Learning

Learning (What)

Learning is the process of neural transformation (brain changes) that causes an improvement in performance or knowledge.

Analysis (Breakdown of Main Ideas)

Neural (Brain) Changes

All learning involves changes in brain cells (neurons), including the growth of dendrites, the formation and strengthening of synaptic connections, and other neural adaptations. These changes—collectively known as neuroplasticity—are necessary for learning to occur. In this sense, brain changes are necessary for learning.

Process (method)

A process is a set of actions that produce a desirable result. Processes can be learned, taught, and communicated. Some synonyms for process are recipe, algorithm, and framework.

Improvement in Performance

Performance iGaining the abilities to do something worthwhile in a better way. Examples: becoming faster at swimming, becoming better at parenting, becoming better at coding.

Knowledge

Knowledge refers to high-quality information that is stored in the brain’s long term memory. For example, a person with knowledge of welding and chemistry is able to recall and apply their information.

Improvements in Knowledge

This refers to increasing the depth, connection, accuracy, ease-of-use or any other feature of knowledge that is desireable.

Rationale

Excelling at learning is worthwhile is because it empowers an actor (person or group) to get more of what they most want.

In particular, you figure out what you most want and then figure out what you need to learn and do to get this and then you take the actions and achieve your aims.

In this sense, learning is the ultimate superpower.

Effective Learning (How To)

Principles

  1. All learning is biological. In particular, learning cause brain cells (neurons) to branch their dendrites, connect dendrites at synapses, and strengthen synapses. In short, all learning involves rewiring of the brain.

  2. Learning is a natural process that human excel at. If learning seems hard or boring or undesirable, this is because the learner is not using the natural process.

  3. The effectiveness of learning is profoundly influenced by many factors: emotions and feelings, culture, environment, background, and so on.

  4. Rewards based learning is when organisms repeat behaviors that they are rewarded for and then reduce behaviors that they are punished for.

  5. Learning can and should provide high positive payoffs in both the short and long term. A payoff refers to the net rewards you get minus the drawbacks taken holistically.

  6. Learning involves the learner progressively reaching subgoals. Teaching involves the same thing with the teacher guiding the learner.

Framework

  1. Goals: Describe the knowledge and the performance that the learner will have after they are done learning.

Repetitions: Take the following actions in a cyclic fashion until the goals reached.

  1. Analysis: Break the goal down into right sized subgoal. Select the most worthwhile subgoal to pursue next.

  2. Research: Get good information that equips the learner to reach the current subgoal. Ensure that the learner figures this information out.

  3. Application. Systematically apply the information in the real world using empowering fundamentals (imitation, rewards, … )

  4. Results: The outcomes that arise from the actions.

  5. Actions: The things that actors do to create the results.

  6. Rewards: A reward is anything that tends to cause an actor (person or group) to want to repeat an action.

    1. Positive affect: satisfaction, appreciation, joy, confidence, drive, peace-of-mind, and so on.
    2. Social rewards: connections, relationships, bonding, love, and such.
    3. External rewards: status, power, financial rewards, and such

  7. Drawbacks: A drawback is anything that tends to cause an actor (person or group) to not want to take an action or repeat an action.

    1. Negative affect: frustration, anxiety, fear, boredom, feeling overwhelmed, and such.
    2. Time, cost, effort, hassles, and such.
    3. Adverse social consequences: ridicule, being ostracized,

Brain Changes (Neuroplasticity)

Learning always causes brain changes.

All learning involves strengthening of the connections between the neurons of the brains. These changes require many repetitions of experiences. This is why learning takes a long time and a significant amount of effort. For example, no one learns critical thinking, piano, accounting, or similar without a lot of effort spread out over years of time.

The property of the brain that causes it to change is response to experiences is called neuroplasticity. This process of brain changes is also called neuroplasticity.

I conceptualize neuroplasticity as “rewiring the brain” because this is exactly what it is: changing the electrical connections between the brain cells.

Performance

Performance is the capability to effectively accomplish a task, such as solving a problem, balancing a chemical equation, starting a business, baking a pie, selling a product, executing a basketball free throw, conducting a meeting, or achieving a specific goal.

Performance is developed in the brain through repetitions. For example, people have to practice a skill, like solving an algebra problem or serving a tennis ball, over and over until the skill is easy to do and basically automatic.

Knowledge

Knowledge refers to good information that is stored in the learner’s brain in their long term memory (LTM).

