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Learn Like Einstein: Know and Understand Thyself

The first and foremost step to being better at learning is to know thyself. What that means is to know and understand exactly how you learn and process information the best.

This may come as a surprise to some that people have very different preferences of how they learn. There are studies that show greater increased efficacy when exposed to a style or preference that best suits them.

You don’t need to take these guidelines as hard evidence, but the simple realization that you can engage information in different ways should greatly influence the way you learn. You might feel stuck in one way, only to shift to another medium and discover that it works much better for you. You might feel great in one method, shift to another and find that it takes you to the next level 먹튀검증커뮤니티.

The point is to have more ammunition in your learning arsenal. If you were in a learning competition with someone else, and they could unleash all their learning potential, because they understood the three best types of information they responded to or knew how to engage themselves in three different ways, you will lose hands down if you have only stuck to one your entire life, even if you’re great at it and have it down to a science.

Think of it as if you only spoke French, yet you were forced to read all your news and watch television in Russian. After a few years you might be pretty good at it, and you might even have methods that work for you, but you’ll never be as proficient or efficient than if you could read and watch in French.

That’s what not understanding your best learning styles and preferences is like, and that’s the risk you run.

Let’s get down to it. In this chapter, I only describe two of the main models of learning. There are many more, but these are among the most widespread and prevalent. They further demonstrate that learning and expertise is not a one size fits all approach, and really, it can’t be unless you are simply shooting for minimum competency. Remember, while we go through everything presented, try to ask yourself if it sounds like something you might enjoy or something you might hate. Both distinctions are important to make.

The VARK Model of Learning

VARK is an acronym that stands for the four types of learning it splits people into. It was developed by Neil Fleming. The four types of learning are:

  • Visual
  • Auditory
  • Reading/Writing
  • Kinesthetic

If you have a visual style of learning, it means you prefer to see information so you can actually visualize concepts and how they may or may not connect with others. Try to summarize information in charts, graphs, or even pictures that get the point across in little to no time. At the very least, you can organize notes and information in a way that is visually organized for better absorption. Information that is merely heard or read just doesn’t make the same impact, and tends to go in one ear and out the other.

If you have an auditory style of learning, it means you like to hear information rather than see or read it. Hearing is the best way for you to process information because it allows you to process that information simultaneously with your own internal train of thought. Reciting information out loud is also helpful because it’s an active and conscious act, not like when others do it. It allows you to think out loud and come to conclusions and connections yourself, where you wouldn’t be able to through reading or writing. To work best, record people as much as possible, including yourself, and think out loud to find your conclusions.

If you have a reading and writing style of learning, you prefer to interact with text and manipulate it. It allows you to process information thoroughly and at your own pace. Reading over notes and making summaries of those notes will work best for you, and tactics such as mindmaps also help, because they clearly allow you to make connections between concepts. To work best, you should always ask for a written copy, then annotate it yourself with your own notes and thoughts. That way, you can draw your own conclusions and see the evidence right before you.

If you have a kinesthetic learning style, you can’t sit still for a lecture or lesson, and you want to experience the topic at hand. You need to try, poke around, and discover for yourself the inner workings of something because simply being told doesn’t make much of an impression. You need exercises and problems to solve, trivia to name, and worksheets to fill in. This is the epitome of proactive learning, and it’s no surprise that the kinesthetic learning style is effective for many people whether they realize it or not. It forces participation and active analysis, which is best for memory creation and retention. You work best through seeing demonstrations, then doing them for yourself to pick up anything you might have missed otherwise.

The Seven Learning Styles

The Seven Styles bear quite a few similarities to the VARK model of learning. There is actually overlap in the types of mediums that are mentioned, and for good reason: there are five senses and you can only appeal to them in so many ways. However, where the VARK model seems more conventional and concrete, the seven styles is more geared towards people’s innate preferences and talents.

Without further ado, below are the seven styles of learning:

  • Visual/Spatial
  • Aural
  • Verbal
  • Solitary
  • Social
  • Logical
  • Physical

Visual learning styles prefer to see pictures, images, movies, and are generally be able to visualize whatever they are learning directly. You will see through descriptions of the other learning styles that visual learners process information better with their eyes. Seeing something with your eyes is what cements it in your brain. Even if you are reduced to reading or listening, you can replace the words with pictures, use bold colors to highlight areas of importance, and make your notes and outlines easy to visually comprehend. Suppose that you still want to learn the history of Spain. You’d be best suited to studying nautical maps, graphics, charts, seeing movies, and any other visual media that keeps you from having to solely read or listen. Turn your lecture notes into diagrams that hold a lot of information, and make it so you can digest information from a single glance at your page.

