Post No.: 0872
Furrywisepuppy says:
Uncertainty hinders learning – whereas timely, clear, accurate and consistent feedback facilitates it. To be able to learn something, there must be a predictable pattern between performing a particular action and getting a particular result (although we can sometimes wrongly ‘learn’ a pattern from random noise e.g. superstitions). If we keep getting inconsistent baking results after apparently doing the same things, then we’ve not yet learnt how to master baking. And without timely and clear feedback, we’ll be like constantly pressing an elevator button as if that’ll make it respond faster!
We don’t notice how much we rely on feedback, even for activities we’re highly skilled at – like our own voice changes quite readily if we can’t hear ourselves speak (we at least tend to shout if we’re wearing ear defenders because we want the feedback of hearing ourselves speak despite the experience of using our vocal equipment to speak for years), and our balance compromises if we lack visual references (despite an internal vestibular system).
Relying on multiple sources of feedback reduces the chances of errors – just like when navigating, an animal might use its own internal compass, rely on landmarks, bright celestial objects, and follow a ‘breadcrumb trail’ with its nose. This allows us to cross-reference and error-check information and thus improve the chances of a desired, accurate or correct result.
Due to how our memories build upon links and associations, it’s likewise easier to learn something new when we can reference it to something we already know. So it’s easier to learn a word in a new language when that word is associated with one with a similar meaning that you’re already familiar with in a language you already know (e.g. ‘schrijver’ in Dutch means ‘writer’ in English, but if you already know the word ‘scriber’ in English then it links with it nicely and makes it easier to remember; or ‘kamer’, which means room, which relates to the word camera or chamber). Assimilating a plethora of synonyms can therefore aid the acquisition of alternative languages! Words that sound familiar with any ones you already know but have totally different meanings can confuse and take some time to remember though (e.g. ‘tuin’ in Dutch, which sounds a bit like ‘town’ when spoken, actually means ‘garden’ in English; and you don’t want to order a ‘beer’ when you’re thirsty because that’s a ‘bear’!)
Lessons that stimulate multiple sense modalities – like when utilising diagrams, videos, listening to, reading and writing words, and paws-on practice, as appropriate for the task – helps information to more easily sink in and stick. (I always put on the subtitles wherever available when watching lecture videos, and then I write my own notes as I go along instead of merely highlighting passages or copying-and-pasting.)
Presenting a range of different examples and/or analogies helps students to understand the principles behind something rather than solely the example question and answer given, which means that they can then apply these principles to all related scenarios where the knowledge is relevant. Students should then try to come up with their own examples and analogies of what’s been taught to check their true comprehension too.
Reflections and self-reviews intuitively seem like gainful activities – but we’re quite terrible at it due to our own biases when assessing ourselves. So it’s better for teachers to set us tasks and tests to assess our knowledge.
Regarding exams – of course simply knowing for sure the correct answers, or how to work them out, is the best strategy for passing any exam. But if you come a cropper – before you rely on your bare gut instincts or just guess blindly and hope you’ll get the correct answer – the next best strategy is to try and work out the answers by getting into the mind of the question writer, because humans don’t do random! It’s not foolproof but this can improve your chances of guessing the correct option in multiple-choice questions if you don’t know the right answers for certain. For instance, there must only be one correct answer thus any synonyms in the options list cannot be both correct hence they must be both incorrect. Antonym answers as incorrect options are popular hence the correct answer is likely to be between two antonyms. And test setters usually leave some close decoys but they cannot be too close in meaning to the correct answer thus the correct answer is likely to be between two answers that seem similar but aren’t too similar.
In general in most contexts – looking from the perspectives of others offers great advantages! However, question writers can also learn about these subconscious habits of theirs and consciously counter them, thus these strategies aren’t a substitute for actually revising! Yet trying to apply some logic is better than purely guessing if you don’t have a clue.
Once we find a method or tool we like and seems to work, we’re often reluctant to bother testing if there are any better ways of doing things. So it might pay to go off-piste and experiment to try something new once in a while.
Related to physical performances – boredom and fatigue can also set in if you don’t occasionally mix training sessions up.
And practice does not make perfect unless one has been practising perfectly – in fact, bad ingrained habits become difficult to undo! So one must get form, technique, etc. correct from the very start, and this usually means starting slow/light and getting the basics correct first before thinking that one can run or repeat an exercise again and again. Unlearning habits is incredibly difficult e.g. if in your culture you normally nod your head for ‘yes’ and shake your head for ‘no’, then from now on try switching that around! It’s hardly a complicated instruction to follow but it’s hard to break years of habit.
