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Default and Working Modes

This has nothing to do with your PC.

By Casey ParkerPublished 7 years ago 2 min read
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Breaks are often considered unproductive time by employers and teachers alike. According to a number of published studies, taking some downtime after a study session or a work project has a positive effect on efficiency. The brain is never entirely inactive, and what it does at rest is just as important as the studies or work being done.

Reframing your attention from "flashlight" mode to "lantern" mode has a similar effect to sleep. The recently acquired knowledge is repeated mentally and the physical connections representing the information describing the knowledge are reinforced. This happens whether you're remembering deliberately or simply doing nothing.

Because of the way this works, studying all night won't help you learn. Instead, the action of researching answers and not needing to know the concepts behind them. Research is a great skill, but it's not usually as important as actually learning well enough to synthesize simply. The way the brain attempts to re-use anything it can, those new skills will make learning related skills easier in the future.

If doodling or something similar is what happens when you're idle, that's alright. There are decades worth of research suggesting that's just the same. Just so long as the brain gets to ruminate on something. It takes more energy to get going than it does to keep going

On the other hand...

You'd think that turning education into a fun game would be a great idea, right? According to some 2015 study results, scientists put forward the idea that "gamifying" education would be pretty much a great idea overall. They expected to see more engagement and activation of mental resources into the Working Memory Network or WMN.

Learners were separated into three groups with different levels of gamification. In study-only groups, a concentrated period of study was followed by a similar example question answered correctly. A self-quiz group had similar periods of learning followed by a multiple choice quiz with points given for correct answers. A third group was given the same learning periods, with a competitive game for uncertain rewards.

Paradoxically, parts of the Default Mode Network actually de-activated during times with a higher self-reported degree of engagement. Interestingly, the WMN didn't become more active at the same time. There was an increased level of learning noted.

How can gamification be applied?

A lot of the elements we classically associate with games can be applied to learning and teaching. Feedback in the form of points (or achievements, today), gives a sense of having accomplished something. As long as a plan is carefully designed to avoid rewarding rote memorization, the achievement reward isn't a bad place to start. Depending on the environment, some kind of competitive aspect may be useful, too.

Just like a successful lesson plan needs to have graduated levels of difficulty. If you'd like to incorporate the flash card method (which I've talked about before), then each level could be built from the subset of previously missed cards. Each chunk of information can be viewed as leveling up, with quizzes as something akin to a boss battle. The tricky bit here is making it actually fun. That part takes creativity.

Try out different methods, and stop using the ones that aren't helping you learn.

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About the Creator

Casey Parker

I'm a very cerebral person, with an eclectic history of jobs, projects, and studies. I've been everything from a C-level executive (which I hated), to a bottom level peon (which I enjoyed). Learn from somebody else's experience!

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