Myths about learning

There are a lot of myths about learning that I would like to talk about it in this blog.  The first one that really has spread like wildfire is that people have different learning styles.  This year when I was learning about a new curriculum one of the writers of the curriculum stated that this is written for students with different learning styles.  There was a reading passage, youtube video and audio version of the information that the students could choose.

There is plenty of research out there to show that students do not learn better if it is auditory, visual, kinesthetic etc.  What really happens is that different material is learned better with different styles.  It is more effective to teach geography with the visual aid of a map but that does not make a person a visual learner.  Also if I am teaching the impact of high interest rates on Aggregate demand, it is good for me to discuss it while also showing a visual with a graph.  Using both of these often improves the learning of the student.

There is also a lot of discussion about how to study for tests.  Research has shown that highlighting your text, is one of the least effective methods of studying.  The research also shows that re-reading the text leads to overconfidence and does not help prepare you for the exam.  The tendency is for students to read the text for the second time , while saying I know that already.  So they skim the text and it is not an effective method.

The best way to study for an exam is to take a test.  I give all my students a practice assessment to prepare themselves for the real assessment.  To maximize the use of the practice assessment, students should not only look at getting the answers correct, but making sure that they know what each distractor in a multiple choice test means.  This allows the student to review not only the correct answers but other concepts as well.

When you are done reading a text it is a great exercise to write down everything you remembered from the text you read.  Forcing your memory to recall information gives you a better chance to remember that information at a later date.  So I would recommend making a list of concepts that you remember, then checking your notes to see what you left out.  This is also a good method prior to taking a test is to list all the concepts that you know, then check out what concepts you are missing.

Talking about notes, your notes should be personal to you.  They should have examples that you can relate to and if possible requires you to give personal meaning to the concept you are trying to learn.  Anytime you can connect personal meaning and emotion to the concept you have a better chance of remembering it and applying it. 

The last myth it that of have you should feel prior to taking a test.  Many teachers will tell you to calm down as you are about to take the test which is not helpful.  The truth is if you are feeling some stress/anxiety that is good for you.  You should take that as a signal from your body telling you that you are getting ready for the exam.  Your body is sending more oxygen to your brain so that you can be most effective.  Research has shown the students who feel that stress will help them be successful on exams outscore participants who are told to calm down.

As always comments are always appreciated.