T: How we learn - the 3 phases of the learning process

Hello!

I am Ivana from Online Språkcafé. Welcome to our YouTube channel!

Online Språkcafé is an online education platform. We organize Swedish and English språkcafés. The språkcafés are free, and you are very welcome to join us.

You can visit us at onlinesprakcafe.com.

On our website you can also find the transcript of this video.

I have also prepared some exercises, so you can check how much you understood and memorized.

If you would like to watch this video in Swedish, please, visit our Swedish YouTube channel.

The links are in the video description.

What is the video about?

In this video I will talk about how we learn. In other words, about the learning process, about its basic structure and what happens in each of its phases.

Because if you're on this YouTube channel, you are probably learning a language, so I think it is good to understand this process to avoid mistakes that can lead to frustration and demotivation.

3 phases of the learning process

In my experience, as a student and a teacher, the learning process should follow the same basic pattern, regardless of what is being learned or who is learning.

So, whether you are learning math, dance, or a new language, or whether the person learning is Peter, Jane, or John, the learning process should always consist of these three phases: theory, practice, and reality.

And why do I think it is important to emphasize this? Because more often than not one of these phases is skipped, making the learning process incomplete and our learning journey more difficult and less effective.

So, in this video I want to show how the brain interacts with its environment during each of these phases, and why they form a logical whole that should be respected.

Theory

In the first phase called theory, we feed our brain with information. Just like we would feed a child.

And this can be done in different ways, by taking lessons, reading books or using a digital platform. Or in some other way.

However, regardless of the tool we use, the purpose is always the same: our brain needs to get to know the area we want it to be good at in the future.

This is a slow phase where we should have time to soak up the information, like a sponge.

Because our main goal here is to understand and memorize, or in other words, to store the information, just like in a storage room.

Why is it important to understand the information we learn? Because it is much easier to memorize it then.

And also, if we memorize information that we do not understand, the memory will not last as long.

So, when we learn, we should try to understand, and when we teach, we should try to explain well.

The theory phase often requires repeating the process until we are sure that the information is indeed stored in our brain, so after the lesson we may need to study more on our own.

Why don't we simply create such lessons in our education systems where it would be possible to understand and memorize everything during the lesson?

Because such a lesson would take much longer, which would require more resources, and besides, this process is very individual. We need different approaches and it takes different amounts of time for each of us to understand and master the same lesson.

So in my opinion, a good teacher should provide a structure for the lesson, like a map, and then students should complete the process individually. And that requires a variety of high-quality educational tools, which unfortunately are mostly unavailable. But that's another topic that I hope to do a video on in the future.

Every good theory lesson should include simple exercises that reinforce understanding and retention of information.

So, for example, if we are learning Swedish, a teacher should first present a certain grammar rule, then show it with an example, and then let us try it ourselves with a few more examples.

And here come some of the most common mistakes made when it comes to learning process. First, not all theory lessons have this mini-practice part. Second, even if they do, it counts as real practice, and that is not true.

Real practice takes time, enough time so that after it you feel comfortable testing your knowledge in real life. Second, the practice phase should resemble reality as much as possible, but without its dangerous risks.

Therefore, a few exercises from a book simply won’t do the job.

Practice

Now let's look more at the practice phase.

The point of the practice phase is to give our brain a chance to play with information that we have previously stored in it.

To make the stored information truly useful, our brain needs to take it off the shelves and start using it as it sees fit.

While doing this, our brain will connect the new information to our knowledge network.

Our knowledge network is the huge information network that consists of everything we know so far. And no information can become truly usable unless it becomes part of our knowledge network. So, we won't be using new information isolated, but rather in the context of all our prior knowledge.

In this phase, our brain will inevitably make mistakes, so we should be prepared for that and focus on continuing, because our brain will also get better and better over time.

Sometimes our improvement is not so obvious to us. That is why we need the feedback from our colleagues and teachers.

And it also helps to have some measurable goals.

