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Our understanding of learning has made a leap forward in recent years, thanks in part to neuroscience. Not to mention a growing interest in increasingly human approaches to teaching that take into account the fact that cognition and emotions are inseparable, contrary to what was long believed… Learners and teachers, here are some cutting-edge research tips for optimal learning!
Tips for learners
Becoming master of your attention system
“In 2005, Sergent, Baillet and Dehaene shed light on the brain mechanisms involved in attentional blinking, a phenomenon — comparable to blinking — of temporary, unconscious and repetitive interruption of our attention. However, this attentional blinking means that when our attention quickly switches from one task to another, we are more likely to miss information than when we are focused on a single task. These researchers calculated that at least 0.25 seconds are necessary for the brain to record and manipulate the sensory information necessary to accomplish each task.” — Are we really good at multitasking?
Attention is the first of the four pillars of learning highlighted by neuroscientist and professor of cognitive psychology Stanislas Dehaene (see Neuroscience: learning in 4 steps and 5 factors that influence the memorization process ). However, sources of distraction have never been as strong and numerous as in this era of digital technology and omnipresent screens. If we once believed that our brain had the ability to juggle several tasks at once, this idea has indeed been refuted by science (see Are we really good at multitasking? and Attention in numbers ).
Today’s learner has every interest in creating a mental and physical space for their study time where sources of distraction are as limited as possible. But that’s not all. Jean-Philippe Lachaux, a researcher in cognitive neuroscience and a specialist in attention, explains in the file Les super pouvoirs du cerveau in Sciences et Avenir (September 2021) that above all, we must learn to master our attentional system by avoiding situations where we expose ourselves to accomplishing more than one task at a time. To achieve this, he suggests an approach using “time bubbles of attention”, which consists of focusing on a single specific objective at a time for a short period of time, in order to increase our chances of achieving it. According to the neuroscientist, it is also wise to break down complex objectives into several simpler tasks and turn them into “mini-missions”.
Believing in your brain capacity and personal effectiveness
When asked “Can everyone learn everything?” in an interview on the unparalleled efficiency of the human brain in Sciences et Avenir (September 2021), the neuroscientist replied that “we must have confidence in our own brain capacity”, specifying that with the exception of specific cases of learning disorders, we can all learn, as long as we make the effort. When faced with a challenge, rather than having an attitude that he describes as “fixist” which can be translated as “I don’t have the intelligence to do it, I’m useless”, it is better to adopt the “plastic” attitude which he specifies is “scientifically speaking the most accurate” and which consists of saying to oneself “I’m going to have to make an extra effort to get there”. These findings by Dehaene can be compared with the notion of the feeling of personal efficacy or self-efficacy at the heart of the sociocognitive theory of the eminent psychologist Albert Bandura and which he describes as a central mechanism of self-management inherent in our motivation, our accomplishments and our well-being (see At the heart of the feeling of personal efficacy
Although teachers have an important role to play in developing their learners’ sense of self-efficacy, they still have an interest in becoming aware of this concept. They must first know that since this feeling is relatively flexible, it is possible in most cases to intervene on it, and this, in several ways. Not to mention that it has the advantage of being specific (to a task, a subject, an activity, a field of activities). Learners must also be aware that taking on challenges is one of the best ways to improve their self-efficacy, and that the more a person is convinced that they can improve, the more they tend to make choices to achieve it.