This post originally appeared on theCrew blog.
Here are six things you should know about the brains learning systems.
A perfect example of this is an experiment where54 wine aficionados were asked to taste wine samples.
Vision is such a big part of how we interpret the world that it can overwhelm our other senses.
Another surprising finding about vision is thatwe treat text as images.
As you read this paragraph, your brain is interpreting each letter as an image.
More than just static visuals,we pay special attention to anything we see thats moving.
So pictures and animations are your best friends when it comes to learning.
Action:How to put your brains visual proclivity to use?
Find or make flash cards with images on them.
Add doodles, photos, or pictures from magazines and newspapers to your notes.
Use colors and diagrams to illustrate new concepts you learn.
One way to avoid being overwhelmed is to keep referring back to the big picture.
I reada metaphor about this conceptonce that I loved.
Naps can improve learning just like a full night of sleep can.
Sleepingbeforeyou learn can also be beneficial.
Action:Try practicing your new skillor reading about itbefore going to bed or taking a nap.
When you wake up, write some notes on what you remember from your last study session.
Sleep Deprivation Significantly Reduces Your Ability to Learn New Information
Sleep deprivation is a scary thing.
Sleep deprivationmakes us play it safeby avoiding risks and leaning on old habits.
Action:Forget all-nighters.
Save practice and study sessions for days when youre alert and well-rested.
And definitely avoid sleep deprivation right after learning something new.
Positively altering a students mindset can be effectively achieved through rather simple instructions, he said.
Action:Keep a notebook or blog where you write about what youve learned.
Write about each new concept you learn as if its a lesson for others.
When you practice or focus on learning one particular thing over and over, thats block practice.
Schmidt advocates a different approach to learning called interleaving, which mixes up the information or skills you practice.
Another UCLA researcher, Bob Bjork, studies interleaving in his psychology lab.
Clearly we have some work to do to understand what helps us learn best.
Bjork believes interleaving works better because it plays into our natural abilitiesto recognize patterns and outliers.
Action:When youre learning or practicing a new technique, practice it interleaved with other techniques.
As Bob Bjork says, we all need to become smarter learners.
Shes the co-founder of Melbourne startup Hello Code, an iOS developer, and a writer.
Image byTeddyandMia(Shutterstock).
