You and your brain

1. You and your brain

2. Your brain • Two types of memory: • Short term (limited) • Long term (virtually unlimited) • We can move things from short -> long term memory by various means • Long term memory is DURABLE because the connections are physical. Every time you learn your brain changes

3. Growth MIndset We manage to grow our brain all the time!

4. Some myths about your Brain • Learning in a particular “learning style” has no evidence of success (eg. VAK) • Reading something over and over again won’t help you learn it – highlighting and underlining included • “Cramming” has very short term benefits • You have very little ability to judge how well you know something without testing yourself

5. Interesting Brain facts • Learning is more effective when it takes effort – easy learning is like writing in the sand • We are bad judges of when we are learning well – we tend to choose easier learning • Re-reading things is not a good way to learn – it is far better to test and quiz yourself. • We learn best when we try to apply learned knowledge to a new issue or problem even if it feels like we are not learning as well If a goalkeeper keeps practising the same save over and over they will improve, but only in the short term. It would be better to practise different saves – but this feels less effective.

6. The importance of long term memory • LT memory is a bank of knowledge to help you do more complex things – the more history you know – the easier it is to learn more • Memory is like stocking up a construction site to build a house • Application of memory is also important – the skills to build the house!

7. Review 1 Write down 6 key things from the first section we have just explored

8. Top Tips

9. Top Tips for learning: testing • TESTING HELPS YOU LEARN – flashcards are a great example • Testing interrupts forgetting and strengthens the brain-links. • Don’t check answers until the end • Mix up your cards so you cover different topics & prioritise your cards • Keep repeating!! In a test to identify birds. Those who mixed up learning different types showed the best retention over time

10. Top Tips for learning: testing • If you don’t test yourself you tend to OVERESTIMATE how well you are doing • You don’t know what you don’t know! • All the time the forgetting curve continues • If you don’t repeat the testing the links are not strengthened

11. The Leitner Box • Split your cards • Those you get wrong a lot (practise frequently) • Those you get wrong sometimes (practise half as often) • Those you general get right (practise half as often again) Cards you get wrong

12. Top Tips for learning: Re-Working text • Defining key terms/events/people is a good way to learn- Makes your brain consider the meaning • Convert the points of something you read into questions to answer later • Write things in your own words & make links to other things you know • MORE EFFORT = BETTER LEARNING

13. Top Tips: Practice like you play • Add desirable difficulty to your learning - the harder you have to work to make sense of things the better • Forcing yourself to pick up old knowledge more effective • Writing a short essay about a topic even more so • Practising exam question more so again as it needs you to put things in a different structure and context NYPD trained officers to disarm criminals by striking the wrist and seizing the gun. They would then hand the gun back and practice again and again. They changed training procedures after one officer disarmed a criminal then handed the gun back to him as a reflex action. PRACTICE LIKE YOU PLAY – DO EXAM QUESTIONS!

14. Top Tips: Don’t Delude yourself • We tend to trust ourselves over the research evidence • If we know someone old who smokes – we are more likely to think smoking is OK even though evidence says it will shorten life • You need to know the limits of your knowledge & trust the data. If you are scoring badly you need to change something in how you are learning

15. Review 2 Write down 6 further things you have learned about memory

16. How learning works More Advanced Bits for the Curious

17. How learning works • Encoding – sensory data turned into sketchy memories like brief notes – quickly forgotten • Consolidation – memory traces are made stable • Memory becomes stronger the more it is retrieved from LT memory, re-processed and re-written Sensory Memory Forgetting Encoding Short Term Memory Forgetting Consolidation Retrieval Long Term Memory Forgetting

18. Retrieval in learning • To last in LT memory: • We must keep recoding material • We must have a set of CUES to help us retrieve things • Cues for retrieval are linked to revisiting material • With exams you need to have cues which spark thoughts eg. “are you surprised…” questions or “Galen” sparking memories • You have to make it important – if you don’t care – it won’t go in! Learning a new way to do something needs practice – this creates cues – you remember bits of a sequence – see tie video

19. Retrieval in learning • Getting CUES sorted is key • Most of our LT memory is only accessible through cues • When riding a bike you learn the cues that you are falling left or right and what to do • You also learn cues for stopping (an approaching crowd) and react Things go wrong if the cues get the wrong information. Eg. If your bike had a pedal brake not a hand brake

20. Top Tips: Deepening learning • Three key ways to deepen learning: • Retrieval – recalling information (flashcards etc) • Elaboration – connecting new knowledge to existing knowledge • Generation – creating new forms using knowledge eg. Rephrasing, considering alternatives, writing a response to an essay question • Writing in your own words is SIGNIFICANTLY better than copying

21. Top Tips: Getting it wrong • Exploring an issue is a good way of learning • You are better to get it wrong and be corrected than to get it always right – you have to think more • HOWEVER – you must seek the corrections too • Need to overcome the fear of failure – remember the GROWTH MINDSET

22. Review 3 Write down 6 key things from the last 2 sections (without looking) and 6 new things you have learnt