In the last newsletter, I left you with a proposal, move away from being information gatherers and become knowledge seekers and creators. This transition is made easier with learning strategies that you can employ through your own learning journey.
Let’s look at different levels of learning (Remember Bloom’s?) and what can we do to reinforce and strengthen our learning at that level.
Level 1: Remember
At this stage the expectation is only to know or remember the facts.
For example: Remember dates for historical events, or the formula for energy and mass, or the name of an exercise, a chord (if you were learning to play a musical instrument).
The best learning strategy? Quizzes, mnemonic devices or simply close your eyes and try to retrieve it from memory.
All of these will help you remember things.
Unfortunately, the Indian schooling system most of the times end at remembering but for effective learning once we remember details, we need to move to the next level.
Level 2: Understand
How is this different from remembering? When you remember something you only know the what, not the why.
For example: Maybe you remember that Red, Blue, Yellow are primary colours or that there are actually 2 sets of primary colours - Additive and Subtractive (sidebar: I didn’t know this either!) but only if you can explain it to someone- what does primary stand for, why it matters, what to do with this- do you yourself truly understand this.
And that is also one of the best strategies for this level.
Show your thinking- Can you write, draw, record or speak about this topic? Can you explain it to someone, someone younger than you, your peer or someone older than you?
If you can, you have mastered this level and it’s time to move onto next!
Level 3: Apply
We hear so much about this in the education circles- application of learning. What does it truly mean? And how is it different than creation? When you are applying you are carrying out given steps or procedures.
For example: performing a lab test, watching a walkthrough video of adobe photoshop and following the same.
This is procedural- the how. (sidebar: We spoke about What-Why-How in the context of Designing our own Learning Journey as well.)
Learning strategy at this level is all about execution in different contexts. Different Contexts- being the key word here.
If you learnt how to use a tool in photoshop or the function of Paste Special in MS-Excel, can you execute it in different scenarios? Can you use Paste Special when working on a report or while crunching numbers?
The principle at this stage is the same as Nike- Just do it!
Level 4&5: Analyse and Evaluate
Many people get confused about Level 4 and Level 5. They sound similar- Analyse (4) and Evaluate (5), but the differentiating element actually lies in how you define these terms.
Analyse: examine something methodically
Evaluate: form the idea of the amount, number or value of
When you are analysing something, you are not making a judgement on its worth.
You could analyse a poem on its rhythm, it’s rhyming scheme, on the use of metaphors and imagery, on the subject of the poem but when you evaluate it, you are forming an idea, an opinion how worthy is this poem to be read- Is this a literary masterpiece or something deserving of being in a greeting card?
Learning Strategies at the analysis level look like deconstructing or reverse engineering something.
For Example: When I read and analyse a poem, I take it apart - I look at the rhyming scheme, then I focus on the setting - where is this poem located, is the poet an impartial observer or someone deep within the lines, what does the use of metaphor tell me about the poem, the subject and the poet itself.
Even in my work, I have used deconstruction as an effective method of understanding why a product was built that way. I analyse the parts of an App or a website to figure out what is going on.
What about evaluation?
Evaluation is the given next step. The key learning strategy here is to give rationales.
You have analysed and formed an opinion, can you give 3 reasons for that opinion. Can you debate on this? Can you be a part of a group discussion? Can you critique it?
It’s said- “Don’t dislike something you don’t understand.”
As per me, this saying subsumes all the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy from remembering to evaluate.
Level 6: Create
The final step, the creative breakthrough. Write, sketch, ideate, make a song, put together a dance routine, do a play!
But how do you learn from this?
By doing it and reflecting on the process and then doing it all over again.
That is the key learning strategy here- create and reflect and then go back adjust and create again. It’s Design Thinking in Action, in your life.
Every writer, teacher, artist does the same.That’s how you hone your craft.
A great thing about Bloom’s is - it’s almost a universal cognitive tool.
I have used this in my work as a teacher, as a Curriculum Designer, to train teachers and as well to design a Hackathon.
And I use it all the time for my own learning.
In the next newsletter, we will move from cognitive to metacognitive-thinking about thinking.
That’s it from my end for today. Use these strategies to create great learning experiences for yourself.
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Keep Learning!
Adios,
Avni