THE 21ST CENTURY STUDENT’S GUIDE TO
STUDY SKILLS
For College & Career Readiness
Susan Mulcaire
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ZAPP!
STUDENT WORKBOOK
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STUDY SKILLS PRODUCT PREVIEW For College & Career Readiness Student Workbook by Susan Mulcaire
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© 2020 Susan Mulcaire All rights reserved. The content of this book is protected by intellectual property laws. c21 Student Resources, as the high school imprint of Tween Publishing, grants permission to noncommercial users to provide instruction based on the content of this book. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, for any commercial or noncommercial use whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to c21 Student Resources, P.O. Box 8677, Newport Beach, CA 92625-8677, or contact us by email at info@c21student.com. c21 Student Resources acknowledges Zapp Illustrations: pages 2, 5, 7, 8, 18, 26, 36, 42, 45, 54, 64, 71, 72, 80, 89, 90, 94, 102, 108, 112, 120, 126, 129, 130, 137, 138, 146, 154, 164, 169, 174, 179, 180, 186, 195, 198, 205, 207, 208, 212, 214, 219, 220, 229, 230, 234, 235, 240, 247, 253, 254, 264 and 270. PRODUCT PREVIEW
Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-0-9836906-0-3
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: What are Study Skills? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter 2: Metacognition: The Self-Aware Student . . . . . . .7 Chapter 3: A Bit About Brainy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Chapter 4: Mental Throwdown: Effort vs. Intelligence . . . . . .25 What Did You Learn in Chapters 1-4? . . . . . . . . 32 Chapter 5: What's in Style? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Chapter 6: Learning Resources & Multimodal Learning . . . . . 41 Chapter 7: There’s More Than One Way to Be Smart! . . . . . . 53 What Did You Learn in Chapters 5-7? . . . . . . . . 61 Chapter 8: That’s My Routine and I’m Stick’n to It! . . . . . . . 63 Chapter 9: The Organized Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 Chapter 10: Syllabusted! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Chapter 11: Gettin’ Your Schema On! . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 What Did You Learn in Chapters 8-11? . . . . . . . .99 Chapter 12: Active Learning in a Passive Learning World . . . . .101 Chapter 13: Battle Plan SQ3R .................111 Chapter 14: Hey, Are You Listening? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 What Did You Learn in Chapters 12-14? . . . . . . . 127 Chapter 15: Navigating Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 Chapter 16: Cornies & Indies & Hybrids, Oh My! . . . . . . . . .137 Chapter 17: The Hidden Benefits of Outlining Your Textbook .. . .145 What Did You Learn in Chapters 15-17? . . . . . . . 151
INTRODUCTION TO STUDY SKILLS & THE PROCESS OF LEARNING
LEARNING STYLES & MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
PRODUCT PREVIEW
PRE-LEARNING STRATEGIES
ACTION HEROES: LEARNING,
READING, LISTENING
NOTE-TAKING AND OUTLINING SKILLS
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Chapter 18: M.N.E.M.O.N.I.C.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Chapter 19: Meet the Anti-Cram: Time-Spaced Learning . . . . . 163 What Did You Learn in Chapters 18-19? . . . . . . . 171 Chapter 20: Short Answer & Essay Test Tips ...........173 Chapter 21: So Many Choices, So Little Time… . . . . . . . . . 185 Chapter 22: How to Trick Out Your Oral Presentation . . . . . . .197 Chapter 23: Taming Test Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207 What Did You Learn in Chapters 20-23? . . . . . . . 217 Chapter 24: So Close Yet so Far… Distance Learning . . . . . . .219 Chapter 25: Ouch My Brain Hurts! Critical Thinking Skills . . . . 229 Chapter 26: Ramp Up Your Research Skills ...........239 Chapter 27: Good Citizens! Perfect Participants! .........253 Chapter 28: The Benefits of Failure ...............263 What Did You Learn in Chapters 24-28? . . . . . . . 273
MEMORY AND RECALL STRATEGIES
TEST-TAKING TIPS & STRATEGIES
PRODUCT PREVIEW
WRAPPING UP FOR COLLEGE READINESS
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CHAPTER 1
What are Study Skills?
