The Basis for Effective Learning
Remember grade school, when after a teacher asked a question, some students shot their hands into the air, excited, wanting to be called on (Remember Hermione in Harry Potter)? Obviously, those students know the answer, but what is behind their excitement? The human body is designed to reward people for thinking, flooding the body with free and legal drugs. Students often question why their teachers are so excited by what they are teaching when the students may find it dull and boring. The answer: Those teachers are high on learning. I often told students I wanted them to experience that learning high and "get high" with me.
No matter what discipline or field of study, the basics for learning are the same:
Embrace Stupidity
Until you recognize and accept that you don't know, you can't learn.
In his article "The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research," Martin A. Schwartz explains that oftentimes no one has the answer to a question. That is why it is the subject of research. For him,
The crucial lesson was that the scope of things I didn't know wasn't merely vast; it was, for all practical purposes, infinite. That realization, instead of being discouraging, was liberating. If our ignorance is infinite, the only possible course of action is to muddle through as best we can. (Schwartz)Of course, he is not referring to those students who do not read the materials or study. Instead, he suggests people should be " ignorant by choice," which "allows us to bumble along, getting it wrong time after time, and feel perfectly fine as long as we learn something each time." He argues that "The more comfortable we become with being stupid, the deeper we will wade into the unknown and the more likely we are to make big discoveries" (Schwartz).
Learn to Observe
In Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story "A Scandal in Bohemia," Holmes tells Watson, "You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear" (Doyle 4). Developing good observation skills are crucial to learning. Too many people view material superficially, sometimes out of apathy, sometimes because it is easy, sometimes because looking more closely may threaten beliefs or values, or sometimes because it contradicts the status quo or "common sense." Einstein's theory of relativity that suggests that space and time are not absolute quantities contradicts common sense, but his theory is a better explanation of what can be observed in nature. During the Age of Faith (so-called Middle Ages or Dark Ages), the arguments of Copernicus and Galileo contradicted the prevailing theology of the day, and so they faced opposition for their efforts. But "blindness," whether deliberate or accidental, is a first obstacle to learning.
Gather Information
Memorization of facts is often downplayed in our modern educational practices in favor of modes of thinking. However, it is impossible to think without having something to think about. Information is the raw material of learning and thought. People may need to understand why nine plus six equals fifteen, but no one should have to do the calculations every time. Memorizing addition and multiplication tables, math and science formulas, vocabulary words, significant dates and events, and other information is necessary for efficient and productive learning.
There are a variety of ways to gather information. The most common are reading, memorizing, and researching. Students who are good at these skills become better learners.
Explore Patterns and Relationships
Critical thinkings skills are methods for discerning patterns and relationships within information and ideas. Every field of study depends on many of the same thinking skills. For instance, inductive reasoning is a process for determing general principles or laws from an examination of patterns within data. In science, this proces of inductive reasoning is called the scientific method. In engineering and medicine, it is called diagnosis. In literary studies, it is called close reading. Whatever label is applied, the skill is the same, and developing proficieny in that skill in one discipline with transfer to other disciplines. I recall reading about a study some years ago by nursing faculty looking to improve students diagnostic skills. The students were divided into two similar cohorts. The control group followed the tradional nursing curriculum. The experimental added one additional course: art appreciation. At the end of the study, student diagnostic skills were compared, and the experimental group that had studied art appreciation did significantly better than the control group. The students skills at observing and understanding art had translated into better nursing diagnostic skills. Deductive reason, where a premise, propostion or idea is used to predict specific results or conclusions is also a skill common to many disciplines, especially mathematics, philosophy, and theology.
The more modes of thinking or critical thinking skills that people learn, the more effective they will become at learning. Skills in reading, writing, mechanical operations, logic, problem-solving, numerical proficiency, and other critical thinking skills provide a broad toolbox of techniques that improve and enhance learning.
Practice Skepticism
Indoctrination involves accepting answers based on the authority of the source. Good learners examine the evidence. This includes recognizing that, not only is there no one who knows everything, but there are many things that have yet to be discovered or understood (Embracing Stupidity). It means observing the evidence (Learn to Observe) and researching information to look at all sides of an issue (Gather Information), and it involves both examining patterns and relationships, both for those that have been accepted and those which might offer better interpretations (Explore Patterns and Relationships). In an interview for LouisianaLiterature, Anne Carson explains that Descartes' famous "I think, therefore, I am" has been misquoted. His original statement was "Dubito ergo cogito ergo sum," that is, "I doubt, therefore, I think, therefore, I am." Albert Einstein explained, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." Good students ask good questions. As a result, they " are more motivated to take ownership of their learning and as a result, demonstrate greater comprehension of challenging content" (Brodsky).
