How to Learn
Welcome!
This learning module pairs with Saundra and Stephanie McGuire's book Teach Yourself How to Learn: Strategies You Can Use to Ace Any Course at Any Level. You can also use this site by itself to explore techniques to study more effectively and maximize your learning!
Mindset
Carol Dweck's well-known study of mindset tells us that people generally understand knowledge and skills to either be innate (i.e. we are born with a set amount of these attributes) or that they are aspects of who we are that can grow.
If we approach learning from the worldview that mistakes are learning opportunities--that they are not failures, but instead provide feedback that tells us how to revise our efforts--then education becomes more rewarding. We do not take set-backs personally, and instead we can view them as just one step in our movement forward.
Thomas Edison supposedly framed one of his experimental 'failures' in this same sort of framework: he did not fail, he simply learned one way not to make a light bulb. We did not fail at doing math (or history or any other discipline or task), we learned what we do know and what we do not yet understand. Take the feedback and examine what you did not understand; this is the essence of learning and growth. By re-framing our language and self-talk, we open the possibility that we can learn this, we just need to revise our efforts or even seek some resources and help.
Motivation
There are numerous theories of motivation providing behavioral, cognitive, or even goals-based or achievement models for staying engaged. Understanding a few basic elements of motivation is helpful to academic and life success.
The easiest model to think about and apply in our own lives is based on where the source of motivation begins. Motivation can be intrinsic (internal to your own values, goals, and interests) or extrinsic (external, for example grades or money).
Think about what excites you or gets you moving. Is it a project that has meaning? Impact on the world? Relevance to your values, family, career goals, or interests?
Are you motivated by a sense of accomplishment or achievement at having completed a difficult task?
Are you motivated by rewards, like an award, a bonus, positive praise, or even treating yourself to a good meal?
Set specific, measurable goals for yourself.
Break larger goals into steps and set a time table or deadlines.
Define rewards or a list of reasons that you want to accomplish this task.
We all struggle with developing motivation, and we all also struggle with sustaining motivation. The same factors you listed above might help you with sustaining motivation, or you may need to add some additional techniques to your strategy to keep moving forward.
Remind yourself of the goal(s) you set. What did you want to accomplish by doing this? How will you feel when you accomplish it? Wouldn't it still be great to get to that goal, even if you've experienced some set backs? Go for it!
Celebrate small steps along the way or progress.
Update your time table as needed; you can still achieve it, even if it may take longer than you hoped!
Can you reward yourself now for progress already made?
Struggling with Motivation? Explore common feelings and ways to respond to these struggles.
Video: Tips to Staying Motivated
Video: Productivity and Developing Discipline
Video: Setting Goals for Yourself
Metacognition
Metacognition is thinking about the thought process itself and reflecting on what you know or do not know.
As noted in Teach Yourself How to Learn, we need to learn interactively. We engage in active learning when we take notes, summarize or condense those notes the next day, review the notes the next week by quizzing ourselves or teaching the information to others, and when we apply the information in an assignment or task. In short, you are working with the information in ways that connect to the higher-order thinking skills on Bloom's Taxonomy, which leads to deeper learning.
Here are some ways to practice these skills as you study:
Pretend you are going to teach the information to someone else. Anticipate questions people may have, and see if you can explain the information on a deeper level.
Create a practice test and write out answers to possible questions. Focus on questions of significance (why), comparison and contrast, and analyzing component elements of ideas or information--these are the types of questions that inform deeper learning. Time yourself on the practice test and work on it in a quiet place. The more you replicate the situation in which you are taking the test as you practice, the more prepared you will be to take a test for real.
Creating tools like Mind Maps can also help you see how information and ideas connect. Here are some ways to design a mind map.
Learning Techniques
Preview, Review and Summarize, take a Break
Studying before bed, or a nap, can reinforce your learning (your brain processes information from the day while you sleep, and this allows the new information to be fresh content for processing)
Practice in the same environment you will perform (quiet, same time frame and tools, and the questions you are likely to see)
Pay attention to getting sufficient sleep, hydrate, and eat regularly
Consistent study sessions over time rather than one large study session at the end
Additional Resources
Here are several self-check and planning resources to use:
Eisenhower Matrix for Prioritizing Work
Focus Matrix is a good task management app based on this principle