What is NHLP?
The Natural Human Learning Process, or NHLP, is the way in which humans learn all things. There are different stages of this process and most people experience them in similar ways. Broken down, it is a biological process that involves the neurons in individuals brains and how they make other neurons grow. With this information people will better understand how humans learn, and will be able to learn anything. To get to how this relates to you first you need to learn about the steps in which we learn.
According to Dr. Rita Smilkstein, the NHLP is broken down into six stages. The first stage is the motivation to learn, which is just the reason someone wants or needs to start learning a subject. Stage two is starting to practice. In this stage people are learning mostly by trial and error. In stage three learners are getting into advanced practice where an individual may start getting lessons and is gaining some confidence in that skill. The fourth stage is skillfulness. This stage is where individuals start to get some success and enjoyment from performing the skill. The fifth stage is refinement where individuals continue to improve and gain pleasure. And the final stage is mastery. In this stage people may be gaining recognition for their skills and starting to teach individuals the skill they learned. (Smilkstein, Chap. 2)
Using this process I learned the sport of paintball. In the first stage, I found the motivation to learn because it had seemed like a fun thing to be doing at the time. Then, in stage two I started to play more and try new things to figure out what worked best for me. In stage three, I started to do actual drills and practice in a formal manner to improve. Also during this stage, I began watching other players to see what they were doing to become proficient. In stage four, I began to win more consistently, but was still trying to improve the level I could play at. For the fifth stage, I am getting a lot of enjoyment out of playing and am constantly seeking out new challenges in the sport.
The NHLP is a biological process only possible because of neurons, which some biologists have described as being like trees. For example, the dendrites are similar to tree branches in looks and in the fact that they have receptors on them to intake electro-chemical impulses much like a leaf on a tree branch would take in sunlight. Another similarity to the tree would be the myelin sheath which is compared to the bark on a tree. The myelin sheath protects the axon of the neuron like the bark protects the heartwood of the tree. Lastly, the axon terminals are like the roots of the tree except, that instead of nutrients going into the neuron like they do for a tree electro-chemical impulses go out of the axon terminal bulbs. (Smilkstein, Chap. 3)
For the neurons to grow, a process called synaptic firing must occur. Synaptic firing is similar to the way a spark plug fires; for the process to happen, it needs conductivity, fuel, and a gap. Just how electricity moves into a conductor the electro-chemical impulses need to move into a receptor. The fuel for a spark plug is electricity while the fuel for synaptic firing is endorphins. Endorphins are chemicals created by the body when humans feel comfortable or safe and are the feel good hormones. The gap in synaptic firing is called the synaptic gap. Just like how the gap between the two conductors in a spark plug is needed to create the spark, the gap between two neurons is needed for the electro-chemical impulse to transfer across.
With endorphins being needed for synaptic firing to occur stress can stop those chemicals from being released. When an individual is stressed, their body releases norepinephrine also known as noradrenaline, which can slow or stop the learning process. Stress can also affect the recall of things already learned, which is why test anxiety makes people do worse than they normally would on an assignment.
One way that stress has affected my learning and recall of certain skills is when I was learning about wildland firefighting. The first prescribed burn I participated in I was under a lot of stress because I was in charge of making sure the fire break didn't get crossed by fire. When they instructed me on what to do, I could accomplish it, but I didn’t learn enough to be able to recall that information. The reason for not learning what I needed was because of the norepinephrine released from being stressed. A similar situation affected my memory recall; we were doing another prescribed fire and the back of a vehicle filled with gasoline ignited. When this happened, I got a panic response and couldn't remember the training I did to mitigate those kind of situations. It took me a minute to calm down and remember what I was supposed to do.
To overcome the emotions that affect learning I will use specific strategies from JMU’s learning toolbox. For example, I will use a strategy which has the acronym SPORT. In short, this is just a tool to help you recall information when taking a test. This consists of thinking about where the individual learned the information. Picturing that place in their head, and organizing their thoughts.Then, writing the information down on a test and going back to look at the information written down. Another I will use is BREAK. With this I will try and remember more of the information I am studying by doing things such as only memorizing things for short periods of time.
Works Cited
Smilkstein, Rita. We're Born to Learn: Using the Brain's Natural Learning Process to Create Today's Curriculum. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, Cal.: Corwin. 2011
“SPORT” The Learning Toolbox. James Madison University, N.D. http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/sport.html, Accessed 5 Feb. 2018
“BREAK” The Learning Toolbox, James Madison University, N.D. http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/break.html, Accessed 5 Feb. 2018