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On the Mechanics of Learning
Thu, 23 Feb 2006 11:18:32 -0500 alt.fiftyplus
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Crusher...
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Since going back to school last fall I have been thinking about the process
of learning and retaining what has been learned. As I study for lecture courses like Art History that require memorizing dates, artists, meanings and the like I think about what I learned and retained the last time I was in college nearly fifty years ago. I had thought I might be able to relate the remembered things to something that might help me retain what I am now learning, but it hasn't happened. For reasons unknown, I still remember the Greek alphabet, learned as a joke by me and my classmates- something I never needed to know or remember. Likewise I discovered that my best memories of a specific class was HS biology, another subject for which I have had no real use- and just barely passed. Looking back at my college transcript I discovered that I took a course in Western Civilization, of which I have no recollection whatsoever. So why do we remember such oddball and unnecessary things and maybe not recollect things that are far more important? Which reminds me of the famous TN Senator's remark during the Watergate hearings, "What did he know and when did he know it?" More relevant is "What do I know now, why do I know it and how do I retain what I am now learning?" FurPaw...
david...
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