How do we learn?
Have you ever thought about how we learn?
Psychologist believe that we waste 90% of our time, resources, and learning time, because we don't understand a simple concept where they call it the Learning Pyramid. The Learning Pyramid was developed back in the 1960s by the NTL Institute in Bethel.
The Learning Pyramid indicates that, learners retain approximately:
5% of what they learn when they've learned from lecture
10% of what they learn when they've learned from reading
20% of what they learn from audio-visual
30% of what they learn when they see a demonstration
50% of what they learn when engaged in a group discussion
75% of what they learn when they practice what they learned
90% of what they learn when they teach someone else/use immediately
So why do we retain 90% when we teach someone else? Psychologist indicate that the reason is because when we teach, we constantly mistake mistake, and as soon as you run into difficulty and make mistakes, you learn how to correct the mistake. This enforces the brain to concentrate.
The question that many of you might ask is "We are concentrating in a lecture of when reading, then why dont we retain the information, or why do we retain parts of the information?"
The Psychologist answer this question by indicating that, what our brain hears of sees is simply an abstract concept, because it is not making any mistake.
In a lecture or while reading, our brain usually gets stuck at the first obstacle/concept and most importantly the brain needs to make mistakes in order to retain the information better.
We can simply avoid losing 90% of what we learn by writing it down in a mind map, talking about the concept, writing an article about it or doing an audio. A simple concept is never just learned, it needs to be discussed, talked, written, and felt.
How our brain turns reading into memory?
Have you ever thought how our brain turns reading into memory? We know that reading more wont benefit us if we don't remember what we have read. In order for us to understand how reading is associated into memory , we need to understand what memory is and how it is processed.
Information is stored in the brain in networks of cells called neurons. When you think about an item, the neurons associated with that item are excited. "Memory" is the reactivation of a specific group of neurons, formed from persistent changes in the strength of connections between neurons.
Scientist and philosophers have identified three main steps to memory processing:
-
Encoding
-
Storage
-
Recall
Encoding:
Scientist call the first step to creating a memory as encoding: This is when we come across a piece of information or when we notice an event and our brain consciously perceives the sound, image, and the physical feeling that we have at the moment. When we attach meaning and knowledge we are creating a memory, and this is refereed to semantic encoding. For example, when we travel to a new place, our memory is formed by our visual, auditory, and sensory system.
Storage:
Our brains stores all the little bits and pieces encoded in different areas of the brain. When we are perceiving information, neurons (the nerve cells) in the brain pass the information and depending on the type of information we build short or long-term memory.
Recall:
The third step to memory processing is recall. When we remember a memory, our brain "replays" the nerve pathways created when the memory was encoded in the storage. That is why when we repeatedly review or recall information we remember better! This is because the the connection and nerve pathway is repeated and which strengthens the connection.