PRODUCT PREVIEW
What does it take to be a winning athlete? Is talent enough? Physical ability? Stamina? What about the mentality of a winning athlete? How much does that play a part in their success? Athletic success doesn’t happen by luck. Winning athletes practice techniques and skills over and over. They focus on perfecting their skills. They set goals. They identify and correct their mistakes. They are dedicated and ambitious. Hard work and focused practice make an athlete faster, more efficient, and more effective at their sport. Being a successful student also takes practice, skills, and techniques. These are called study skills . Good study skills make you a faster, more efficient, and more effective student. The term “study” skills is a bit misleading because it implies that these skills are just for studying – like reviewing for a test or quiz. Study skills are not limited to reviewing for tests and quizzes. Study skills apply to all aspects of learning. For college and career readiness, how you learn is just as important as what you know!
Learning Goals By the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. State a simple definition of learning. 2. Recognize the broad application of study skills to all aspects of learning. 3. describe the benefits of good study skills.
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What is learning?
1. Learning is the acquisition of knowledge. What is learning? You spend much of your day trying to do it, but have you ever given any thought to what learning is and how it happens? Learning is a complex concept. There’s a large body of psychology devoted to learning and how it happens. There are many ways people learn. Some learning is automatic. For example, when you were a small child you may have learned not to touch a hot stove by touching it once. (Ouch!) That’s learning by conditioning . Other learning, like memorizing the names and atomic numbers of all of the elements on the periodic table or how to find the area of a trapezoidal prism is not automatic. It takes time and often a great deal of effort. The end result of learning is the acquisition of knowledge. Good study skills improve your ability to acquire knowledge.
Learning = the acquisition of knowledge + retention of knowledge + ability to demonstrate knowledge
2. Learning is the retention of knowledge. Have you ever spent hours studying, were sure you knew the material, but couldn’t remember it when you needed to? Did you not learn it as well as you thought? Why did the knowledge slip away? Lots of things we learn are not meant to be remembered for a long time, so our brains quickly let go of the information. Other information, like the kind you learn in school, is meant to be remembered for a long time. If you forget information too soon after you learned it, you did not learn it successfully. Good study skills include practices and strategies for retaining information for a longer period of time. Good study skills improve your ability to retain knowledge. 3. Learning is the ability to demonstrate knowledge. Learning is measurable, so part of learning is being able to successfully demonstrate what you’ve learned so it can be accurately measured (graded) by your teacher. As a student, you are frequently being asked to demonstrate your knowledge. Tests and quizzes, class participation, reports, essays, verbal reports, group presentations—even just answering questions in class are all ways that your knowledge is demonstrated. You must be able to demonstrate knowledge in a variety of formats: essay and short answer, multiple choice, true or false, fill-in-the-blanks, oral response, etc. For college readiness in particular, you must also be able to demonstrate your ability to apply and adapt the knowledge in a variety of ways – from simple recall, to analysis, critique, evaluation, synthesis, etc. Good study skills improve your ability to successfully demonstrate knowledge. PRODUCT PREVIEW
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To learn effectively and be a successful student, it is important to keep in mind that learning includes all these elements: acquisition, retention and ability to demonstrate knowledge. If any one if these elements is missing from your learning, you will not be a successful student. A good study skills program develops your abilities in all of these areas. What study skills will you learn in this book? In this book you will explore study skills for all aspects of learning —not just to study for a test or quiz. The goal is to improve your ability to acquire, retain, and demonstrate knowledge so you can be a more successful student. The skills you’ll learn in this book will create a solid foundation for the skills you’ll need for success in high school, college, and career. You will begin your journey to good study skills by exploring the process of learning in chapters 1-4. It helps to know a little about the process of learning, thinking, and how your brain works in order to be able to reflect on and improve your own thinking and learning. In chapters 5-7 you’ll expand your awareness of learning styles, multi-sensory resources, and strategies for developing your own unique abilities and compensating for your weaknesses. In chapters 8-11 you’ll examine the benefits of establishing and sticking to a pre-learning routine . In chapters 12-14 you’ll explore what it means to be an active learner . In chapters 15-17 you’ll learn how (and why) to take notes and outline your textbook chapters . In chapters 18-23 you will explore practices and strategies that enable you to recall a lot more of what you learn , and tips for success on all kinds of tests and assessments . Finally, because you will be heading off to college in just a few short years, you will explore skills for college readiness in chapters 24-28. PRODUCT PREVIEW Think of learning as a three part process: the acquisition of knowledge + the retention of that knowledge + the ability to effectively demonstrate the knowledge in a variety of ways. If you are deficient in any one of these areas, you will not be a successful student. Good study skills and learning strategies increase your ability to succeed in acquiring, retaining, and demonstrating knowledge. Learning and habituating good study skills and strategies is critical for college and career readiness. THE BIG PICTURE
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U.B. Smart School’s
U.B. SMART STUDENTS STUDY HOW TO STUDY
by Jason
Big news from Rm. 400. Mr. Skillsworth’s study skills class is underway. Students are learning that good study skills take time, practice and discipline, but they’re worth the effort. PRODUCT PREVIEW “As you move up to high school and college, good study skills are very
discuss study skills and college readiness topics. All students must _______________________________ in the discussions, debates and blogs. On the first day of class, students learned that learning is really a three part process: the _____________________________________________, __________________________________, and ability to _________________________ knowledge. A.J., a 10th grader said “I really need to learn these skills. Even though I study a lot, I forget what I learn. I have a hard time _____________________ what I studied. Elena wants to learn good test-taking skills so she can better demonstrate her knowledge. “There are so many ways my teachers ask me to show what I know, such as: ___________________________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________. Students compared the traits of successful stu- dents with the traits of successful athletes. “These people have many traits in common,” said Mr. Skillsworth,” (List five – your choice.) ___________ _________________________________________________ _________________________________________________. Assisting Mr. Skillsworth are Miss Loveless, Mr. Viejo, and everyone’s favorite science teacher Ms. Pell.
