During their training, medical residents learn countless techniques, surgeries, and procedures which they’ll later use to save lives. Being able to remember these skills can quite literally be a matter of life and death. With this in mind, a 2006 research study took a class of surgical residents learning to suture arteries and split them into two groups. Each received the same study materials, but one group implemented a small change in how they studied them. And when tested one month later, this group performed the surgeries significantly better than the other residents.
Tokom svog obrazovanja medicinski stažisti uče brojne tehnike, operacije i postupke koje će kasnije koristiti kako bi spasili živote. Sposobnost pamćenja ovih veština doslovno može značiti razliku između života i smrti. Imajući ovo na umu, istraživanje iz 2006. je uzelo grupu hirurških stažista koji su učili kako da šiju arterije i podelilo ih u dve grupe. Svaka grupa je dobila isti materijal za učenje, ali jedna grupa je primenila malu promenu u načinu učenja. I kada su ih testirali mesec dana kasnije, ova grupa je izvodila operacije znatno bolje od stažista iz druge grupe.
We’ll discuss the secret to that group’s success, along with two other highly effective study techniques which can be applied both in and out of the classroom. But to understand why these methods work, let's first unpack how the brain learns and stores information.
Razgovaraćemo o tajni uspeha te grupe, kao i o još dve visoko efikasne tehnike učenja koje se mogu primeniti kako unutar tako i van učionice. Međutim, da bismo razumeli zašto ove metode funkcionišu, hajde prvo da razmotrimo kako mozak uči i skladišti informacije.
Say you're trying to memorize the anatomy of the heart. When you’re introduced to a new concept, the memory is temporarily encoded in groups of neurons in a brain area called the hippocampus.
Recimo da pokušavate da zapamtite anatomiju srca. Kada vam je predstavljen novi koncept, sećanje se privremeno skladišti u grupama neurona u delu mozga koji se zove hipokampus.
As you continue to learn about workings of the heart in class or study its chambers for an exam, you reactivate these same neurons. This repeated firing strengthens the connections between the cells, stabilizing the memory. Gradually, the knowledge of heart anatomy is stored long-term, which involves another brain area known as the neocortex. How information is transferred from short-term to long-term storage is still not completely understood, but it’s thought to happen in between study sessions and perhaps most crucially during sleep. Here the new knowledge is integrated with other related concepts you already know, such as how to measure heart rate, or the anatomy of other organs.
Dodatnim učenjem o radu srca na časovima ili proučavanjem njegovih komora za ispit ponovo aktivirate iste neurone. Ovo ponovno aktiviranje jača veze između ćelija stabilizujući memoriju. Postepeno, znanje o anatomiji srca počinje da se čuva dugoročno, što uključuje još jedno područje mozga poznato kao neokorteks. Kako se informacije prenose sa kratkoročnog u dugoročno skladištenje nije još u potpunosti razjašnjeno, ali se smatra da se to dešava između sesija učenja i to možda najintenzivnije tokom sna. Ovde se novo znanje integriše sa drugim povezanim konceptima koje već znate, kao što je način merenja pulsa ili anatomija drugih organa.
And the process doesn’t end there. Each time you recall heart anatomy, you reactivate the long-term memory, which makes it susceptible to change. The knowledge can be updated, strengthened, and reintegrated with other pieces of information. This is where our first study technique comes in.
Proces ne staje ovde. Svaki put kada se setite anatomije srca, aktivirate dugoročno sećanje, što ga čini podložnim promeni. Znanje može biti ažurirano, ojačano i reintegrisano sa drugim informacijama. Ovde dolazi do izražaja naša prva tehnika učenja.
Testing yourself with flashcards and quizzes forces you to actively retrieve knowledge, which updates and strengthens the memory. Students often prefer other study methods, like rereading textbooks and highlighting notes. But these practices can generate a false sense of competence, since the information is right in front of you. Testing yourself, however, allows you to more accurately gauge what you actually know.
