#learningguides

Learning How to Learn Seminar Series - 2017

Obtaining Higher Learning

Obtaining Higher Learning: Thu Jan 5 (mp4 video) 

https://cityinmars.tumblr.com/post/183123839891/learning-resources

https://cityinmars.tumblr.com/post/183123839891/obtaining-higher-learning-2017

Enhance your performance and become a better learner by attending the Learning how to Learn Seminar Series. Learn how to engage with course material at a university level and improve your thinking and learning skills.

Thinking About Your Thinking: Thu Jan 19 (mp4 video)

The ability to think about one's own thinking, called metacognition, is considered to be one of the most important skill sets. In this seminar you will be introduced to metacognition and learn how to apply it to your studies and beyond.

Embracing Failure: Thu Feb 2 (mp4 video)

A fear of failure can be extremely paralyzing. It can lead to stress, anxiety, and procrastination. In this seminar, we will discuss how to view failure, and, in particular, how to develop a growth mindset.

Learning in Lectures: Thu Feb 16 (mp4 video)

Do you find that lectures are mostly a scramble between trying to listen to the professor and take notes? In this session, I will show you how to improve your efficiency and comprehension during lectures.

The Neuroscience of Memory: Thu Mar 2 (mp4 video)

Using fMRI scans, neuroscientists have discovered a great deal about the brain. In this seminar, we will see how to use these discoveries to make learning more efficient and long lasting.

Effective Study: Thu Mar 16 (mp4 video)

There is much to accomplish in your school life and your time is a precious and limited resource. In this seminar you will learn to recognize the signs of ineffective study habits and how to redirect your efforts to study smarter, not longer.

Recommended viewing:

Learning how to learn by Barbara Oakley, Oakland University. TED talk, 2014, 17 minutes.

Learning how to learn by Barbara Oakley, Oakland University. Learning Technologies Symposium 2016 keynote lecture, Learning technology Symposium, McMaster University, 2016, 65 minutes.

Grit: the power of passion and perseverance by Angela Lee Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania. TED talk, 2013, 6 minutes.

Choose a moderate amount of material or a chapter to begin

Get a grasp of how the material is organized: Scan the section for titles, headings, sub-headings, and topic sentences to get its general idea; pay attention to graphs, charts, and diagrams

If there is a summary at the end of a chapter, read it.

Check the beginning and the end for leading questions and exercises

Read first for what you do understand, and to determine difficulty.

Mark what you do not understand to review later

As you read, practice the look-away method:

Periodically look away from the text and ask yourself a stimulus question relating to the text

Phrase the question positively!

Respond, or restate, in your own words

Make connections and associations, but don't use this exercise to memorize--but rather understand

Look up words Look up words whose meanings are important to your understanding of the material, but you cannot discern from the context.

Read to the end Do not get discouraged and stop reading. Ideas can become clearer the more you read. When you finish reading, review to see what you have learned, and reread those ideas that are not clear.

Organize your notes by connecting ideas you choose into an outline or concept map. Pay attention to relationships between ideas.

Do not confine yourself to words! Use representations, graphics, pictures, colors, even movement to visualize and connect ideas. Use whatever techniques work to help you understand

At this point, if you do not understand your reading, do not panic! Set it aside, and read it again the next day. If necessary, repeat. This allows your brain to process the material, even while you sleep. This is referred to as distributed reading.

Re-read the section you have chosen with the framework (outline or concept map) you have constructed in mind Separate out what you do understand from what you do not.

If the reading is still a challenge, consult with either your teacher, academic counselors, or reading specialists.

“[...] puritanical devotion to perpetual busyness does not in fact translate to greater productivity and is not particularly healthy. What if the brain requires substantial downtime to remain industrious and generate its most innovative ideas? “Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets,” essayist Tim Kreider wrote in The New York Times . “ The space and quietness that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration -- it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done.”  

“Downtime (vacation, napping, meditating, relaxing, time spent in parks, gardens and other peaceful outdoor spaces) replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to both achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life. A wandering mind unsticks is in time so that we can learn from the past and plan from the future [...], and maintain a sense of self.”

“[...] a particular set of scattered brain regions consistently became less active when someone concentrated on a mental challenge, but began to fire in synchrony ... when their thoughts wandered.”

“[...] Default Mode Network (DMN) is the complex circuit that stirs to life when people are day dreaming [...]. When we rest, the brain is anything but idle,.., downtime is essential to mental processes that affirms our identities, develop our understanding of human behaviors and instill an internal code of ethics--processes that depend on the DMN.”

“Downtime is an opportunity for the brain to make sense of what it has recently learned [...]”.

