The brain - making the most of it and learning easily! Part I

Approximate reading time: 1m 58s

Thus, when developing any learning systems, professionals try to engage and improve the concentration and long-term memory of their students as much as possible.

To use our brain to its full capacity, we need to understand how it functions and what creative approaches we can apply to optimize educational pursuits. Specific learning theories deal with this very detail, which is widely used by those working in the field of training.

The key to successful application of knowledge about the structure and function of the brain lies in correct judgment. We need to think extremely carefully about the strengths and weaknesses of the individual and what they need from the training process. It also matters in which field we are developing, what qualities are needed for our profession and how we will apply what we have learned in our daily lives. The right form and style of learning for everyone is a guarantee of one hundred percent success.

According to theories based on research of our brain, learning is an active process in which we are put in different situations with a creative outcome. Learners are subjected to everyday case studies but are pushed to think of solutions outside the box, often stepping outside their comfort zone.

In the learning process, feedback and minor conflict problem solving has a beneficial impact on the learning of the material. Learners make associations with knowledge and skills they already possess. In this way, they build new patterns of thinking, and therefore new associations. The use of analogies, simulations, metaphors, jokes, stories, examples and various interactive techniques is a key challenge for the 'grey matter'.

Our brains want fun and engaging activities that are focused without unnecessary additives. Personal enrichment is at hand when we give ourselves time to make sense of and process the incoming information. Just as sleep is needed to improve our overall well-being and live a fulfilling life.

In order to be sure of adequate training it is good to have feedback through questionnaires before and after the training. Pre-training questions can be sent out a week or two in advance and include tentative topics to improve the training material and process itself. The post-training questionnaire is another opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the activity.

It is impossible to incorporate all available research on the human brain into one training system. The complexity of this most ingenious part of the human body is vast. Yet we must make the most of its possibilities.

Recent decades have been known to mankind as an exciting era for neuroscience (a life science that deals with the anatomy, physiology, and biology of nerves related to behavior and learning) and cognitive research (related to factual data and knowledge) into the composition of the brain and how it functions. Advances in this research reveal incredible insights into how the human brain develops, how it thinks, how it learns, and how it stores information. We can also draw information from this research to stimulate and preserve an individual's motivation. The role of factors such as gender, age, emotions, and environment in unraveling our reactions and thinking is regularly examined.

Source: The Creative Training Idea Book, Inspired Tips and Techniques for Engaging and Effective Learning, ROBERT W. LUCAS.