Testirajući sebe pomoću kartica sa pitanjima i kvizovima prisiljavate se da aktivno povratite znanje, što ažurira i jača sećanje. Studenti često više vole druge metode učenja, kao što su ponovno čitanje udžbenika i podvlačenje beleški. Ali ove navike mogu stvoriti lažan osećaj kompetentnosti jer su informacije pravo pred vama. Testiranje sebe, međutim, omogućava vam da tačnije procenite šta zapravo znate.
But what if, while doing this, you can’t remember the answers? Not to worry— making mistakes can actually improve learning in the long term. It’s theorized that as you rack your brain for the answer, you activate relevant pieces of knowledge. Then, when the correct answer is later revealed, the brain can better integrate this information with what you already know.
A šta se desi ako ne možete da se setite odgovora dok se testirate? Ne brinite- pravljenje grešaka zapravo poboljšava učenje na dugoročnom planu. Smatra se da, dok preturate po glavi u potrazi za odgovorom aktivirate relevantne delove znanja. Na kraju, kada tačan odgovor bude otkriven mozak može bolje da integriše ovu informaciju sa onim što već znate.
Our second technique builds on the first. When using flashcards to study, it's best to mix the deck with multiple subjects. Interleaving, or mixing the concepts you focus on in a single session, can lead to better retention than practicing a single skill or topic at a time. One hypothesis of why this works is that, similar to testing, cycling through different subjects forces your brain to temporarily forget, then retrieve information, further strengthening the memory. You may also find connections across the topics, and better understand their differences.
Druga tehnika učenja se nadograđuje na prvu. Kada koristite kartice sa pitanjima, dobro je pomešati špilove sa različitim temama. Preplitanje ili mešanje koncepata na koje se fokusirate u jednoj sesiji, može dovesti do boljeg pamćenja nego vežbanje jedne veštine ili teme odjednom. Jedna hipoteza zašto ovo funkcioniše je što, slično testiranju, prebacivanje sa jedne teme na drugu prisiljava mozak da privremeno zaboravi, a zatim povrati informacije, dodatno jačajući memoriju. Takođe možete pronaći veze između tema i bolje razumeti njihove razlike.
Now that you know how and what to study, our final technique concerns when. Spacing your review across multiple days allows for rest and sleep between sessions. While “offline,” the brain is actively at work, storing and integrating knowledge in the neocortex. So while cramming the night before the exam may seem logical— after all, won’t the material be fresh in your mind?— the information won’t stick around for the long term. This brings us back to our medical residents. Both groups studied the surgery for the same amount of time. Yet one group’s training was crammed in a single day, while the other more successful group’s training was spread over four weeks.
Sada kada znate kako i šta da učite, naša poslednja tehnika se odnosi na kada. Obnavljanjem gradiva tokom više dana omogućava odmor i san između sesija. Dok je "oflajn", mozak aktivno radi, skladišteći i integrišući znanje u neokorteksu. Dakle, iako bi navala na učenje noć pre ispita mogla delovati logično - na kraju krajeva, zar materijal neće biti svež u vašem umu? - informacije se neće zadržati u dugoročnom pamćenju. To nas vraća na naše medicinske stažiste. Oba tima su učila operaciju tokom istog vremenskog perioda. Ipak, obuka jedne grupe je sprovedena u jednom danu, dok je obuka druge uspešnije grupe bila raspoređena tokom četiri nedelje.
The reason all three of these study techniques work is because they’re designed with the brain in mind. They complement and reinforce the incredible way the brain works, sorting through and storing the abundance of information it’s fed day after day.
Razlog zašto sve tri tehnike učenja funkcionišu je zato što su osmišljene imajući mozak na umu. One dopunjuju i jačaju neverovatan način na koji mozak funkcioniše, sortirajući i skladišteći obilje informacija koje mu se svakodnevno serviraju.