Now that you’re mentalized for learning to learn, I would love to get to the point and say “This is how you should learn”. Follow steps 1, 2 and 3″ and that’s it, everything is done. But I think that a list without any context would end up generating some distrust. We need something to sustain what we are learning, something to give it meaning. And one way to do it is by knowing how your brain works.
This is where 2 great characters come in: Barbara Oakley, pioneer in studies about how our brain works and David Kolb, educational theorist.
Types of thinking
According to Barbara Oakley there are 2 types of thinking. This is based on the way in which connections are generated between the neurons in our brains.
Basically each neuron houses certain parts of what you learn and obviously, you require more than one neuron to host all the information you need, so your brain generates connections between all the neurons that have related information. The neurons then form a “path” of information and when you need to remember something, the brain allows you to access these “paths” that you have hosted.
For example, one neuron has the result of a mathematical operation saved, such as 8 X 4, another has the definition of multiplication, and so on and so forth. As a result, these neurons end up connecting with each other because they contain related topics, which allows you to remember these concepts quickly.
Focused Thinking
It happens when you focus for long periods of time, from 5 to 10 hours. Ideally you should only focus for periods this long when you already have mastered a topic and are expanding on it. This is because the pathways between your neurons already exist and therefore your brain can rely on using these pathways to facilitate your learning.
Diffuse Thinking
It happens when you experience something new. Ideally you should focus for short periods of time (a couple of hours at most) with breaks between sessions. This is because your brain is just forming the paths between your neurons and therefore this way you give it time to finish creating them.
Kolb Model
David Kolb created a learning styles model that consists of 2 parts: A cycle of 4 learning stages and 4 learning styles.
Learning stages
One can start from any of these stages, however, they always happen in the same order.
According to Kolb, effective learning can only occur when you go through all the phases:
- Concrete experience – What you feel when encountering or doing something new
- Reflective observation – What you observe from this experience/new information.
- Abstract conceptualization – What you think and/or conclude about the information you just received
- Active experimentation – What you do with this new information
It is important to keep in mind that these 4 stages behave as a cycle. Once you pass the last stage, it is normal for you to start a learning cycle again, but now with the information you have assimilated.
It makes sense that Kolb tells us that we must go through all 4 stages. The point of learning something in the end is to put it into practice or do something with that knowledge. Now as for the styles… that’s a little more interesting, this is where we can define which ones we identify with the most.
Learning Styles
Diverger/Active
The focus is on feeling and observing.
This style is for imaginative people who prefer to observe and use their imagination to solve problems. They are interested in people, they are imaginative and emotional. This is why they prefer to work in groups, listen with an open mind and receive feedback. They tend to be better at activities that require idea generation.
Assimilator/Reflexive
The focus is on observing and thinking.
For people who are more focused on ideas and concepts than on people. They require clear explanations rather than opportunities for practice. They are exceptionally good at understanding large amounts of information and organizing it concisely and clearly. They tend to be better at science and obviously prefer traditional classes where they are given theoretical information.
Converger/Theoretical
The focus is on thinking and doing.
For people who like to use their knowledge to solve problems. As well as experimenting with new ideas to work on practical applications. Like an Assimilator, they are not very interested in people, and instead prefer technical tasks. This style is very common in people in technical positions.
Accommodator/Pragmatist
The focus is on doing and feeling.
Like a Convergent, these people also like practical applications. But unlike people with that style, accommodators use their intuition more than logic. They tend to use other people’s analysis to make their own and adapt easily to new situations. For this reason, they are most oriented toward working as a team and completing tasks.
Supposedly each person has a learning style that best suits them. It’s hard for me to choose just one, I feel like some of the terms overlap each other but I guess if I had to choose it would be some sort of Convergent and Accommodator. That would mean that I am one of those who likes to “do” things the most, but it also means that I tend to focus a little on “thinking” and “feeling”.
Putting it into practice
In the end none of this is useful if you don’t use it. Remember that your learning style only indicates which phases of the cycle are easier for you, but you must still go through the 4 stages. It wasn’t easy for me to conceptualize exactly what to do with what I wanted to learn, so I think it’s worth trying to give an example. Let’s say you want to learn to play piano and you don’t know anything about music.
Stages
- Concrete experience – When you start playing the piano and see what happens.
- Reflective Observation – When you observe which keys correspond to which notes.
- Abstract conceptualization – When you start theorizing what position your hands should be in.
- Active experimentation – When you start stretching your fingers to see how many keys you can reach without moving your fingers.
Obviously not everyone starts out this way, but it is an example of the cycle that can occur the first time someone interacts with a piano.
Styles
- Diverger – You prefer to learn based on samples, whether from a teacher or a video, and start your practice from that.
- Assimilator – You prefer to have a clear theory before trying to play any song. Whether through a book or a teacher, what matters to you is that music theory is clearly explained to you first.
- Converger – You prefer to have the theory before trying to play a song, but in contrast to the Assimilator you seek to play the piano as quickly as possible. If you find a song that doesn’t need all the notes, you prefer to focus on it, so that you can put into practice what you learned earlier.
- Accomodator – You prefer to try to play a song on the piano as soon as possible even if it doesn’t sound good and learn as you go, but you strongly prefer to do it in a group, since you learn better that way.
The example I used is not neutral since by definition learning to play the piano is something that is more suited to a doing and feeling oriented learning style. However, there are other activities that will be more adapted to other styles. For example, learning about law will be more attached to learning styles oriented to observing and thinking.
Having all this clear should help you a lot when you start studying anything. However, something very important is still missing. It’s one thing to know what the best way to study is for you, but what ways are there to actually retain what you study? Improving your memory is the next step.