WHAT IS LEARNING
What is ‘learning’?                                           
We have looked at how intelligence can be fostered though a learning process, but what is ‘learning’?

Learning as process

Learning is clearly more than just intelligence or study skills. It is, rather, a multi-faceted process, involving such factors as:
each individual learner
 and his or her learning history, knowledge, skills, ambitions, interest, attitude, motivation and current circumstances
the current learning environment, including teaching methods, resources, materials, other students as well as the physical environment
the content and expected outcomes of the learning being undertaken
and the interactions between these.

Five learning dimensions
Many different routes can be followed to arrive at the point where learning has taken place. These vary in level of enjoyment and active engagement, and we may not even be aware that learning has taken place. Below are five dimension along which learning activity can vary.

Five dimension of learning
  1. Conscious or unconscious
  2. With different levels of attention
  3. Via different sense sequences
  4. Be detail or by the whole picture
  5. By fast track or by the scenic route
1             Conscious or unconscious
Conscious learning
Learning is conscious when we aware that we are learning as when we set out to memorize a poem or an equation, or when we recognize that we have understood new material. Typical methods of learning consciously are:
repeating something
writing it out
checking that we have remembered it
telling someone else what we know
Unconscious learning
We are aware of a small part only of information taken in by the senses, which the brain processes. Learning is unconscious when we are unaware of it happening. Occasionally, unconscious learning may emerge into consciousness later, as when we feel we ‘just know’ something we didn’t realize we had learnt. You may have experienced suddenly recognizing which way to go on an unfamiliar car journey, or surprising yourself by answering a question without thinking, and then wondering, ‘How did I know that?’

2             With different levels of attention
Our level of attention may vary, depending on:
our mental or physical state of learning
the way information is presented to us
whether the material is completely new.
As we saw from the example of Einstein and the sunbeam ,learning can take place in a relaxed, aware state – it does not always require effort and concentration. You will be able to recall many occasions when you tried hard to remember something but forgot it quickly, while remembering easily something to which you had paid little attention, such as an advertisement or song.

 
 
3             Via different sense sequences
Each of us has our own preferred sequences for seeing, hearing, speaking, writing, and manipulating information in order to learn it.
 

Activity :               Find your preferred sense sequences
Identify some material that you need to learn – it could be a list of words you have difficulty spelling or course work that you are revising for an exam. Experiment with different sense sequences and motor movements to see which work bests for you when learning that material.

Three examples
1             Look at it (sight); say it aloud (sound); write it (sight/motor); check what you’ve written (sight and/or sound).
2             Draaw it; ook at it; say it aloud; write it; check what you’ve written.
3             Say it; record it; listen to it; repeat it; write it; check what you ‘ve written.

4             By detail or by the whole picture
Some people learn best when they see the overall picture first; they are confused or overwhelmed by too much detail early on. Others learn best thorough building up  details, allowing the hwole picture to emerge. This whole picture may be meaningless to them until they have a flavor of the specific details.

5             By fast track or by the scenic route
Some people find efficient ‘motorway routes’, learning exactly what they need and only that. Others take scenic routes, gathering material which amy not be essential but which makes the learning more interesting. The scenic route can lead to deeper processing, and can be a richer experience. However, it can also generate a lot of information that is not essential to the task in hand. Which way is appropriate depends on what you have to learn, why you are learning it, and how long you have in which to learn it.
Learning across the dimensions
At any one time, we occupy different positions along each of these five dimensions, depending on information from the environment and according to our needs and focus. It is easier to design effective study strategies when you are conscious of these dimensions and can use them to advantage.
 
      
Six conditions for learning
For learning to occur at all, and for us then to know that the learning is complete, we need :
New experiences
Foundation
Rehearsal
Processing
Understanding
Demonstration