“[...] the mind obliquely (indirectly) solves tough problems while daydreaming--an experience many people have had while taking a shower. Epiphanies may seem to come out of nowhere, but they are often the product of unconscious mental activity during downtime. Solutions emerge from the subconscious in this way only when the distracting task is relatively simple, such as solving an anagram or engaging in a routine activity that does not necessitate much deliberate concentration, like brushing one’s teeth or washing dishes”.

“With the right kind of distraction, DMN may be able to integrate more information from a wide range of brain regions in more complex way than when the brain is consciously working through a problem.”

“For decades scientists have suspected that when an animal or person is not actively learning something new, the brain consolidates recently accumulated data, memorizing the most salient information, and essentially rehearses recently learned skills, etching them in to its tissue. Dozens of studies have confirmed that memory depends on sleep”.

“ A tantalizing piece of evidence suggests that the brain may take advantage of every momentary lapse in attention to let resting state networks take over.”

“... electrical impulses in people’s brains were recorded as they watched clips of Mr. Bean . The results revealed that the brain can fire up the default mode network in the blink of an eye -- literally * . Every time we blink, circuits that we use to consciously direct attention go quiet and the DMN briefly wakes up. What it accomplishes in these interludes remains unclear, but it could very well be a form of memory consolidation  or a moment of for attention-directing neurons to catch their breath.”

“Some researchers have proposed that people are also physiologically inclined to snooze during a 2 P.M. to 4 P.M. “nap zone” - the afternoon slump - because the brain prefers to toggle between sleep and wake more than once a day.”

“Plenty of studies have established that naps sharpen concentration and improve the performance of both the sleep-deprived and the fully rested on all kinds of tasks, from driving to medical care.”

“Long naps work great when people have enough time to recover from “sleep inertia” --- post-nap grogginess that, in some cases, can take more than 2 hrs to fade. In other situations micronaps may be a smarter strategy.”

“10 minute naps immediately enhanced performance just as much as longer naps without any grogginess [...] a mere seven to 10 minutes of sleep may be enough to restore wake-circuit neurons to their former excitability.”

“Numerous studies have shown that meditation strengthens connections between regions of the DMN, for example, and can help people learn to more effective shift between the DMN and the circuits that are most active when we are consciously fixated on a task. Over time expert meditators may also develop a more intricately wrinkled cortex - the brain’s outer layer, which is necessary for many of our most sophisticated mental abilities, like abstract thought and introspection.”

“Meditation appears to increase the volume and density of the hippocampus, a seahorse-shape area of the brain that is absolutely crucial for memory; it thickens regions of the frontal cortex tat we rely on to rein in our emotions; and it stymies the typical wilting of brain areas responsible for sustaining attention as we get older.”

“... a couple weeks of meditation or a mere 10 to 20 mins of mindfulness a day can whet the mind -- if people stick with it. A few studies indicate that meditating daily is ultimately more important than the total hours of meditation over one’s lifetime.”

Chapter Two: Easy Does It 

• Prime Your Mental Pump: Take a “picture walk” through the chapter before you read, glancing through graphics, diagrams, photos, section headings, summary, and questions at the end of the chapter. You will be creating neural hooks to hang your thinking on, making it easier to grasp the concepts. Reading through practice quizzes/sample problems before engaging with the material can have the same effect.

 • Be prepared to be stumped and confused by new concepts and problems.

 • Learning math and science requires both focused mode thinking and diffuse mode thinking. Focused mode is direct, rational, sequential, and analytical. Diffuse mode is associated with “big picture” perspectives, and happens when you relax and let your mind wander. If you are trying to understand or figure out something new, turn off your focused thinking and turn on your diffuse mode. Try to toggle back and forth between modes, especially if you find yourself stuck.

 • When you procrastinate, you are leaving yourself only enough time to do superficial focused learning. You are also increasing your stress level. The resulting neural patterns will be faint and fragmented, and will quickly disappear. Cramming at the last minute will not leave you enough time for learning, and will prevent you from synthesizing the connections. o If you find yourself procrastinating, insulate yourself from interruptions (e.g. turn off your phone) and set a time for 25 minutes. Focus on a work task – any task. Do not worry about finishing it; just worry about focusing for 25 minutes. When 25 minutes is up, reward yourself. o Imagine that at the end of the day, you are reflecting on the one most important task you accomplished that day. What would it be? Write it down. Then work on it. Try to complete at least three 25-minute sessions that day, on whatever task you think is most important. At the end of the day, reflect on what you accomplished, and think about what you will accomplish the next day. The early preparation will help your diffuse mode begin to think about how you will get tasks done the next day.

