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一个很高的考分就意味着学生把学习资料掌握了？一个低分就代表那个学生需要更加努力么？ 在《我们是如何学习的》这本新书中讲了：“关于何时，何地和为什么会发生的出人意料的事实”，Benedict Carey一个纽约时报的科学报告员，他挑战了“高分等于真正的学习能力”这个概念。他提出以下观点：你可以用刷题的方式在短时间内得到高考分，但你可能很快就忘掉了大部分你学的东西。事实上，他认为大多数学生不需要学习更多，而是更聪明的学习。 Carey先生给了不同年龄的学生一个新的基于几十年大脑科学、记忆测试和学习方式的研究的蓝图：他反对“用功学习，准备功课就能成为很成功的学生”这个概念。相反，他提供了一个详细的对大脑的探索，精准的呈现了：我们如何学习，以及能如何最大化激发我们学习潜能。 Carey先生说：“我们大部分人学习而且希望我们做的是对的，但是我们对学习是如何发生的，有着静态和狭窄的看法。” 对于新手来说，长时间专注的学习可能看起来是最有效的，但实际上，你为了保持长时间的专注，耗费了大量的脑力，这样，你就没有更多的大脑能量了。 Carey先生生说：当有其他更多的方法让学习更有效率、更好玩和更有趣时，你却坐在那里逼着自己学习几个小时是很难的，你只是花费了很大的精力去保持定住。 向更好的学习方法前进的第一步，是时不时的改变你的学习环境。与其坐在课桌或厨房的桌子前数小时，不如找到一些场景让你的大脑与他们产生新的链接，这样你以后回忆所学的信息会更容易些。 “大脑需要变化”，Carey先生说：“它想要活动，也想要定期休息。” 了解大脑是如何运作，如何储存和搜索信息的，也可以帮助你改变你的学习习惯。对某些人来说，为应付考试刷题在短时间内有效，但只在专注的情况下学习一次，学习者并没有通知大脑那个信息很重要。所以当法语单词初级学习课程开始时，学习的程序启动，过几天后的复习让你的大脑专注于搜索并找出这一信息，这样就是在告诉大脑这个信息很重要——重点标记和记住信息一样重要。 一个告诉你大脑这个信息是重要的方式就是谈论这些信息，让一个学生基于他学过的信息扮演老师。自测和把信息写在抽认卡片上有助于巩固你学习。 当你考试刷题时，你只能把那个信息在你的大脑里储存一定的时间，Carey先生说，但你没有向你的大脑强调这个信息是有价值的。 另一个技巧叫“打扰学习”或“间隔”，对于有雄心的学生来说，它和脑科学有特别的相关性。Carey先生说：拿给一个草坪浇水来做比较，你可以一周给草坪浇一次水90分钟，或者每周三次各30分钟。一个周中有间隔的浇水，可以让草坪一直保持绿色的。 研究表明，对于一个学生学习或者记住像历史事件、单词和科学定义这类信息，最好在学习之后的一天或两天复习一次。一个理论认为较短的学习间隔让大脑不太关注，所以要在更长的间隔比如几天或一个周以后再复习一遍这些信息，这样就是给大脑一个信号告诉它必须要记住这个信息，而不是快速无间隔的去记忆。 间隔学习也可以增加环境提示。一个学生在家里尝试去记住总统名字，同时也听见狗叫或者电话铃声。几天后在咖啡馆里学习一段时间，那个学生听到店员在烧牛奶。现在总统的名单已经被利用两种环境植入了学生的记忆，这会让记忆更加深刻。 2008年加利福尼亚大学在1300人中做研究，研究者对他们进行了一些鲜为人知的事实的考试（那个站在饼干盒上面的够叫什么？回答：宾果），参加实验人员分两种时间间隔频率复习学习资料——有些人是几分钟的间隔，有些人是一天或者一周的间隔。 根据数据，科学家找到了最理想的学习信息的时间间隔。如果你的考试剩下一周了，你应该计划学习两次，期间至少间隔一到两天，周五的考试，周一开始周四复习。如果考试还剩下一个多月，用间隔一周的方式学。 在意料之内的是，睡觉对学习很重要。前半段的睡眠有助于留住信息，后半段的睡眠对数学技能很重要。所以一个学生要有外语测试的话，要早睡，能保留多少信息就保留多少信息，然后明早复习。对数学考试的学生来讲，后半段睡眠很重要。最好在睡觉之前复习一遍，然后让大脑在睡眠中运作信息。 睡眠是大脑的终结者，Carey先生说道：“大脑准备好了运作、分类和巩固你学到的东西。当你烦了或累了，就代表你的大脑说它已经受够了。” 译者按： 这个文章对我有很大的启发，颠覆了我对学习的固有观念。比如说：一直学不休息，因为我觉得这样我会进步更快。还有我觉得学到很晚这样可以学的东西多一些，安静的坐在一个地方学习效果更好。还有努力的记忆，没有窍门，实际上可以记住或变换场景来巩固记忆。还有草坪浇水，让我会有效的间隔学习。这些都会对我的SAT考试有较大的帮助。好的时间管理，可以让我学习效率更高。 还有我自己有个亲身体会，就是关于早睡觉，我背演讲的时候一直背不下来，，明天早晨起来复习一遍，相比熬夜，演讲更快背下来了。 原文摘自：纽约时报 Better Ways to Learn BY TARA PARKER-POPE OCTOBER 6, 2014 5:39 PM October 6, 2014 5:39 pm 111 Does a goodgrade always mean a student has learned the material? And does a bad grade meana student just needs to study more? In the new book“How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens”(Random House), Benedict Carey, a science reporter for The New York Times,challenges the notion that a high test score equals true learning. He arguesthat although a good grade may be achieved in the short term by cramming for anexam, chances are that most of the information will be quickly lost. Indeed, heargues, most students probably don’t need to study more — just smarter. Mr. Carey offersstudents old and young a new blueprint for learning based on decades of brainscience, memory tests and learning studies. He upends the notion that “hittingthe books” is all that is required to be a successful student, and insteadoffers a detailed exploration of the brain to reveal exactly how we learn, andhow we can maximize that potential. “Most of us study and hope we are doing itright,” Mr. Carey says. “But we tend to have a static and narrow notion of howlearning should happen.” For starters,long and focused study sessions may seem productive, but chances are you arespending most of your brainpower on trying to maintain your concentration for along period of time. That doesn’t leave a lot of brain energy for learning. “It’s hard tosit there and push yourself for hours,” Mr. Carey says. “You’re spending a lotof effort just staying there, when there are other ways to make the learningmore efficient, fun and interesting.” The first steptoward better learning is to simply change your study environment from time totime. Rather than sitting at your desk or the kitchen table studying