Anatomy of study and learning

In my last blog, I talked about the attributes that I consider essential for an effective study mechanism. As we move towards trying to solve the conundrum, as the first step, it is essential to analyze the anatomy of study and learning.

While functionally each body of knowledge has its own identity, at an objective level however, I see three distinct components of learning -

• Retention and recollection – The student should be able to retain (memorize) a volume of knowledge and be able to effectively recollect the appropriate knowledge element when faced with associative questions. Retention and recollection is a fancy way of saying 'rote knowledge'.

• Conceptual learning – The student should understand (not memorize), the underlying essence of knowledge.

• Applicability – When faced with questions which don't directly associate themselves with either retained knowledge or point concepts, the student should be able to comprehend the problem, retrieve the elements of retained knowledge, use the concepts to build or deduce the answers.

In a way we can say that structurally no two subjects are different, except for the relative weight of these three components.

Below is an approximate representation of relative expectations of retention and recollection, concepts and applicability for a portion of grade 8 syllabus.

This brings forth a very interesting observation, almost 80% of the syllabus expects retention and recollection as a measure of evaluation. Only 10% of the syllabus deals with concepts and 10% with applicability.

And there in lies the problem!

The problem boils down to the fact that time required to master applicability and concepts is way disproportionate when compared with the expectations of the syllabus. Resultant – most often than not, it turns into a game of compromise which we have subconsciously and sociologically addressed by either shallowing out the depth of learning or grating the child's brain raw.

So, is there a way out?

The way out is to find and adopt a mechanism which can help reduce the time taken to master retaining and recollecting knowledge without compromising on the coverage and depth. The freed up time, thus, can be used to do justice to conceptual learning and practicing applicability.