Why Can’t We Learn Effectively?
“If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t fully understand it.” Albert Einstein
In the digital age, lifelong learning has become inevitable. In particular, the fact that the metaverse project will penetrate every detail of our lives in a short time has caused effective learning to enter our agenda more.
The ability to learn to learn is now an important condition for survival…
Writing is the foundation of lifelong learning. Writing covers a wide range from diaries to columns, from content writing to writing scientific articles. In order to write, we need to think and organize our ideas. We have to be students constantly in order to think and produce new ideas.
The student’s primary source of nutrition is reading. These days, you can add listening to podcasts and watching videos to some extent. Absorbing information from all these sources, being an active reader and listener, producing notes are processes that require patience, repetition and mastery. Excellence is achieved by reading, not by diploma. As Mark Twain said, “The person who can’t read has no advantage over the person who can’t read.”
This mastery develops with writing. As it develops, curiosity, excitement and motivation increase. If this cycle becomes lifelong, sustainability is gained and quality learning outcomes grow like an avalanche.
“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” says F. Scott Fitzgerald. To have something to say… For this, it is necessary to be filled — to read — first. To be, to be and to be. In other words, reading, bringing to life, maturing and sharing…
In her TEDx talk Master Learning and Unlock Your Potential, Eva Keiffenheim points to three things in learning: (1) Forgetting is essential to learning (2) Learning is most effective when it feels difficult (3) Your long-term memory capacity is enormous.
Forgetting is actually a great blessing for mankind. Yes; In order to obtain new, necessary and valuable information, it is necessary to forget. We can separate the things we should not forget from others and make them permanent in long-term memory. The way to do this is through repetition.
In his book “Beyin Oyunları”, Tamer Demirdelen states, “A learned knowledge; If it is repeated within ten minutes, it is kept in permanent memory for a day, if repeated after a day, for a week, if repeated after a week, for a month, if repeated after a month, for a long time.” says. So, as many repetitions as you will need… Nevzat Tarhan makes a similar comment: “If we repeat the information we have just acquired within twenty-four hours, ponder over the subject and dream, a network is formed in the brain and the permanence of what has been learned is ensured. This is how chemical recording is done.”
Edgar Dale, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of including our sense organs in the learning process and said, “We consume 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see and hear, 70% of what we discuss with others, and % of what we personally experience. We remember 80 percent, 95 percent of what we teach others.” says. The more tools associated with it, the higher quality bit learning can be achieved.
Being active in learning is very important for the quality of learning. Because “We love to learn, not to be taught…” This is a good indication of how important learning-centered education is.
In Keiffenheim’s second article, learning is effective when it feels difficult, and it points to effort, effort and sweat.
The verse “For man, only what he works for is rewarded” (Necm, 39) states that there can be no easy way to achieve great gains. Şule Gürbüz’s “People don’t learn without getting upset.” I think it also emphasizes the difficulty and active learning. Involving emotions while learning provides real learning.
“The ordinary teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the talented teacher makes and demonstrates, the great teacher inspires.” said William A. Ward and “Don’t teach your students anything, make them think. Because if they start to think, they already learn by their own efforts. And the knowledge learned as a result of effort becomes the most permanent knowledge. It is never erased…” says Socrates, expressing the importance of effort and student-centered learning method very well.
The size of long-term memory in Keiffenheim’s last article indicates that our capacity to learn is almost limitless. In Keiffenheim’s example, it’s like a tree growing by giving new branches all the time. One has to challenge the mental capacity with new information.
“A person gets old the moment he stops learning.” then Henry Ford seems to point to Alzheimer’s, which is very common today and mostly occurs with old age.
What is the purpose of learning, Albert Einstein; “If you can’t explain something simply, you don’t fully understand it.” He put it very simply in his words.
So, when you have completed a study, there are two ways you can use to see your learning level: (1) You can write down what you have learned in your own words, (2) You can tell a friend or a group what you have learned.
If you can do this successfully, it means that the purpose has been achieved and the learning has taken place.
Aykut GÜL
Note: This the English version of my Medium article titled “Neden Etkili Öğrenemiyoruz?” and published a year ago.
Dünya Gazetesi Köşe Yazılarım | Tüm Medium Yazılarım | Yazılarıma Ücretsiz Abone Olun | Medium’a Ücretsiz Katılın | Yazılarım Hakkında
