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MetaLearning: Building Brain-Based Learning

Skills to Help Students Succeed

Lilly West ~ 2013

Stephen Carroll, PhD

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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

Thank You!

Questions?

Stephen: step.carroll@gmail.com