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MetaLearning: Building Brain-Based Learning
Skills to Help Students Succeed
Lilly West ~ 2013
Stephen Carroll, PhD
Notes You Can Use
Summary Reflections: ASAP –
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Review Summary within 24 hours
Notes on what’s being presentedThought
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Summary:
Date, Course, Page #
This makes sense!
Q: How does this connect with … ?
The Problem: Presented by
Father Guido Sarducci
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4
The Problem:Students arrive in our classrooms knowing very little about the kinds of learning they are expected to do in collegeMuch of what they do “know” is wrongUsing the habits of learning they developed in high school leads to inefficient and ineffective learningReduced performance caused by the inaptness of their learning habits creates motivation and engagement problems that further reduce their academic performance—and learning.
A Solution:Teach students how to learnMetalearning Flight School is based on current research in cognitive science, the neurobiology of learning and learning theorySeven years worth of data and experience show that it makes a significant difference in students’ learning It’s especially effective in making students more self-motivated and more self-directed learners
The ContractThis is not a miracle cure and it will be difficult at first. It will take you and your students a while to unlearn old habits and to develop new ones. (It takes ~21 days to break in a new habit.)
What I can promise you is that if you teach your students how to learn, they will learn more, learn faster and retain what they learn longer—thus, your performance as faculty will increase as well.
Start with one day—the first day of class, perhaps.
Objectives for TodayMotivate you to try metalearning techniques with your students to help them become more effective learnersProvide you with theories, resources, tools and inspiration to help you develop your own metalearning lessonsProvide you with tools to prove it works
6 Steps to Changing Learning Habits
1. Help students discover self-motivations for learning
2. Align their definitions of learning with ours (redefine learning)
3. Teach students how learning works and derive principles they can use to guide themselves
4. Derive strategies and tactics from principles (application)
5. Practice often to develop effective learning habits
6. Maintain those habits
Priming Students for Self-Directed Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwu8QqhrOP8
Videos online throughmetalearninghabits.org
learninghabits.wordpress.com
and on our YouTube Youtube.com/user/learninghabits/videos
Part 1: Building Self-Motivated Learners
Foundation: What is Learning?
What is learning? What does it mean to learn something? How can you tell when you’ve learned something?
Part 2: Defining Learning
Typical Answers - UnderstandingKnowing somethingUnderstanding somethingBeing able to teach somethingGetting itEureka! Making a connection to something newInsightDiscoveryEnlightenment
Knowing that (vs. knowing how)MemorizingBeing able to recallRemembering somethingUnderstanding the principlesSeeing the logicBeing able to extrapolateSeeing how it worksEpiphanyPart 2: Defining Learning
Typical Answers - SkillsBeing able to do somethingKnowing howFacilityDoing itMastering a procedure or processIncreasing level of proficiencyFollowing correct
proceduresBeing able to use what I knowBeing able to apply something in a new situationAcquiring the knack of somethingGains in craftsmanshipGetting better at somethingPart 2: Defining Learning
Typical Answers - AffectiveLearning to like somethingGetting engagedBeing inspiredBeing motivatedFinding joyWanting to do moreWanting to practiceLooking for chances to use what I knowLearning to love
somethingLearning to see the beauty or complexity or artistry in somethingLearning to appreciate somethingGaining confidenceBecoming more interested in somethingPart 2: Defining Learning
Typical Answers - HabitsBeing able to do something without paying a lot of attention
Doing things automatically
Integrating what I know into my life
Using what I know as a matter of course
Knowing when to use what I've learned
Ability to improvise based on what I already know
Part 2: Defining Learning
Learning is Forming New HabitsFueled by attitudes and desires (emotion)Supported by skills and understanding
Part 2: Defining Learning
Therefore
We want to move away from the learning-as-acquisition-of-facts and teaching-as-Sherwin-Williams model toward defining learning as durable habit formation and teaching as developing and mentoring self-directed learners.
Teaching ≠
A Cross-lateral Neurobic
Cross-lateral Activity
Cross-lateral activity opens up the corpus callosum
Gets more of your brain involvedBalances the loadAids memoryMakes learning easier
The ART of Learning
Acquire new material
Retain new material
Transfer use of new material
R
A
T
Acquire
Retain
Transfer
The ART of Learning.
The A in ART is for Acquisition
Mnemonic: Actively Build Connections
Part 3: How Learning Works
Part 3: How Learning Works
Learning IS making connections:Neurons that fire together wire together
2 pyramidal neurons forming a synapsePart 3: How Learning Works
Ideas and meanings are patterns
Part 3: How Learning Works
More complex ideas are more complex patterns—made up of smaller patterns
Part 3: How Learning Works
A Basic Brain—not very fold-ey
Part 3: How Learning Works
A Better Brain—more fold-ey
Part 3: How Learning Works
New Brain Cells Forming
Part 3: How Learning Works
The Effect of Work
Part 3: How Learning Works
Goals
Fat sausages
Foldey lobes
Hairy neurons
Part 3: How Learning Works
The ART of Learning
Habits of Acquisition • Note-Taking• Reading strategies• Paying attention/active
learning• Not multitasking
Part 3: How Learning Works
The ART of Learning
R is RETAIN (Acronym)Review, Explain, Test, Analyze, INtegrate.