for hours,finding some new scenery will create new associations in your brain and make iteasier to recall information later. “The brain wantsvariation,” Mr. Carey says. “It wants to move, it wants to take periodicbreaks.” Understandinghow the brain processes, stores and retrieves information can also improve yourstudy habits. For some people, cramming for a test can work in the short term,but by studying only once in a concentrated fashion, the learner has notsignaled to the brain that the information is important. So while the initialstudy session of French vocabulary words starts the process of learning, it’sthe next review session a few days later that forces the brain to retrieve theinformation — essentially flagging it as important and something to beremembered. “When you are cramming for a test, you areholding that information in your head for a limited amount of time,” Mr. Careysays. “But you haven’t signaled to the brain in a strong way that’s it’s reallyvaluable.” One way tosignal to the brain that information is important is to talk about it. Ask ayoung student to play “teacher” based on the information they have studied.Self-testing and writing down information on flashcards also reinforceslearning. Another techniqueis called distributed learning, or “spacing,” and it’s a particularly relevantaspect of brain science for ambitious students. Mr. Carey compares it towatering a lawn. You can water a lawn once a week for 90 minutes or three timesa week for 30 minutes. Spacing out the watering during the week will keep thelawn greener over time. Studies haveshown that for a student to learn and retain information like historicalevents, vocabulary words or science definitions, it’s best to review theinformation one to two days after first studying it. One theory is that thebrain actually pays less attention during short learning intervals. So repeatingthe information over a longer interval — say a few days or a week later, ratherthan in rapid succession — sends a stronger signal to the brain that it needsto retain the information. Spaced study canalso add contextual cues. At home, a student trying to memorize the presidentsmay hear the dog bark or phone ring. Move the study time to the coffee shop afew days later, and the student hears the barista steaming milk. Now the listof presidents is embedded in the student’s memory in two contexts, and thatmakes the memory stronger. In a 2008 studyof 1,300 people, University of California, San Diego researchers tested theirsubjects on obscure facts. (What’s the name of the dog on the Cracker Jack box?Answer: Bingo) The study subjects reviewed the material twice at differentintervals: some just a few minutes apart, others a day or a week apart. From the data,the scientists determined the optimal intervals for learning information. Ifyour test is a week away, you should plan two study periods at least one to twodays apart. For a Friday test, study on Monday and review on Thursday. If yourtest is a month away, begin studying in one-week intervals. And notsurprisingly, sleep is an important part of good studying. The first half ofthe sleep cycle helps with retaining facts; the second half is important formath skills. So a student with a foreign language test should go to bed earlyto get the most retention from sleep, and then review in the morning. For mathstudents, the second half of the sleep cycle is most important — better toreview before going to bed and then sleep in to let the brain process theinformation. “Sleep is thefinisher on learning,” Mr. Carey says. “The brain is ready to process andcategorize and solidify what you’ve been studying. Once you get tired, yourbrain is saying it’s had enough.”
Why FlunkingExams Is Actually a Good Thing A Review of ‘HowWe Learn’ |
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