“How you learn is as important as what you learn” says Mr. Skillsworth
important to your success as a student.” said Mr. Skillsworth. “They help you be a faster, more ef- ficient and effective learner.” His students totally agree. Alison, a 9th grader, said “Good study skills take a lot of the frus- tration and ________________ out of learning. The skills, techniques, and strategies I learn in this class will be part of my study routine all the way through high school and __________________.”
Students are using The 21st Century Student’s Guide to Study Skills . They must bring it to __________________________ class. It contains the ____________________ they need for class activities and homework.
Grades are based on in-class activities, homework completion, and consistent, everyday use of the skills learned in the class. At the end of each unit, students ____________, debate or
stress
every
acquisition
true/false test
retention
demonstrate
oral presentation
worksheets remembering
short answer test
multiple choice test
blog
college
essay test
participate
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APPLICATION OF SKILLS
Name: _____________________________________________________________________________
What are Study Skills?
1. The term study skills is misleading. Why? _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. What does being a faster, more efficient and effective student mean to you? _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. What are your three worst study habits ? What problems have they caused for you? PRODUCT PREVIEW _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. What are your most productive study habits ? How have they helped you be a more successful student? _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. “ How you learn is just as important as what you learn.” Comment: _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ 6. What’s the most frustrating and stressful part of learning for you? Acquiring, retaining or demonstrating knowledge? How does it make you feel about your abilities as a student, and your academic future in high school and college? _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ _ ______________________________________________________________________________ 7. What grade would you give your current study skills and habits ? A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F
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CHAPTER 2
Metacognition: The Self-Aware Student
PRODUCT PREVIEW
In Chapter 1 you considered the traits of winning athletes. Successful athletes practice long hours to perfect their skills and techniques. What goes through the mind of a good athlete when they are training? Are they thinking about what they watched on TV the night before? Are they wondering what to wear to school the next day? Do they just go through the motions of practice? Good athletes do not just “go through the motions” of practice! Successful athletes focus, laser-like, on their skills. They set goals to know what they want to achieve. They control their body movements, adjust their speed, motion, and strategy for optimal performance. They gauge their progress by timing themselves, tracking completions, and assessing their performance. A good athlete is self- aware . Self-awareness is an important trait for students too. In this chapter you’ll learn the importance of being a self- aware, metacognitive student.
Learning Goals By the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. Define metacognition. 2. List the traits of a self-aware student. 3. Identify poor metacognitive skills in a series of examples. 4. Complete a survey of their personal metacognitive skills.
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What is metacognition ? Successful students are self-aware learners who consciously monitor and focus on their learning as they learn . In other words, they think about their thinking! Thinking about thinking is called metacognition , and it’s an important study skill.