Part 3: How Learning Works
Part 3: How Learning Works
Retention is controlled by Emotion and Repetition
Key Influences on Brain Chemistry
EmotionsHow much and what kind of sleep you’re getting
How much and what kind of exercise you’re getting
Hydration and nutrition (including caffeine and alcohol)
Physical cycles and rhythms
Part 3: How Learning Works
Your amygdalas
Amygdalas
Part 3: How Learning Works
Fear response
Part 3: How Learning Works
Key Factors Shaping Retention
Strong emotionRepetition and reinforcementSleep (then review)ExerciseHydration and nutritionRichness of the learning and studying environments
Part 3: How Learning Works
The ART of Learning
T is for Transfer (Bus transfer, job transfer)
Transfer is always about taking what you know and applying it to what you don’t know
Part 3: How Learning Works
Teaching for Transfer
Transfer is about pattern recognition and Changing setIt is the most difficult part of learning… and the least practiced!Students need to practice as much as possible
Part 3: How Learning Works
Principles derived from neurobiology: 1)Learning ONLY works when it is active
and conscious.2)Learning actively connects new ideas to
old information. 3)Learning IS making connections/patterns.4)Involving multiple senses enhances
learning
Part 3: How Learning Works
Principles derived from neurobiology: 5) Learning works best if it requires real effort
(if it is difficult). 6) Learning depends on managing emotions
well. Positive emotions (especially self-motivation) accelerate learning by reducing resistance (electrically and metaphorically). Negative emotions (esp. fear and stress) block learning and recall.
Part 3: How Learning Works
Principles derived from neurobiology: 7) Varying your modes of learning (rich
learning environment) increases activity, helps reinforce neural pathway development and moves what was learned to long-term memory.
8) Active repetition is the best way to create durable learning. (Moving things from short-term to long-term memory requires reinforcement within 24 hours.)
Part 3: How Learning Works
Strategies and TacticsManage the learning environment and emotions to maximize your learning.
Reduce fear and stressMake students’ studying as active as possible (but don’t multi-task—that reduces performance) Build bridges between what they’re learning and what they know and love.
Build in rewards and positive feedback loops: celebrate successes (even small ones).
Part 4: Application
Strategies and TacticsExercise regularly—Moving blood and oxygen to your brain
helps it work more effectively. (Making new brain cells is a huge metabolic load on the body.)
The chemicals your body makes when you exercise help you make connections more easily.
And taking your mind off of the mental work you’re doing helps you solve the problems you’re working on. (Eureka!)
Part 4: Application
Strategies and TacticsMake sure you are properly hydrated and nourished. If what you eat comes through a car window
or if the label lists ingredients with numbers, it isn’t food.
Hard mental work is equally taxing to the body as hard physical work—you have to nourish it to sustain peak performance.
Water is key. Even a modest amount of dehydration decreases your reasoning ability by 20%. (Don’t overdo it—over-hydration also adversely affects cognition.)
Caffeine, nicotine and alcoholPart 4: Application
Strategies and TacticsPay attention to your daily cycles and rhythms—you’re more awake and better able to learn at certain times than at others. Arrange your day so that you study during these times. Attention Cycle: Take breaks every 20
minutes so that you remain active and don’t go on autopilot. Do something physical and bilateral on your break.
Study Cycle: Take a major break every 2 hours. Spend ten minutes on a different kind of task. Make sure you get up and move around. (Put an alarm on your phone to help you remember.)
Part 4: Application
Strategies and TacticsGet enough sleep—New research shows that mental
performance drops off quite sharply if you don’t get at least six hours of sleep per night regularly. You cannot learn some things without this amount of sleep: long-chain reasoning problems, persistence, etc.
Teenagers need 9-10 hours of sleep for optimum brain performance.
You’ll perform better on the test if you are well-rested than if you have stayed up most of the night reviewing the material one more time.
Part 4: Application
Strategies and TacticsSleep Cycle: 90 minutes. Minimum of 6 hours for optimum
performance. (9-10 hours for teenagers.)
If you must do with less, you want to wake in the REM period at the end of the cycle, not a deep part of the cycle. The less sleep you get, the more important it is when you wake up.
Part 4: Application
Sleep cycles: ~ 90 minutes/cycle
Chart shows 7 hours of sleep
1 2 73
REM
If you wake up in these troughs, you’ll be tired and groggy all day. You’ll perform significantly less well on cognitive tasks.
If you wake up in one of these peaks, you’ll feel rested and perform well.
Part 4: Application
Strategies and TacticsSleep Cycles
Plot your cycle so that you know how it works. Guided problem solving: use the information-sorting function of sleep to help you solve problems. Focus on the problem you want to solve repeatedly as you fall asleep. Review in the morning. (Keep paper by the bed.)Lucid dreaming can also help you study.
Part 4: Application
Strategies and TacticsInformation Transfer Cycle
Review materials within 24 hours to move to long-term memory. Your period of maximum fatigue will fall 12 hours after the deepest period of sleep. Don’t schedule intellectually challenging activities for this time—work out instead. (This is why you need to map your sleep cycles.)
Part 4: Application
Reading strategies
Part 5: Practice
Stages of Change Modelbased on the Transtheoretical Model developed by James O. Prochaska
Part 6: Maintain
Prochaska’s Stages of Change Model
Part 6: Maintain
Stages of Change Modelbased on the Transtheoretical Model developed by James O. Prochaska
Learning Assessment for Courses
The Student Assessment of theirLearning Gains (SALG)
Free Tools at www.salgsite.org
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