A summary of “Better ways to learn”

This is a summary of “Better ways to learn” written by Tara Parker-Pole on http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2014/10/06/better-ways-to-learn/

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“Better ways to learn” is a post to share innovative opinions about studying and provide all learners of all fields with some useful suggestions in learning so that their study will become more flexible and fascinating in a more essential and smarter manner.

According to Mr. Carey, it is very important for learners to understand how the brain processes, stores and retrieves information. It is old habits of most students to make ourselves sit on a chair for several hours to learn or get lazy in study and only cram when a test is coming. Actually, those are not completely bad ways of learning, but they do not bring effective results. Pushing yourselves four hours on learning may make you get bored and exhausted easily and cramming for any exam does not help you remember all what you have learnt in a long time. Therefore, to solve all those limitations in study, Mr. Carey recommends many better methods of learning such as:

1. Changing learning environment frequently

Mr Carey says: “The brain wants variation. It wants to move, it wants to take periodic breaks.”

Therefore, learners can change learning environment by searching for new atmosphere that makes them feel more interested and passionate in learning.

2. Discussing with teachers to exchange about the lesson

Our brain needs signaling all important information it need to store and the best way to keep your brain aware of key materials is to give it a chance to re-check all necessary information. Your learning will be reinforced if you frequently talk to teachers about the lessons or note down some main points of the lesson on flashcards.

3. Trying a new technique called “distributed learning”, or spacing

Mr. Carey shows that learners would rather divide their time of study into small periods of time than concentrate on learning for just a definite amount of time at once time. And arranging a reasonable learning timetable is required based on each separate subject. However, for any tests, it is suggested by Mr. Carey that the optimal intervals is always needed. In his opinion, if learners have a test on Friday, Monday is a suitable time for studying and Thursday is a good choice for reviewing. Similarly, studying in one-week intervals is appropriate for those whose test is a month away.

4. Offering yourselves enough sleep and taking advantages of your sleep

Mr Carey supposes that sleep is the finisher on learning because when sleeping, what you have learnt is processed, categorized and solidified by your brain. Concretely, retaining facts are conducted during the first half of the sleep cycle while math skills are retained during the second half. Then, students can use the above rule in their study. For instance, it is the best for a student with language test to study before going to bed and then review all they have learnt in the morning. And math students should review lesson before going to bed because the second half of sleep process will help them give information to their brain.

In general, “Better ways to learn” has helped readers have a more motivated thought in learning by emphasizing the importance of understanding how human’s brain works by learners and given learners some new ways in learning.

Do you agree or disagree with facts given in the post and do you have any more motivated methods of learning?