What are the traits of a metacognitive student? FOCUSES ON A SINGLE TASK
Multitasking means trying to pay attention to or work on several tasks at the same time. Neuroscientists have found that humans simply cannot focus well on more than one task at a time. Trying to focus on several matters at once creates conflict within the brain. When the brain is forced to switch back and forth between tasks and activities, it constantly struggles to focus and refocus. It is an inefficient and unproductive way to learn. Laser-like focus on a single task is a trait of a metacognitive student. IDENTIFIES LEARNING GOALS Studying is not unlike many of the other activities you engage in during the day. If you stop at the store on the way home from school, you generally know why you’re there and what you want to get. Before starting a learning task, such as homework, reading, or studying for a test or quiz, the metacognitive student takes a minute to identify the information their brain should be retrieving from the task . Identifying specific learning goals is kind of like creating a shopping list for your brain, telling it what information to pick up as you study. Identification of specific learning goals is a trait of a metacognitive student. ASSESSES LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Physical surroundings impact a student’s ability to meet their learning goals. A metacognitive student assesses their learning environment and makes adjustments to control and manage their learning. “Environment” can include where and when you study, with whom you study, and how you study. The metacognitive student recognizes a poor study environment and adjusts it, or seeks out a new environment which better supports learning. Monitoring and adjusting their environment to optimize learning is a trait of the metacognitive student. ADJUSTS THINKING Metacognitive students are alert to changes in their thinking, such as when their mind wanders off task, or when they don’t understand something. They are aware of attitudes or thoughts that distract them from their learning goals. They are able to adjust their thinking and refocus. If a learning strategy isn’t working, PRODUCT PREVIEW
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the metacognitive student adjusts to use a different strategy. Actively monitoring and controlling their thought processes as they learn is a trait of a metacognitive student. GAUGES PROGRESS The metacognitive student checks their progress toward their learning goals by testing their knowledge as they learn. They pause to check their comprehension of reading material. They restate concepts in their own words. They check whether they understand the big idea of a lesson. They check their answers for accuracy . They reflect on their learning. Metacognitive students know that it is important to test themselves before they are tested by their teacher. When a metacognitive student doesn’t understand something, they ask for help instead of ignoring it, or assuming they’ll figure it out later. The ability to gauge progress toward their learning goals is a trait of a metacognitive student. What is metacognition in action? Let’s observe metacognition in action. Read the profiles below. Which student is focused on the task of learning? Who has identified their learning goals and has a clear understanding of what they are supposed to retrieve from their learning tasks? Which student is focused on the single task of learning, monitors and adjusts their thinking, and gauges their progress? Issa is in her room doing homework. She keeps her cell phone out of her workspace because she knows she gets distracted by texting. She’s reading a chapter in her science textbook, learning about gravitational force—specifically Newton’s Laws of Motion for a quiz on Wednesday. Issa comes across a word she doesn’t understand. She pauses and thinks “Uh oh, I don’t understand that word. I will need to know what it means, or the rest of this chapter probably won’t make much sense.” She checks the definition, then rereads the sentence, inserting the definition in place of the actual word. She asks “does that make sense? Do I understand now?” When she’s sure she understands, she continues reading. PRODUCT PREVIEW By contrast, here’s Chris: Chris is on the sofa in the family room. He’s doing his homework—sort of. Books and papers are spread out around him. As he reads, he keeps an eye on the sports channel, makes a couple of phone calls, texts his bros’ about plans for the weekend, and throws the ball for his dog. He’s working on a chapter in his science textbook—something about gravity and Newton—maybe Einstein—he’s not sure. Anyway, it’s boring. He’s in a hurry to finish because he’s meeting his friends at the movies. He notices that there’s this one word that keeps showing up all over the chapter. He doesn’t have a clue what it means. He’s gotten tripped up on that word before. He ignores it and keeps going assuming he’ll figure it out eventually.
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Which student are you more like? If you find yourself identifying more with Chris than with Issa, get to work on your metacognitive skills!
The Metacognitive Student 1. Focuses on a single task. 2. Identifies their learning goals. 3. Assesses and adjusts their learning environment. 4. Monitors and adjusts their thinking. 5. Gauges progress toward their learning goals.
PRODUCT PREVIEW
THE BIG PICTURE
Metacognition means thinking about your thinking. Focusing on a single learning task and knowing what your learning goals are as you study are traits of a metacognitive student. Metacognitive students manipulate their environment to optimize learning and gauge their progress toward their goals. Don't just go through the motions of learning. When you are in the process of learning something, be acutely aware of whether you are accomplishing your learning goals. If not, make necessary adjustments. Being a self-aware, metacognitive student goes a long way toward college readiness.
