What is learning?
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”
-Mahatma Gandhi(*)
Most of us have the notion that learning is something that happens when we go to school, take courses, study for the exams and so on. The dictionary meaning of learning defines it as "the activity or process of gaining knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something".*
Well, it seems there is much more to 'learning' in the practical sense than just understanding or even 'gaining knowledge' in something.
'Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects'** is an online course from the University of California, San Diego that answers a lot of questions about what learning really is and what the best ways of learning are.
In the following posts, I will write about some topics that are covered in the course and provide some links/references that would be helpful in getting to know the different things that are related to learning. There are some very interesting techniques that would help us overcome procrastination, learn the useful effects of sleep in learning that has been actually verified by science, and so on.
What goes on in the brain when we learn something?:
There are billions of neurons(brain cells) in the brain and when we are learning something, electrical signals travel across neurons over and over. Eventually, the brain starts to create pathways or connections between those neurons so that the messages can travel easily. Thus, the more we practice something or use those pathways, the stronger the connection becomes and we learn and remember something well.
Here is an image of the neural pathway for vision:
References:
*“The good boatman: a portrait of Gandhi” from 1995
- * Merriam Webster's Dictionary, Learning (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learning)
- ** https://class.coursera.org/learning-003
- *** http://ysa.org.au/melbourne/2014/10/1659/
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”
-Mahatma Gandhi(*)
Most of us have the notion that learning is something that happens when we go to school, take courses, study for the exams and so on. The dictionary meaning of learning defines it as "the activity or process of gaining knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something".*
Well, it seems there is much more to 'learning' in the practical sense than just understanding or even 'gaining knowledge' in something.
'Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects'** is an online course from the University of California, San Diego that answers a lot of questions about what learning really is and what the best ways of learning are.
In the following posts, I will write about some topics that are covered in the course and provide some links/references that would be helpful in getting to know the different things that are related to learning. There are some very interesting techniques that would help us overcome procrastination, learn the useful effects of sleep in learning that has been actually verified by science, and so on.
What goes on in the brain when we learn something?:
There are billions of neurons(brain cells) in the brain and when we are learning something, electrical signals travel across neurons over and over. Eventually, the brain starts to create pathways or connections between those neurons so that the messages can travel easily. Thus, the more we practice something or use those pathways, the stronger the connection becomes and we learn and remember something well.
Here is an image of the neural pathway for vision:
 |
| Neural pathway for vision (Image source: http://ysa.org.au/melbourne/2014/10/1659/)*** |
References:
*“The good boatman: a portrait of Gandhi” from 1995
- * Merriam Webster's Dictionary, Learning (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/learning)
- ** https://class.coursera.org/learning-003
- *** http://ysa.org.au/melbourne/2014/10/1659/
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