Unfortunately, sometimes "authorities" find questions threatening. In the Babylon 5, season 1 episode, "Signs and Portents," Susan Ivanova tells a story about when, at thirteen, she asked a question of a man she admired, "He promptly said that it was the most foolish thing that he had ever heard, and that he had no intention of bandying words with a bourgeois little twit who was barely out of diapers." Her father railed at the man, and as her father left with her, he told her, ""It was a good question, dushenka." The man she admired refused to answer the question because the question revealed a problem that he neither wanted to admit or address. MIT innovator Robert Langer argues that "When you're a student, you're judged by how well you answer questions, . . . but in life, you're judged by how good your questions are" (Brodsky). Good questions are not easy, but it is only through good questions that knowledge and understanding advance.
Work Hard
Many people make excuses by claiming to lack natural talents or genius for a particular task. I recall years ago reading about a study of fifth grade math students in the United States and Japan. The study analyzed student math performances but focused on parental attitudes toward learning. U.S. parents were asked what their children would need to be successful at mathematics, and almost without exception, the parents would say that their children would be good at mathematics if they had a gift for math. When the Japanese parents were asked what it would take for their children to be good at math, almost without exception the parents said that their children would be good at math if they worked at it. Not surprisingly, the U.S. students did not do well at math while the Japanese students apparently had the "gift" for math, doing much better than their U.S. counterparts.
Anyone can do as well as a "genius" if he or she puts the effort into it. People with gifts often find it easier to master subjects, but even gifted students must work at what they are studying to truly and effectively learn.
CBS news carried a story about two teenagers who solved a "2,000-year-old math puzzle." Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson participated in a high school math contest at New Orleans' St. Mary's Academy. The contest included a bonus question to create a trigonometric proof for the Pythagorean Theorem. Wnners of the contest were promised a $500 prize, which motivated the young women to try to win. They spent days trying to find a solution. What they did not know was that mathematicians had been seeking a solution unsuccessfully for years. Only in 2009 had any mathematician discovered a solution. The students came up with two proofs, and after sharing with their teacher, they were asked to present their findings to scholars, and their proofs have since been published. They have since identified a total of "five ways of solving the problem using trigonometry along with a method that reveals five other proofs." The young women insist they are not "math geniuses." They were successful because they were motivated to work hard (Chason and Kuzmarov).
Works Cited
Brodsky, Julia. "Why Questioning is the Ultimate Learning Skill." Forbes. 29 Dec. 2020. 7 Nov. 2024. <https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliabrodsky/2021/12/29/why-questioning-is-the-ultimate-learning-skill/>.
Carson, Anne. Interviewed by Linn Ullman. LouisianaLiterature. Instagram. 22-25 Aug. 2024. 7 Nov. 2024. <https://www.instagram.com/louisianaliterature/reel/C_ycIQrsCEt/?hl=en>.
Chason, Aliza and Sara Kuzmarov. "Teens who solved 2,000-year-old math puzzle expand on their work in publication." 60 Minutes Overtime. 29 Oct. 2024. 7 Nov. 2024. <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-pythagorean-theorem-proofs-published-60-minutes/>.
Doyle, Arthur Conan. "A Scandal in Bohemia." The Complete Sherlock Holmes Canon. 15 Mar. 2014. 7 Nov. 2024. <https://sherlock-holm.es/stories/pdf/a4/1-sided/scan.pdf>.
Einstein, Albert. "Einstein Quotes." NOVA: Einstein's Big Idea. June 2005. 7 Nov. 2024. <https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/wisd-nf.html>.
Schwartz, Martin A. "The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research." Journal of Cell Science, vol. 121, 9 Apr. 2008, p. 1771. Accessed: 28 Nov. 2019. jcs.biologists.org/content/joces/121/11/1771.full.pdf.
"TV Show Quotes." Famous Quotes and Sayings. quoted in Babylon 5, Season 1, "Signs and Portents," <https://www.quotes.net/show-quote/6974>.