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CLASS ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
Name: _____________________________________________________________________________
Metacognitive Muddle Metacognition means thinking about thinking . Metacognitive students are self-aware students. They focus on learning as they learn. They identify their learning goals and monitor progress toward their goals. Metacognitive students assess and adjust their learning environment to keep it free from distractions. Read the profiles below and tell whether the student is a metacognitive student . 1. Is the student is focused on learning ? Are they multitasking ? (How can you tell?) 2. Has the student identified their learning goals ? (How can you tell?) 3. Does the student make adjustments to their learning environment to overcome problems? (If so what? If not, what changes do you recommend?) 4. Does he or she make adjustments to their thinking or learning strategies and optimize learning? (If so, how? It not, what do you recommend?) 5. Does the student accurately gauge their progress ? (How? If not, what do you recommend?) PRODUCT PREVIEW “Hi! I’m Ali. I usually do my algebra homework at the coffee house after school. It’s crowded and noisy, but I like listening to everyone around me as I work on problems – it makes it less boring. I have a quiz tomorrow, so today I reviewed some stuff that might be on the quiz. I hope I remember! I totally never feel like I have a good grasp of what I’m supposed to know before my teacher moves on to the next chapter, but so far this semester, I’m passing the class.” Is Alison a metacognitive student? Why or why not? _ _____________________________________________________________ _ _____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
“Hey, I’m Max. OK, well bio is by far my worst class. For one thing, it’s super hard. My teacher gives us way too much homework. Also, it’s first period which starts at 7:45 and it’s hard for me to stay awake that early in the morning. Agggh I am so tired. I especially struggle with the labs, because I don’t get what’s going on or what the point of it is. I usually start my science homework about 9:00 at night because I have lacrosse practice from 5:00-7:00. Then I have to eat dinner and do a little gaming. I study on my bed. I don’t get through much of the reading before I’m asleep.” Is Max a metacognitive student? Why or why not?
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CLASS ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
__________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ “I’m A.J. OK, overall, I’d say I’m a pretty good student. I’m pretty good about doing homework. I follow directions. I do all of the assignments and reading for my classes. My mind wanders a lot. I lose focus but I do my homework without complaining. I don’t even think about it – I just get through the reading and worksheets and that’s what counts, right? I study a lot before tests and quizzes. I always think I’m prepared, but it’s really weird, because my scores are low. I don’t get it. It’s kinda discouraging.” Is A.J. a metacognitive student? Why or why not? _ _____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ PRODUCT PREVIEW “I’m Elena. My “problem” class is literature. I totally struggle with all those long, boring “thou” and “thee” 19th century poems. I was getting low quiz scores. I needed to improve my focus and concentration to work through those difficult passages. I was doing my homework with friends, but we talked a lot. Personally, I need total quiet to get my work done – no distractions. So I started going to the library twice a week to do the reading. That really helped. The unit on literary devices was so confusing. Allegory, allusion, alliteration – OMG they all sound the same! My teacher said that we have to be able to define the device and use it in our own writing. Now I learn three devices per week, and make three examples. I show the examples to my teacher to make sure they’re right. I ace the quizzes.” Is Elena a metacognitive student? Why or why not? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
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APPLICATION OF SKILLS
Name: _____________________________________________________________________________
Metacognitive Homework Survey Being a self-aware, metacognitive student is about what’s going on in your head while you are learning . When you learn, don’t just go through the motions. Engage your brain and focus on one task at a time. Identify your learning goals, adjust your environment and your thinking to optimize learning. Gauge your progress. Be a metacognitive student! APPLICATION OF SKILLS What time did you start your homework? ______________ What time did you finish? ______________ List the subjects you worked on for homework: __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ Select one of the above subjects. Identify your homework learning goals . Be specific. __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ As you worked, were you focused on a single task , or were you paying attention to other tasks or activities, such as the TV, loud music, texts, phone calls, or chatting with friends? Discuss: PRODUCT PREVIEW __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ Describe your learning environment (location, noise, activity level, etc.) where you do homework. __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ Do you need to adjust or control your environment to optimize learning? How? Be specific. __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ Do you need to adjust or control your thinking process to optimize learning? How? Be specific. __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
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APPLICATION OF SKILLS
Pledge of the Metacognitive Student I, _______________________, Student, do hereby make this Pledge: From this day forward, I will not just go through the motions of learning. When I am learning, I will: • Focus on the single task of learning as I learn. • Identify my specific learning goals. • Adjust my learning environment to optimize learning. • Monitor and adjust my thinking to optimize learning. • Gauge progress toward my learning goals by testing myself, reflecting on my learning, restating concepts, or making examples. From this day forward, I will be a metacognitive student! Signed: _____________________________ PRODUCT PREVIEW __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ What are your metacognitive weaknesses ? Discuss: __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ List three things you will begin doing immediately to be a self-aware, metacognitive student . 1. _______________________________________________________________________________ 2. _______________________________________________________________________________ 3. _______________________________________________________________________________ Do you gauge your progress toward learning goals by restating what you learned in your own words, testing yourself, or creating examples? __________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________ What are your metacognitive strengths ? Laser-like focus? Adjustable thinking? Your excellent learning environment? Discuss:
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NOTES
PRODUCT PREVIEW
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CHAPTER 3
A Bit About Brainy
PRODUCT PREVIEW
Most people go through their day talking, walking, learning, eating, sleeping, practicing sports, or listening to music, never giving a single thought to the amazing organ that does it all for them: Their brain! Do you take your brain for granted? Have you ever wondered how all that information from the outside world works its way through your skull to become knowledge and memory? The human brain works 365 days, non-stop, ‘round the clock. It weighs only about 3 lbs. but it processes information incredibly fast. It is a very sophisticated organ. In this chapter you’ll explore how all that sensory data (that’s the stuff you see, hear, smell, and feel) finds its way from the outside world into your brain to be acquired and retained as knowledge . Knowing a bit about how your brain learns can help you understand how and why to study!
