As a teacher, parent or student, you might think of ways to make learning less boring and more enjoyable. It is one thing to attend classes, and another to comprehend what is being taught. The following tips can help both teachers and students to improve the learning experience.
Teach With Enthusiasm
For the teacher who wants to instil a love for learning in others, enthusiasm is essential. By their very presence, enthusiastic teachers tell students that they care about what they are teaching, and this value radiates through them with vitality. Not every parent or teacher bubble with enthusiasm. Wise students, therefore, try to be self-motivated, to view learning as their own responsibility. For learning to take place, there has to be zeal and energy involved, both from the teacher and the student.
Recognize That People Learn in Different Ways
No two minds are exactly alike; each has its own way of learning. What works well for one person may not work as well for another. For example, some people grasp and remember ideas better when they see pictures or diagrams. Others prefer the written word or the spoken word—better still, maybe a combination of these.
Learning styles and preferences take on a variety of forms—and not all people fit neatly into one category. Generally, there are four common types of learners: Visual learners understand better when they see, auditory learners understand what they hear, Kinesthetic learners, sometimes called tactile learners, learn through experiencing or doing things, while reading/writing learners prefer to learn through written words. Pinpointing how a child learns especially if they have a learning disability best can dramatically affect their ability to connect with the topics you’re teaching, as well as how they participate with the rest of the class.
Be Interested
Be absorbed in something, and you more readily learn it. When children study because they enjoy it, their learning is deeper, richer, and longer lasting. They are also more persistent, more creative, and more eager to do challenging work. Thus, for a student to get better at what he is learning, he has to develop an interest in it. And the teacher has to ensure that he captures the interest of the student from the beginning of every lesson. He has to capture the attention of the students and hold tight to it. If the student loses interest even for one second, they can get carried away, and all effort might be in vain.
Relate Learning to Life
When there is a direct connection between classroom learning and your practical experience, there is an electrical spark that turns on the light bulb of understanding. Using real-world examples and tackling real-world problems in the classroom can make learning more meaningful to students. And it can help spark excitement in gaining knowledge about important issues. Not only does it make the lesson more meaningful for students but they become properly engaged. They also become more aware of the choices they could make in society.
Try to Comprehend
When people try to understand something, they stimulate both their thinking ability and their memory. Do not depend on rote learning, or memorizing information based on repetition. Memorization isn’t the most effective way to learn, but it’s a method many students and teachers still use. Rote learning has its place, but it is no substitute for actual comprehension.
Concentrate
Concentration refers to the mental effort you direct toward whatever you’re working on or learning at the moment. It’s sometimes confused with attention span, but attention span refers to the length of time you can concentrate on something. Concentration is at the very heart of learning. It is so important that it has been called a fundamental prerequisite of intelligence and has even been equated with intelligence itself. Concentration can be taught. A key is to start with brief periods of study and then lengthen them incrementally.
Paraphrase
Paraphrasing is the process of restating an idea, statement, or text using one’s own words. It is a form of rewriting and can be used in various types of content. It’s also a common technique of re-expressing someone else’s idea in a different way while maintaining the same meaning. Paraphrasing is a necessary practice that helps people to understand the meaning of what they read. It is also a powerful tool for those who want to be more persuasive, as it helps them to make their point without sounding too repetitive. It can be used to articulate your thoughts and ideas more clearly, as well as help you come up with new insights and perspectives on an issue
Visualize
Vivid images last. Therefore, visualize material where possible. Mnemonic experts use this technique, often creating exaggerated or humorous mental pictures as a memory aid.
Review
Within 24 hours we can forget up to 80 percent of what we studied. By doing a brief review after a study session, then again a day, a week, a month, and even six months later, we vastly improve our recall, even raising it to near 100%.