 Chapter Three: Learning is Creating:

 • Keep work sessions short to use diffuse mode after focused mode sessions. • Some diffuse mode activities are more recommended than others: o Recommended: Exercise, take a drive, draw or paint, take a bath or shower, listen to music without words, play songs you know well on a musical instrument, meditate or pray, sleep o Use briefly/sporadically: Video games, surf the web, talk to friends, help another with a simple task, read a relaxing book, text friends, go to a movie or play, watch television

 • Blink or close your eyes for a few second to refresh and renew consciousness and perspective • When you find yourself becoming frustrated at something or someone, take a mental step back and observe your reaction. Frustration is a sign that you need to take a break.

 • When you are stuck on a problem or having a difficult time learning a concept, try the following: o Ask for a different perspective. Talk to classmates, TAs, or the instructor, and ask them if they can rephrase the information in a different way. o Work on the problem or study the concept for a few minutes. Then move on to another problem or concept. Return to the first problem later. o Take a power nap. Set your alarm for 20 minutes. Darken the room, focus on slowing down your breathing, and repeat a short phrase (e.g. “time for sleep”) in your head. ! If you go over material right before taking a nap or going to sleep for the night, you have an increased chance of dreaming about it. Deciding that you want to dream about it seems to improve your chances even further. Dreaming about the material can help consolidate your memories into easily grasped chunks.

 • To help aid in long-term memory, engage in spaced repetition – repeat what you are trying to retain over a number of days.

 • If you are tired, it is often best to go to sleep and get up earlier the next day.

 • When you take a short break after studying, try to recall the main ideas of what you just learned while moving around.

 • Make sure to develop an action plan for reviewing new concepts within 2-3 days of learning them so that you do not let too many days pass without review. 

Chapter Four: Chunking and Avoiding Illusions of Competence

 • Creating conceptual chunks: mental leaps that unite separate bits of information through meaning

 • Attempt to recall the material you are trying to learn, rather than just rereading. Rereading and recognizing gives you illusions of competence. The only time rereading text seems to be effective is if you let time pass between rereadings so that you are engaging in spaced repetitions.

 • Try to recall the material when you are outside your usual place of study to help you strengthen your grasp of the material by viewing it from a different perspective.

 • Practice interleaving: doing a mixture of different kinds of problems requiring different strategies. Once you feel that you know a concept, try to recall or practice it in different ways, not just in the way you learned it. At the very least, try to practice/recall material in a different order every time.

 • Avoid long study sessions in favor of multiple, shorter sessions. If you prefer long study sessions, do not devote too much time to any one skill or concept – make sure to mix it up.

 • When possible, write out ideas by hand, rather than typing.

 • When checking answers, do not simply move on if you got the answer correct. Ask yourself how you would know how to do this problem if it were mixed with other content on an exam? How would you know the answer if the question were phrased in a different way?

 • Try to explain what you are learning to someone not taking your course/not familiar with the material. Simplifying material so others can learn it will be helpful in cementing your own understanding.

 Chapters Five and Six: Preventing Procrastination

• Think of procrastination as a bad habit that you can change. Do not think of yourself as a procrastinator •

 Procrastination offers temporary relief from things that make us feel uncomfortable. However, the more you practice a content area, the less uncomfortable you will feel.

 • Recognize what launches you into procrastination mode. Cues often include: location, time, how you feel, reactions to other people, or something that just happened. o Start to develop a routine that protects you from being vulnerable to immediate cues to procrastinate. For example, studying at particular set times, shutting off your cell phone, closing tabs that are not directly related to what you are studying. o Think of your most troublesome cue and practice reacting differently to just that one cue.

 • Develop a ritual to precede studying, such as getting your favorite drink and sitting in a particular chair.

 • Figure out why you are procrastinating and see if you can substitute something else that will provide that same feeling for you.

 • Use mental contrasting: think about where you are now and contrast it with what you want to achieve. When you want to procrastinate, draw upon images that remind you of where you want to be, and picture yourself emerging from where you are now to where you want to be

. • If you really want to check your email or Facebook, set a timer for 10 minutes. If you can get 10 minutes of focused work done, reward yourself by doing what you want to do.

 • Make a list of specific actions you can take to curb habits of procrastination. • Use the “Pomodoro” technique: Set a timer for 25 minutes and work without interruption, no matter what. Use this technique to train yourself to ignore distractions. Focus on process (best effort for a short period), rather than product (end result).

 • When it comes to multitasking, remember that constant shifting of your attention means that new ideas do not have time to take root and flourish. Each tiny shift back and forth siphons off energy.