Learning Goals By the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. Identify and label parts of the brain involved in learning. 2. Describe the basic processes by which the brain converts sensory data to knowledge. 3. Create a plan for maintaining a healthy brain.
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Let’s start with some basic brain structure:
Hemispheres The brain has two halves. If you place a finger between your eyes and draw an imaginary line up through your forehead, across the top of your skull, and down to the nape of your neck, you’ll trace a rough division of the two halves of your brain. The halves are called hemispheres . Each hemisphere has four exterior lobes which generally function as follows:
Frontal Lobes The lobes at the front of the brain are called the frontal lobes . They are the largest lobes. Behind those is the prefrontal cortex which is key to reasoning, problem solving, making decisions, and coordinating speech. When you’re thinking about the sequence of a math formula, or resisting the impulse to grab that donut out of your friend’s hand, your frontal lobe is at work. Quick! What’s 21 + 8? Someone with a prefrontal cortex injury or disease would find this very difficult – maybe even impossible to do. People with prefrontal cortex injuries or diseases may also be impulsive and have problems controlling their behavior. For successful learning, it’s very, very important to protect your prefrontal cortex from injury. Temporal Lobes Above your ears lay the temporal lobes . They process what you hear , like speech and music. They are also involved in forming long term memories. Parietal Lobes The parietal lobes are on the top of your exterior brain. They are involved in spatial orientation and sensory integration. The parietal lobe is constantly working to move the parts of your body where you want them to go. When you’re shooting baskets, or reaching for a glass of milk, the parietal lobe is directing your body movements, telling it how hard to throw the ball, or exactly how far to reach for the glass, and how much effort it will take to lift it. It senses the distance and navigates the movements of your limbs. People who have sustained damage or disease to this area of the brain can find it very difficult to make even simple exact movements. Occipital Lobes The occipital lobes are on the back of the head. They are mostly involved with vision. Right now, your occipital lobes are actively processing the words you are reading on this page!
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The Interior Brain Deep in the brain, beneath the exterior lobes is the interior brain . The Limbic System is located within the interior brain and contains structures important to learning: Hypothalamus (hy•po• thal •a•mus) Hungry? Thirsty? Sleepy? This structure constantly monitors internal systems like body temperature, hunger and fatigue. Its function is to keep everything in balance. If your hypothalamus senses that you need to eat or sleep, or that you are too hot or too cold, it may distract you from learning , and nag at you until you take care of your body. Amygdala (ah• mig •dah•la) Boo! The amygdala is responsible for emotions like fear, happiness and sadness. Ever wondered why it’s easier to recall (or harder to forget) something really scary, sad or happy—even if it happened years ago? Experts believe that your amygdala may more forcefully imprint emotional memories , which enables them to store faster, longer and stronger. Neurons, Dendrites, Axons and Synapses Sensory information from the outside world moves into the limbic system structures along nerve cells called neurons . The brain is made up billions of neurons. Each neuron has thousands of branchlike extensions called dendrites and axons . These constantly receive and transmit electrical impulses to areas called synapses . Synapses enable neurons to communicate and process information. PRODUCT PREVIEW Hippocampus (hip•po• cam •pus) Ground zero for learning, memory and recall. Can you believe this tiny structure is responsible processing most of what you learn and converting sensory data (what you see, hear and feel) to memory? The conversion of information to memory is not an instantaneous process. It can take several exposures to information before a memory is formed well-enough to be recalled. Hippocampus
Neurons
Dendrites and Axons
Synapses
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What is Memory? The brain doesn’t actually have a “memory bank” or a specific place where knowledge and memories are all neatly stored away. Memory is actually a stored pattern of synaptic connections . The first time you learn something, it is unfamiliar to your brain. Your brain has to create a synaptic pattern for the information. If you study it only once, it can be difficult to recall later, because the synaptic connections are not well established. With more and more study and review, the synaptic patterns and connections strengthen, making recall easier. Do you know there can be up to 1,000,000,000,000,000 synaptic connections in your brain? (Souza, How the Brain Learns, 2006). No excuses! You are capable of learning a lot.