It’s not just about the amount of practise you do but what your specific training or learning goal is, what tuition you’re receiving, what (good or bad) techniques or lessons you’re learning, and how hard you’re going to push yourself to improve. It’s about deliberate and purposeful practice (e.g. if you want to get better at using the spider in snooker then specifically train with that piece of apparatus – it’s just like there’s limited use in doing crosswords if you want to improve at algebra). You must also challenge your mind or body in order for it to adapt and strengthen. Otherwise repeating what you’ve already known or been doing for years won’t reap any fur-ther improvements beyond a plateau; albeit we do need to constantly rehearse what we already know or can do otherwise we’ll eventually get rusty on it. If you don’t continue to practise a skill, it can be surprising how quickly you’ll lose it. It will however be reasonably quick to pick up the skill again if you have lots of previous experience with doing it.
Sophisticated spacecrafts have catastrophically and tragically failed due to relatively simple components like o-rings. In other words, we’re only really as strong as our weakest links. In every system, they’re the priority areas for strengthening for they could bring the entire system down no matter how strong the rest of the system is. So don’t avoid brushing up on any skills that you’re weak at and are important in life (e.g. mathematics, cooking, basic home repairs), otherwise you’ll logically always be weak at doing them. If one keeps on saying one cannot do something and never ends up trying that something then one will self-fulfil that prophecy for the lack of training regarding that ability. Other people or things can make up for our shortcomings, and I suppose working as a team and employing tools is a smart way to work – but we won’t always have access to them.
The progression towards mastery isn’t always linear – we can sometimes take two steps forwards then one step back as we experiment and push against our current limits. But that’s okay because we’re exploring new personal furry boundaries. And often the biggest lessons come from our failures too.
Overall, talent is more about applying hard work and resilience than innate ability. Some physical phenotypes will matter more for some sports or abilities than others, such as height or arm span, but both our genes and what we do/happens in our lives shape these. And there are plenty of sports where different body sizes have the advantage; and, say, if you cannot sing soprano then you could sing in another vocal range. It’s ultimately a combination and interaction between biological factors and environmental and training factors. If you were born genetically as a blackcurrant then it doesn’t matter what tuition you receive(!) Less facetiously, if you were unfortunately born with a congenital learning disability, or born with all the biological gifts but were unfortunately given few opportunities in life or you sustain a long-term injury or illness, then these things are going to matter. But overall, the main factor for talent is hard work – although if this is the case then the genes you really want are those that contribute to a strong work ethic and self-discipline to push through pain! Not to say that these are completely down to one’s genes however because again they’re down to culture, upbringing and personal life experiences too.
Listen far more than you talk – that’s how we socially learn! We don’t learn much or anything by listening to our own voices. Therefore those who talk less are the ones we should really give a chance to listen to more because they probably listen more themselves and will therefore know more. If people don’t want to listen then it’ll be their own loss because information is power!
Listen to what lots of different experts say – this will save you time from going down blind alleys or repeating what’s been done before that has failed. If you’re genuinely at the leading edge in your field then you’ll obviously have less to learn from others (although still listen to what others say), but you won’t know whether you’re truly a pioneer or not unless you first learn about what others have already done! (Most of our ‘original ideas’ have been considered by others before.) You’ll need to listen to lots of them though in order to get a good sampling of views; and do beware of false ‘experts’.
Deciding to learn new things under one’s own initiative should be a lifelong activity for us all! And a formal education from reputable institutions (there are thousands of online courses now – many with free audit-only options or that offer financial aid) is better than a self-directed curriculum because the latter can be based on our own confirmation biases (we tend to only want to learn the angles or sides of a subject or story we want to learn) and questionable sources. A learning community or class can be stimulating too, and expose you to a wide diversity of viewpoints. Assignments can encourage you to clarify your understanding into coherent thoughts, or encourage you to create or experiment. And it’s invaluable to be independently tested and critiqued to check your comprehension in case you’ve misread and/or misunderstood something if it’s an academic subject, or to practically apply one’s new skills if it’s a practical subject. One may not wish to risk dashing one’s perception of one’s own supreme wisdom by having it tested or critiqued (better to assume that one knows more than others than be independently tested and proved once and for all that one doesn’t) but being independently challenged or tested can reveal the truth and motivate the drive for self-improvement or deeper study.
Woof. The highest state of edification is wanting to learn something not for any extrinsic rewards like certificates but for its own sake. Although if we pay for a course, we’re far more likely to want to complete it.
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