Neuroplasticity, Our Dynamic Brains And Learning

Please watch this video before reading on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ93qXXYRpU

This surprisingly simple illustration of neuroplasticity is profoundly accurate and eye-opening. I am not basing my whole understanding of neuroplasticity on this one minute video; I read a book on the subject called ‘The Brain that changes itself‘, and watched many documentaries on Youtube. However, this one minute illustration highlights the underlying principle of neuroplasticity; namely, that we can re-wire our neural connections to create more desirable outcomes. Our old understanding of the ‘hard-wired’ brain is long gone and has been refuted by many researchers from all over the globe. Using our mind (i.e. our will), we can re-wire our brains to respond differently to certain stimuli. This means that we actually can, through self discipline, change our capacity to learn new knowledge.  We can make math a desirable thing to learn, rather than a burden. We can study more thoroughly, retain information better, and perform better in our academic lives. Neuroplasticity gives us the key to unlock all those potential promises.

How do we re-wire our brain to learn better? The simple answer based on the one minute illustration and years of research is….change the way you learn. If you associate a certain way of learning with anxiety, then change that way all together. Find new ways of learning, and try to associate those new ways with positive thinking. For example, if you have a hard time memorizing certain information, then why not put it into a song, why not make up a story where every piece of information is associated with a character. Be creative.

Students usually won’t have the patience or time to develop different ways of learning, and so it is up to the teacher/tutor to come up with positively-reinforced study skills for the students. Also, every student is different, and will associate different ways of learning with anxiety. In a classroom setting it is very hard for a teacher to accommodate every single student individually, and it is therefore of utmost importance for the tutor to build a strong relationship with the students, learn the negative associations and create new ones to replace the old learning skills. This is key to long term success.