Good information—aka, high-quality information—is defined by seven integrated criteria: super-useful, true, accurate, easy-to-understand, complete, well-organized, and justified.

Knowledge can be declarative or non-declarative. When the information is declarative, the person can teach it, explain it, answer questions about it, apply it, and so on. When the information is non-declarative, the person cannot put it into words and may not even be aware that this information is stored in their brain.

Knowledge is built into the brains long-term memory through repetition, chunking, and other techniques.

Improvement

The end result of learning is an improvement.

  1. Performance Improvement: The learner can do something better. Here are some examples:
    1. Run better meetings as measured by
      1. Better results
      2. Less meeting time. Less prep time.
      3. More enjoyment for the attendees.
    2. Build better websites with less cost and less time.
    3. Communicate more effectively and do this with more enjoyment and less work.
    4. Become better at riding a mountain bike on technical terrain.
  2. Knowledge Improvement: The learner has improved the information that they have stored in their brain as measured by
    1. More accurate
    2. More in depth; more complete
    3. More connections and relationships and such.
    4. More organized.
    5. Improved abilities to apply this information.
    6. [more criteria can be added …]

Rationale for Effective Learning

Here are some reasons why it is worthwhile to be good at learning.

  1. Be confident that you can learn anything. It feels great to figure something out, especially things that are hard like computer programming, engineering, playing the guitar, managing, and so on.

  2. Become skilled and knowledgeable at anything you want: skiing, cooking, statistics, accounting, or what ever.

  3. Solve any problem or reach any goal you choose by learning and applying the topics needed for this endeavor.

  4. Maximize your effectiveness as a teacher. This is important for multiple roles: parenting, managing, leading, coaching, mentoring, classroom-teaching, and so forth.

Effective Learning (How To)

To learn effectively, use the research-based method called “Deliberate Practice (DP)”

Here is the essence of DP:

  1. Goal State: Describe the conditions that will exist after the learner is done with their learning.

    • Performance: Describe what the learner be able to do skillfully.
    • Knowledge: Describe the main ideas that the learner will be able to explain, apply, teach, remember, and such.

  2. Subgoals: Break the goal state down into subgoals that are appropriate for the learner. To reach subgoals, engage in practice with feedback (PwF) cycles. Each cycle involves these actions.

    1. Good Information: Get high-quality information relevant to reaching the subgoal. Figure it out. Document it in your own words.

    2. Application: Apply the information in the real world while striving to do something useful. Be purposeful in your methods. Make mistakes. Get feedback. Imitate skilled people. Seek intrinsic rewards and shun drawbacks. Have fun. Struggle. Be persistent and have abundant patience.

    3. Reflective Thinking: Regularly, look back at your experiences and write down three things:

      1. Strengths: List about 3 actions that you can and will repeat in the future and that helped you improve your knowledge or your skill.

      2. Improvements: Select 1 -2 concerns that you had. For action, come up with an action that you will take starting right now that will lessen or eliminate this concern.

      3. Insights: Select 0-3 facts that come to you. Note: strengths and improvements describe actions, whereas insight are declarative sentences that are true for you and perhaps for everyone.

graph TD
A(Goal State) --> B(Subgoals) 
B --> C(Information)
C --> D["Application/Feedback/Rewards"] 
D --> E[Reflective Thinking] 
E --> B

Summary

Learning is the process of changing the neural connections in the brain such that the learner improves their knowledge or their performance.

Performance is the ability to do a worthwhile task well.

Knowledge is high-quality information that is stored in long term memory of the brain.

Learning itself is caused by repetitions of experience. An effective way to do this use the method called “Deliberate Practice.”

At its core, Deliberate Practice involves three things:

  1. Knowledge Building: Getting good information, making this meaningful, and writing it down for future reference.

  2. Application: Systematically applying the information in the real world while attempting to do something useful. Making mistakes, getting stuck, persisting, and so on. Getting feedback. Imitating people what are skilled and knowledgable. Amplifying rewards and driving down drawbacks.

  3. Reflective Practice: Think back at your experiences and writing down three things (strengths, improvements, and insight) such that you grow your performance and knowledge.

    Strengths
    A strength is an action you took and will repeat because it is useful.
    Improvements
    An improvement is an action that you will take starting right now that will lessen or eliminate a concern.
    Insight
    An insight is a statement of truth.