For example, when I started with språkcafés, I set a goal to be able to speak Swedish for four hours at a time instead of two because my brain often got tired in the beginning.

But why do we need the practice phase – why can't we continue to develop our theoretical knowledge directly in reality?

Because going straight to the unpredictable reality could lead to us hurting ourselves or someone else. For example, conveying incorrect information in a workplace has significantly more serious consequences than doing the same thing at a språkcafé.

Therefore, in order to practice, we need a playground, just like children do to prepare for life.

We need a place that resembles reality as much as possible but is also safe enough so that our mistakes don't lead to serious bad consequences.

However, the practice phase is often organized in a wrong way. One of the examples is during the so-called shadowing, which means that a student follows a working person at their workplace.

The problem is that the students often only get to watch what someone else is doing. And that is not practice. It is still theory, just in the form of a demonstration instead of a lecture.

For it to be real practice, the student should work as independently as possible and the teacher should only supervise.

And I agree, that is not easy to organize, one needs resources to create such safe training environments and well-trained educators. But it is necessary. Without it, we will have an expensive education that is ultimately ineffective.

Reality

And finally, we come to the reality phase. We are now ready to use the information that has newly become part of our knowledge network in real life.

This phase will show us what no book or playground could, because reality always gives us the most up-to-date version of life.

Using the new information in real life will connect it even more to our knowledge network and update its connections.

And yes, we will still make mistakes in this phase, but much fewer than we would have made without the practice phase.

Also, knowing that we will face reality, for example, that we will be playing piano in front of an audience, will make us more serious and responsible while preparing for it.

And of course, reality is a teacher for life. Performing in reality gives us the chance for lifelong learning and improvement.

The formal education is just the beginning of the learning process, a kind of starter kit that enables real learning in the real world. For example, a doctor will continue to learn much while working with patients.

But besides teaching us, reality will also give us feedback on how well we did in our studies. Maybe we need to go back to theory, or maybe we need to practice more.

A good education system should always be in line with reality and therefore rely heavily on feedback.

And the best source of information in that sense is former students who are now in the workforce.

So, if someone studied medicine, their medical school should ask them in what ways they think the school prepared them well for the job, and in what ways it was lacking.

However, education systems are often completely disconnected from reality, and what and how they teach is often no longer relevant or is based purely on imagination of the so-called education experts working in it.

Mix

And in the end, a good learning process should be a mixed staircase of all three phases.

This means that we should not learn all the theory first, then practice and finally go to reality.

It should be a very well-planned mix of the three, starting with theory and gradually adding practice, and then reality in the more advanced stages.

That is what education systems are for. To design that process for us. Or at least they should be.

Review

Before the end of our video, we will briefly review what we talked about in it.

The basic structure of the learning process should always be the same, regardless of what is being learned or who is learning, and it consists of these three phases: theory, practice, and reality.

In the theory phase, we feed our brain with information, which then stores it, in other words, memorizes it. If we understand the information, it is much easier for us to memorize it. And adding some practice during theory lessons helps us better understand and memorize the information.

In the practice stage, we play with the information, that is, our brain uses new information in a safe environment and connects it to its knowledge network. This is what makes the new information truly usable.

In this phase, students should be active, actually doing things and not just watching someone do them, and their teacher's role is only to supervise.

And finally, using new information in real life will further strengthen and update its placement in our knowledge network. Reality will also motivate us to take the learning process seriously, as well as give us feedback on how well we did during it.

All three phases form a whole whose basic structure should not be disrupted, although the details of each phase and their length may vary from person to person, and from subject to subject.

And finally, a good learning process should be a mixed staircase of all three elements.

And with this we conclude our video on the basics of the learning process.

What are your experiences with learning?

You can write your comments and questions in the comment section below, so we can address them in some of our future videos.

And don't forget to solve our exercises related to this video to see how much you have understood and memorized.

If you want to watch the Swedish version of this video, please, visit our Swedish YouTube channel.

The links are in the video description.

Have a nice day! See you next time!