THE BIG PICTURE
Even when doing a simple math calculation, hundreds of millions of your brain’s neurons, dendrites, axons and synapses are actively transmitting impulses and chemicals enabling you to come up with an answer. Memory is a stored pattern of synaptic connections. When you read, study and review, your brain forms new synapses and synapse patterns, and strengthens old ones. The more you study and review, the stronger the connections and patterns. The brain truly is an amazing organ! Treat it well.
PRODUCT PREVIEW
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CLASS ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
Name: _____________________________________________________________________________ Name the part of the brain and describe its function.
__________________ LOBE Function: __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
__________________ LOBE Function:
___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________
PRODUCT PREVIEW
__________________ LOBE Function: __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
__________________ LOBE Function: __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
Neuron: __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
Dendrites and Axons: __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
Synapse: __________________________ __________________________ __________________________
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APPLICATION OF SKILLS
Your Brain Has a Bone to Pick with You!
To: Owner From: Brainy Subject: Your Brain Has a Bone to Pick with You! Priority: High
Dear Owner:
I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for you. How do you thank me? You treat me like I mean nothing to you. Riding around on your bike and skateboard without a helmet, leaving me open to all sorts of injuries if you fall… Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to make repairs in here? Btw, you know all that junk food and sugary stuff you eat? I’d hardly classify it as “food.” Just because you like it doesn’t mean I like it. I need food that’s nutritious. I’d feel a lot better if you’d eat a healthy breakfast in the morning. PRODUCT PREVIEW While I’m on the subject, do you realize how often I’m thirsty? My neurons, dendrites, axons and synapses need water to work efficiently so you can learn. What the heck! Why so stingy with the water? Six to eight glasses a day, please. Soda and caffeine drinks don’t count. Just a warning: don’t even think of using alcohol, drugs or tobacco, or I’m talking a serious s-l-o-w-d-o-w-n in the work I do for you. I promise you will not like it. I’d also appreciate 8-9 hours of sleep every night. While you’re off snoozing like a princess, I get to all of my chores, like restoring your mental and physical energy. You know how you get all cranky when you’re tired? That’s me (my hypothalamus to be exact) telling you to sleep so I can work! By the way, to learn something new, you have to review it more than once. When you study and review, I form new synapses and strengthen synaptic patterns and connections. That creates strong neural pathways which make it easier for you to recall the information. If you study or review something only once, I will have a hard time remembering it.
One more thing. Here’s what I like: I like fresh air. I like exercise. I like reading. I like stuff like chess and puzzles. I’m no whimp. I like challenge. We’re in this together.
help me out, ok?
Sincerely, Brainy
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Re: Sorry
Brainy
Owner Re: Sorry
Dear Brainy:
I’m sorry, sometimes I’m not very good to you. I need to take care of you, so you can take care of me and I can learn. Here’s my personal plan to keep you healthy: When I’m biking, skateboarding, skiing or snowboarding I will protect you by wearing a _______________; It’s hard to fix a brain injury. I will always wear my seat belt in the car! I promise to feed you better. I’ll improve my diet, starting with these three changes: a. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ b. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ c. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ I didn’t realize you need water to process information and learn. A dehydrated brain doesn’t work efficiently. I will drink water every day and avoid soda and caffeine drinks. I will not use alcohol, tobacco or drugs. PRODUCT PREVIEW I will try to go to bed by _______ (time) to get 8-9 hours of sleep. You need me to sleep so you can get busy sorting and storing information, and restoring my mental and physical energy. No wonder I feel so yucky when I don’t get enough sleep. I will limit my video gaming to ______ minutes per day. I will exercise every day. Here’s are some activities I’ll do for exercise: ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________ I understand that you need me to study and review information to strengthen synapses and create new ones so I can
learn. Study and review build a strong memory, which helps me learn and recall information. Brainy, I know you’re no wimp. I know you like challenge. I promise I’ll engage in at least one non-school related, mentally challenging activity every day, such as: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
me happy! thanks.