Aural learners are also known as musical learners. This is important to distinguish, because the VARK method tends to lump them in together with auditory learners. Aural learners don’t necessarily prefer listening for better learning, they prefer everything that underlies the appeal of their favorite music. Rhythm, patterns, rhyme, and melody. These are the people that will hum incessantly and make songs for themselves to memorize facts and dates. You might imagine this to be a small minority of learners, but in reality, this exists in all of us. It’s why we sometimes can’t get commercial jingles out of our heads. To better learn Spanish history, you would do your best to work information into existing or new songs and melodies, because they come to you easily and the information will be secondary to the music ? which is a good thing.

Verbal learners are also known to be linguistic learners, which means they not only prefer words spoken out loud, they prefer to read as well. This type of learner has it easy at first glance because most of the information that is readily available is in book or lecture form. To learn better, you take what you’ve heard or read and write it out yourself to strengthen the connections within. To learn Spanish history more effectively, you would take a series of sample test questions and write the answers out and let the insight flow from your pen. If you prefer to use words, you should stick to words and boil any diagrams, graphics, or pictures down to simple descriptions that you can dive into with more detail later. Copious, organized notes that are scribbled over again and again would be normal for this type of learner. You should do your thinking out loud in written form and write questions for yourself to answer later.

Solitary learners represent a point of significant departure from the VARK model, which focused on the types of input that you could receive. The seven learning styles are more holistic definitions that focus on how you best process information. Solitary learners prefer to work alone and process their thoughts by themselves. Everything happens in their own head, and they create their own materials and methods for self-study. They may interact with others, but when it gets down to the wire, they withdraw into a cave with themselves to make connections for themselves. They know what questions to ask themselves and where their knowledge gaps lie. When others explain concepts, it just doesn’t have the same impact ? they need to think through it step by step for themselves. To learn Spanish history better, the solitary learner would hunker down in a bunker, alone for days with a few textbooks and lectures.

The social learner is predictably the opposite of the solitary learner. They prefer to learn in groups, or with other people, so they can bounce ideas and concepts off them. They want to seek as wide a set of perspectives as possible because that will increase their overall understanding. They prefer to see variety, breadth, and diversity of opinion because that will leave no stone unturned. After confirming their questions or beliefs, they can then be confident in what they’ve learned. To learn Spanish history better, the social learner would engage in a series of role play or Q&A group study sessions where the information comes out in answers and not through strict reading.

The logical learner prefers to learn through making logical connections and seeing the underlying systems and reasoning. This is the type of person that likes math because there is a single correct method that, if followed, will yield a single correct answer. There is no uncertainty and almost everything can be explained in some logical manner. You would search for the motivations that create action, because understanding the entire context will help with learning the logic. To learn Spanish history better, the logical learner looks at the big picture context of why certain events occurred and the series of events that took place afterward as a consequence. You want to make sense of the world by being able to say, “Oh, that’s why that happened. That’s the rule,” even though it’s not always possible.

The physical learner prefers actual, physical stimulation for learning. To touch is to experience, and to experience is to know. Using their kinesthetic sense cements information because they are tied to strong feelings and emotions. Sitting stationary in a chair is the worst scenario for this type of learner. They’d much rather get up and interact with others, create materials, interact with demonstrations, role-play, and use their five senses as much as possible. They want to feel, which transmits stronger memories to them. To learn Spanish history better, the physical learner would prefer to explore with their hands as much as possible in museums, folk dance demonstrations, creating models or charts about Spanish history, and have group performances in front of an audience.

This chapter presented two models of learning, with eleven separate ways of processing information. Which ones resonated with you, and which felt like ones you’d ignore as much as possible? Most people are a mixture of multiple methods, so you may take elements from a few of the eleven methods presented. What’s important is to know yourself and construct a method of learning that best suits your preferences and needs. Only then can you begin to learn like Einstein.

As a final point, there has been increasing scrutiny and criticism about the validity of learning styles. Namely, that despite what people deem their styles or preferences to be, it makes no difference as to the overall retention of information.

Is this true? It may very well be. However, learning will always involve sitting still for extended periods of time, something people can withstand for only varying degrees. Therefore, it might be more helpful and empowering to view each learning style or preference as a tool or trick to make learning more captivating, relatable, or motivating than sitting quietly at a desk by themselves.

 
 

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