tools we use most to learn. We utilize very little of our brain’s potential because we do not receive training in comprehension speed reading in schools. An average reader reads 150-200 words per minute and has a comprehension rate of 50-60%, however, a person trained in this field can read 500-600 words per minute and reach a comprehension rate of 80% or more. Anyone can get an education in this regard starting from secondary school.
Memory techniques, on the other hand, allow you to record the information you are trying to learn in your memory much faster by including the right side of your brain, which performs functions related to imagination, emotion, painting, and music, in the learning process.
TAKE NOTES
Taking notes is one of the sine qua non of effective learning. However, since people generally do not know note-taking techniques, they take notes in the least efficient way for memorizing. At this point, the mind map technique may come to your aid. You should definitely search for this technique in detail as soon as possible.
TEACH TO LEARN
The most effective way to learn is to teach others. Explaining the topics you want to learn to the people around you, shooting videos and putting them on Youtube, preparing podcasts, or writing them will render the relevant information permanent in your mind.
REPETITION, REPETITION, REPETITION
Research on the brain reveals that in order to remember the information you learned today for a longer period of time, you need to do the first repetition within 45 hours at the latest, then review the notes you took 1 week later, perform the next repetition 1 month, then 3 months, and then 6 months later.
Techniques such as memory techniques facilitate the initial learning, but if you want to remember such information years later, you must definitely repeat it. Surely you will realize that learning is in fact very easy and enjoyable as you do your research on the points I mentioned above and perform the recommended applications.
Abdulkadir Özbek / Founder of Vizyon, College Board Member at Artificial Intelligence Policy Association