1             New experiences
In order to learn, we need to be exposed to novelty: to new ideas, new information, new situations, new challenges, new emotions.
Imagine, for example is an opportunity to learn – based on curiosity, a desire to know, a wish to see how everything fits together. Our brains try to fit new information into what we already know: to assimilate it. If that is not possible, the brain adapts previous knowledge to accommodate the new data.                              
2             Learning foundations
Learning is easier if it builds on earlier learning – if it can use similar or related experiences as a foundation to ‘make sense’ of new information. Thus, if we look at the object in the diagram and are asked what we know about it, we can only describe what we see.
However, if we are told it is fruit, we know how to react to it, what to expect from it: it can be eaten, it will probably be sweet; it is unlikely to move, make a noise, attack us, or want to go for a walk. If, on the other hand, we are told it is an animal or a musical instrument, we will automatically call upon different sets of knowledge. Our knowledge provides models (or schemata) to help us to make sense of the world.
The same is true of academic learning. For example, it is easier to read when we have a good vocabulary. If we need to keep looking up words in the dictionary, our attention to what we are reading is continually interrupted – we lose the flow, which affects our comprehension. We also have to try to make sense of what we are reading, whilst simultaneously remembering the meaning of the new words and fitting it all together. This leads to overload, and is often the point where people feel they ‘can’t learn’. In reality, they are learning a great deal – but too much at once.
Your brain will take time to assimilate new information, and may need to see how it all fits together, as well as what all the parts are individually, before it feels it ‘knows’ what it is taking in. People who seem to learn things very quickly may simply have good foundations of information, and practice in similar problems      

3             Rehearsal
Academic learning is similar to learning physical activities, such as dance or football. We generally need to repeat the action or the new information several times to take it in, and we need to come back to it or practice. Otherwise, we become ‘rusty’ and forget. This is just as true or writing essays or reading academic books as it is of football, drawing, playing a violin or making a soufflé.
If you think back to what you learnt at school, you will probably be aware of a vague overall knowledge of some subjects even though the details may seem haze. You would learn these subjects more quickly a second time around. Just glancing again at some old schoolbacks may bring whole areas of knowledge flooding back.

4             Processing new information
               Superficial or ‘surface’ processing
We may process new information at a superficial level. For example, we just note and remember that Hannah does not feel pain, and then think no further about this. We may learn it by heart as a fact, like learning maths tables, or record it as an entry in our notebooks. Memory and recording are only part of learning, however. If we use only surface methods, we don’t develop a sense of the underlying structure or the significance of what we learn. This makes it more difficult to apply the new knowledge in other situations.
Deep processing – making sense of what you learn
Alternatively, we may try to make sense of Hannah’s experience, looking for explanation. We may ask ourselves questions to stimulate out thinking, exploring the problem from many angles. Perhaps Hannah is very good at exercising mind over matter? Maybe she has a neurological condition that prevents her from feeling pain? Maybe she does feel pain, but hides this?
We may also start to wonder what pain really is. How does it work – is it regulated by the brain chemicals in the body? Or our attitude? Or maybe the flame was different from the flames we are used to? Maybe the answer is not in Hannah but chemistry?
As you analyse the experience from different angles, raising new questions and experimenting with possible answers, you process at a deeper level.

5             Moving to another level of understanding
In order to understand a new phenomenon, such as what happens when Hannah’s hand is in the fire, we may have to change our previous views of the world. We may have thought that everybody would feel pain from fire.
When we realize that there are situations in which people don’t feel pain in quite the same wasy as others, we move to a different level of knowledge.
When we know why this occurs, we move to a deeper level of understanding.
When we appreciate how we came to hold our previous set of beliefs, and why we now hold a different set, we are learning at an even deeper level – understanding how knowledge is constructed, and how we come to know and understand at all.
When we learn in ths way we have to be prepared to open our minds to new ways of seeing and doing things, even to new ways of thinking about ourselves, looking at how we came to believe what we believe. This makes study exciting, and is one reason why so many students return to postgraduate study.

6             Demonstrating learning
We are not really sure of our knowledge until we have put it to the test – demonstrating to ourselves and others that we really do know it.
One way to testing our understanding of ne material is to put it to use. In some cases there may be a practical use, such as fixing a piece of machinery or producing a new dseign. In other cases, such as understanding how pain work, we can demonstrate learning by explaining it to other people. If we can do this
in writing, speech, diagram, or by practical demonstration
without checking the details as we do so
and in a way that is clear and makes sense to our audience,
then our thinking is also likely to be clear, and a stage in our learning is complete.
If we cannot demonstrate what we think we know, then our knowledge and understanding are likely to be incomplete. We may need to check back over what we have learnt. It may help:
to take a different angle on the issue
to use a different book
to see whether we missed a step earlier
 
 
 
 
 

Learning at university level
Some people think that memorizing ‘facts’ is all there is to learning. Certainly it is useful to have information readily available when you need it. For most courses, however, what counts is not how many facts you can fit into your answers, but how you use information.
You will be expected to demonstrate:
that you can evaluate and select what is relevant and important, and what can be omitted
that you know how ideas are linked and interconnected
that you have made sense of your course
that you can structure your ideas and knowledge to make a convincing argument.