Sincerely, Your Owner,
________________________________________
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Mental Throwdown: Effort vs. Intelligence What’s your opinion about intelligence? Do you think people are born with their basic level of intelligence, or do you think people can actually learn to be smart? Think carefully! Your answer is important, because according to psychologists at Stanford and Columbia Universities 1 , how you think about intelligence can affect your academic success. In 2007, these psychologists were curious as to why students with relatively equal abilities, could have very different academic outcomes. Why do some students thrive in school, but others struggle, they wondered? Why do some enjoy the challenge of learning, yet others do their best to avoid it? Their study lead to an interesting discovery about intelligence. They found that a student’s belief about the nature of intelligence can have a big impact on their achievement in school. Generally, students who believe that intelligence can be developed and grown do better in school than students who believe that intelligence is fixed trait – something they are born with and can’t significantly alter or improve. Let's take a closer look at this notion and find out if your personal opinion about intelligence is helping or hindering your success in school.
CHAPTER 4
PRODUCT PREVIEW
Learning Goals By the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. Identify as a growth or fixed mindset learner. 2. List the traits of growth mindset learners. 3. Compare the roles of effort, intelligence and experience in learning.
1 Blackwell, Kali, and Dweck 27
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PRODUCT PREVIEW
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The psychologists call students who believe that intelligence is fluid and developable growth mindset learners . Students who believed the opposite—that intelligence is fixed and basically unalterable, are called fixed mindset learners . Let's consider both opinions:
Fixed Mindset Learners Some students believe that intelligence is an unalterable trait—that people are born with a certain level of intellectual ability which, as a matter of genetics cannot be improved or expanded. They have a fixed view of intelligence . This mindset can actually lead to traits and behaviors that inhibit a student’s success. Fixed mindset learners: believe intelligence is genetically fixed and cannot be altered . label themselves (and others) as “smart” or “dumb.” believe learning and accomplishment are outside of their personal control . avoid challenge. give up easily. blame failure on a lack of intellect rather than inadequate effort . (“I don’t have a brain for math!” vs. “I didn’t study hard enough or pay attention in class.”) Growth Mindset Learners Growth mindset learners believe that intelligence is a fluid and controllable trait. They attribute academic success to effort and hard work . They believe that like a muscle, the brain becomes stronger with use and challenge . Overall, these students are more successful than their entity counterparts, and are able to overcome many obstacles to learning. Overall, the traits and behaviors of growth mindset learners are more likely to lead to academic success because they: believe basic ability can be developed through hard work, effort and experience. embrace academic challenge. reject labeling themselves or anyone else as “smart” or “dumb” focus on strategies and processes while learning (rather than strictly outcome or grades.) PRODUCT PREVIEW High achievers beware! Psychologists have made another surprising discovery about intelligence. High achieving students who receive a lot of praise for their successes, or have a reputation as “smart” kids are particularly at risk for becoming fixed mindset learners. When these students become overly concerned with maintaining their identity as high achievers, they often begin avoiding challenge in order to avoid failure and losing their smartipants reputations. Remember this: Brainy likes challenge . Never back off of intellectual challenge because you’re worried about failure! No matter how smart you are, challenging your brain makes it even smarter.
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Can your IQ actually change? IQ, which stands for Intelligence Quotient , is the
measurement of a person’s intelligence. IQ tests are usually given at school, and are used as predictors of educational achievement in students. Until recently, it’s been believed that a person’s IQ is basically unalterable. In other words, it’s been the general belief that you’re born with a level of intelligence which dictates your abilities for your lifetime. Researchers at the University of London recently confirmed that this is not true. IQs rise and fall, particularly in teens . In an experiment, they administered IQ tests and MRI/brain scans to 33 kids in 2004 when they were 12 to 16 years old. Four years later they retested the kids. Many of their IQs had changed. Some had increases of up to 20 points! Of course some IQs had also declined, further revealing the importance of protecting your intelligence by keeping the brain challenged. If you aren’t satisfied with your IQ, work hard! You can improve it.
Genetics plays a part of course, but how you perceive the nature of intelligence can actually impact your intelligence. If you subscribe to a fixed mindset mentality you may be limiting your ability to grow intellectually. Intelligence is not static. It is fluid. You can increase your intelligence level by challenging your brain – especially as a teenager. Students who embrace academic challenge, put in the effort, and maintain a belief in their ability to get smarter experience greater academic success. You can learn to be smart. PRODUCT PREVIEW IQs can change, particularly in teenagers.
THE BIG PICTURE
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