TEOTWAWKIAIFF

Today, I would like to discuss a topic that all preppers need to know about. That topic is metacognition or how to learn. We have to do it all, or if we are lucky enough to have a group, learn enough skills for everyone to be able to cover all the bases.

Learning is different for everyone. My goal here is to provide some structure on how we acquire, retain, and apply knowledge. I will go over the different learning styles and the processes that can be used. A discussion on how to evaluate your individual learning process, so you can refine the process. I will include what works for me, but my brain is radically different from everyone else’s, so take what works for me with a grain of salt.

That last statement deserves a little additional explanation. I’ve mentioned before on this blog my rather unique experiances with the US educational system. To summarize, as a child I was “diagnosed” by my teachers as mentally challenged and stuffed into special educational classes. No diagnosis by a doctor, mind you, but by the teachers. I’m a space cadet, and because I was smarter than average, I daydreamed all day in school. I was bored out of my skull, not struggling. I spent the fourth grade drawing trucks (Peterbuilts and Kenworths were my favorite) because they determined I would never be able to do anything else for a career. Suffice to say, they were dead wrong. I spent my entire life learning on my own, and only paying lip service to the teachers.

Before we begin, we should discuss nutrition. The foundation of learning is having what your brain and body needs to be healthy. Sufficient rest is obviously going to help you learn. For your diet, it has been proven that the Omega-3 Fatty acids have a direct, beneficial effect on brain development and health. For you vegetarians out there I would suggest adding fish to your diet, or at the minimum fish oil capsules.

Here is where we get into the nuts and bolts of the learning process. Let us form a review process on how we learned, then from there we start to continually review and improve how we learn.  The review starts with the past, or the startign point. Then we look at the present. then we look at the subject matter itself and our relationship with it. finally, we are what we are doint right now: reviewing the process for improvement.

All knowledge begins with the past. What you knew before you started has a significant bearing on what you know now. In the past what methods did you prefer over others? Reading from a book, or experimentation? Learning on your own or with a study group? Instructor led classes or informal learn-as-you-go. Also, take a look at what you knew before you started.

Next, we move onto the present. How interested are you in this subject? What is competing for my attention. Do I have a due date for learning this information, such as an exam date or professional review? Are my circumstances lined up for success? What is inside or outside my control in my environment?

Now we go over the process we used to learn, and the subject matter.What sources of information were most helpful? Did I only use one source (textbook, youtube, etc.) or did I use many sources? As I studied, did you stop and review or summarize. Should you go slower or faster? Did you need to stop and evaluate through experimentation, or needed to stop and think over the material? Do you need to find a SME (subject matter expert) to help you retain the information?

And then the review process. What did you do right? What could you do better? Did your learning plan coincide with your strengths and weaknesses? What times of day were more efficient than others? Did you lose forward progress in your subject because you lacked foundational knowledge? Did you succeed? Did you celebrate your success? Did you follow though and “brush up” in order to keep long-term retention of the material.

You do not have to go through a exquisitely detailed, fifty-page written review to improve your learning process. If you try something new, then take a few minutes to review. The goal here is to learn more information with less time and effort. Using some time to improve the process is key for us to build those skill sets we will need. I also should point out that you will need to be able to pass on that knowledge to others, whether they are your children or another member of the group. Reviewing how that lesson went will allow you to improve the effectiveness of that transfer, allowing you more time to tend crops or whatever.

There are four styles of learning, and every person is at a different point on that line. these axises are

• Sensory vs. Intuitive
• Visual vs. Verbal
• Active vs. Reflective
• Sequential vs. Global

The first axis is the relationship between meaning and facts. Sensory learners prefer facts. Concrete, practical, and procedural information. Intuitive learners prefer conceptional and theoretical information, or the meaning.

Visual learners prefer graphs and diagrams. As apposed to Verbal learners that thrive when listening to lectures and podcasts.

Active learners prefer to manipulate objects and perform physical experiments. Reflective learners think things through and learn from analysis.

And finally, sequential learners prefer to have information presented in a linear, and orderly format, where Global learners prefer a holistic approach, where they start with the big picture and work down.

I’m going to do another article in the near future about notes, and information management. It’s one thing to learn how you learn, but a synergistic skill is how to manage the information you need. You cannot memorize everything, and collecting the supporting information into a format you can retain and build upon is a skill in itself.