learning-to-learn.md

Learning to Learn

Projected Time

About 90 minutes

• 45 minutes for Materials & Lesson
• 10 minutes for the Learning Style Quiz
• 10 minutes for the Growth Mindset Quiz
• 10 minutes for group activity
• 10 minutes for "Check for Understanding"

Prerequisites

• Expectations While at Techtonica

Learning styles represented

• See (videos and slides)
• Hear (videos and class discussion)
• Write (journal prompt to check for understanding)
• Do (take 2 quizzes)

Motivation

Techtonica is an intensive learning program whose format puts emphasis on participant-led learning, unlike a traditional classroom setting that emphasizes instructor-led learning. It's important that participants understand some common limiting beliefs about learning, and work to free themselves of these beliefs to be more successful at Techtonica. The tech industry is all about learning. When you open your mind to learn it gives you the freedom to work wherever you want because you learned the skills to get there! Companies like Google use the growth mindset to help their employees learn more and create cool products every day! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-71zdXCMU6A

Objectives

Participants will understand:

• Their own learning style(s)
• How to fix new information in their minds
• What the Growth Mindset is and how to practice it

Specific Things to Learn

• The 4 learning styles: Auditory, Visual, Tactile, Writing
• How to fix information
• The Pomodoro method
• What the growth mindset is ?

Materials

• Learning to Learn (video walkthrough of slides)
• Learning to Learn (slides)
• Learning How to Learn (video) - A TEDx video by Barbara Oakley, in which she shares how she changed her mindset.

Lesson

• Learning to learn(The mind is a muscle)

  • Learning Styles:
    • Most people use a combination of learning styles (e.g Seeing, Listening, Touching, Taking notes).
  • How to know, what is our learning style?
    • Fixing Information:
      • Understanding that something is important, but it's not enough on its own.
      • Hands-on practice truly helps you to grasp the concepts, it helps you to automate the knowledge which you've acquired.
      • Take breaks while learning or studying to alternate between focused and diffused mode.
      • Do not procrastinate the things, use the Pomodoro method- work for just 20 minutes on something you don’t want to do, then take a break
      • Test yourself during the studying process by looking away and trying to recall what you just studied.
      • Revisit topics that you've learned so far, repetition helps fix the material in your mind.

• Go through the links available in the material section for more details.

Common Mistakes / Misconceptions

• "I only have one learning style." Most people make use of several learning styles. Sometimes they rely heavily on one over others.
• "I'm not good at learning new things because I didn't get good grades in school." Ability to learn and grades earned in school are not strongly correlated. Grades reflect other things in addition to learning (persistence, ability to obtain help, ability to spend time on assignments, support at home, etc.)
• "As long as I have a growth mindset, learning new things will be easy." A growth mindset allows you to be kinder to and more patient with yourself when learning new things. Learning new things is often quite challenging, regardless of your mindset.

Demonstration

Instructor will demonstrate:

• Setting a timer for the Pomodoro method

Group Activity

In a group, write down some positive, affirmative things to say to yourself that fall under the framework of the growth mindset.

Example: "I'm having difficulty absorbing this concept, but I have a lot of resources I can use to try coming at this from a different angle."

Independent Practice

Take the Learning Style Quiz

Take the Growth Mindset Self-Assessment

Check for Understanding

Participants write a self-reflective journal entry covering:

1. What they learned about themselves,
2. What from this lesson they felt challenged by,
3. What from this lesson they want to practice.

Supplemental Resources

• Growth Mindset (video) - This is summary of a book Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck, which depends on her research how do kids tackle with difficult problems.
• Learning to Learn by Sarah Drasner - It contains some useful tips which will help you to learn.
• The Power of Believing You Can Improve (video) - A TEDx video by Carol Dweck in which she explains how mindset can affect brain activity.