 • The next time you feel an urge to check social media (or any other kind of distraction), pause and examine the feeling. Acknowledge it, then ignore it.

 • If you are feeling fuzzy as you are trying to look away and recall a key idea, or you find yourself rereading the same paragraphs over and over again, try doing a few jumping jacks or pushups, and then try to recall again. Chapter Eight: Tools, Tips, and Tricks

 • Have a saying to get started, such as, “Quit wasting time and just get on with it. Once you get going, you’ll feel better.” 

• Three step positive approach to procrastination: 1) No computer time during procrastination – it is too engrossing. 2) Before procrastinating, identify the easiest task you need to do. 3) Copy the information needed to work on this task onto a small piece of paper and carry it around until you are ready to get back to work.

 • Think of working on procrastination as self-experimentation: keep notes on when you don’t complete what you intended to, what your cues are, and what your reactions to these cues are.

 • Write a list of key tasks you can reasonably work on or accomplish the evening before, which helps your subconscious figure out how to accomplish them while you sleep. Keep your list to 5-10 items, and do not add to the daily list unless something urgent arises. Do the most important and most disliked jobs first.

 • Plan your quitting time, as well as your working time. If you find yourself consistently working beyond your quitting time, it is a sign you need to reassess your items, schedule, and/or procrastination.

 • Transform distant deadlines into daily ones by translating large tasks into very small ones that show up on your daily to-do lists. Chapters Ten & Eleven: Enhancing Your Memory

 • Use your natural visuospatial memorization abilities to build more neural hooks for the information. Create images to help you remember concepts and link these images to smells, feelings, tastes, and sounds whenever you can.

 • Use the memory palace technique: Call to mind a familiar place, such as the layout of your home, and use it as a visual notepad where you can deposit concept-images that you want to remember. Walk through your memory palace and deposit your images.

 • Make up lyrics set to the music your favorite songs to help you remember lists. Using motions along with the songs can help cement the ideas in your memory. • Pretend you are the concept you are trying to remember. Imagine your pathway and what it feels like to take that pathway.

 • Write out concepts you are trying to remember by hand, which will help you more deeply encode what you are trying to learn. If you are struggling to remember information that you are typing, try switching to writing out the information by hand to see if it helps.

 • Briefly repeat what you want to remember for a few minutes every day for several days. Gradually extend the time between practicing repetitions. • Create stories with the information where there is a plot, characters, and overall purpose. 

• Research has shown that regular exercise will boost your memory.

 • Think like an actor: Actors tend to memorize scripts by understanding characters’ needs and motivations, rather than starting by memorizing lines verbatim. Try to understand the concepts before you try rote memorization.

 Chapter Seventeen: Test Taking 

• When you get a test, start first with the hardest problem. Steel yourself to pull away within the first minute or two if you get stuck or get a sense that you might not be on the right track. Turn to an easy problem, and then go back to a harder problem. You will often find that when you return to harder problems, the next steps will seem easier to you. This hard-start-jump-to-easy process allows different parts of the brain to work simultaneously on different thoughts. Make sure you have the self-discipline to pull yourself off of a problem once you find yourself stuck for a minute or two.

 • Interpret symptoms such as a racing heart or a knot in the pit of your stomach as “this test has gotten me excited to do my best!” rather than “this test has made me afraid.”

 • When experiencing physical symptoms of anxiety, try to momentarily turn your attention to your breathing. Relax your stomach, place your hand on it, and slowly draw a deep breath. Practice this breathing technique as part of your studying.

 • When checking answers, try to think from a different perspective or process to avoid making the same mistake the second time around. Even checking answers out of order can help give you brain a fresh framework.

Dan`s Animated Learning How To Learn Seminars

Animated Obtaining Higher Learning

Animated Thinking About Your Thinking

Animated Embracing Failure

Dan Wolczuk`s Learning How To Learn Seminars

Obtaining Higher Learning (2017)

Thinking About Your Thinking (2017)

Embracing Failure (2017)

Learning in Lectures (2017)

The Neuroscience of Memory (2017)

Effective Study (2017)

Grades vs Learning (2018)

Advanced Learning Strategies (2018)

Illusions of Competence (2018)

Other Resources

UW Student Success Office Resources

Sequential Math Comics

Learning how to learn by Barbara Oakley. TED Talk, 2014, 17 minutes.

Learning how to learn by Barbara Oakley, Oakland University. Learning Technologies Symposium 2016 keynote lecture, Learning technology Symposium, McMaster University, 2016, 65 minutes.

Developing a Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck, Stanford Alumni. 2014, 10 minutes.

Grit: the power of passion and perseverance by Angela Lee Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania. TED talk, 2013, 6 minutes.