The Various Ways to Learn

Learning something can be difficult. The human brain is a complex structure that science and research has just begun to understand. When students attempt to learn something new, they may have trouble understanding concepts and linking them together. They may also find it difficult to have meaning or motivation in what they do, regarding learning. That is why it is important to attempt to understand what the human brain is and ways to integrate information more effectively in the minds of students aiming to learn. From neuroscience, socio-cognition, literacy and language development, diversity and culture, and connectionism, there are a wide array of tools and information disposable to make learning easy and fun while also taking into consideration the new and emerging learning environment in the United States and throughout the world.

The human brain is a complex and intricate organ that allows thought and action to take place. As humans evolved and science developed, so did the desire to explore and understand the human mind. Researchers in the field of Neuroscience are attempting to understand the human brain and the various processes that occur inside it. One researcher, Michael L. Anderson wrote an article on neural reuse. "Neural reuse is a form of neuroplasticity whereby neural elements originally developed for one purpose are put to multiple uses" (Anderson, 2015, p. e120).

Anderson goes on to define what neural reuse entails. "Diverse behavioral repertoire is achieved by means of the creation of multiple, nested, and overlapping neural coalitions, in which each neural element is a member of multiple different coalitions and cooperates with a different set of partners at different times" (Anderson, 2015, p. e120). Neural reuse may have profound implications in the way humans think concerning continuity with other species. Specifically, how humans comprehend differences and similarities among various psychological processes. This can lead to a potentially unified science of the mind.

To capture brain function within the perspective of multidimensional, is to formulate a novel, action-oriented vernacular to help identify higher order cognitive processes. So much research has gone into attempting to understand mental illness and mental processes. Yet, the science behind actual physical and biological processes within the brain are still new. This area of research is perhaps the most groundbreaking in the world of science.

Learning can be difficult if performed without social interaction. That is why classrooms and schools exist, to allow students to interact with each other and socialize. Social interactions are a strong component of learning. It allows children to understand boundaries and how to interact with the world around them.

A 2016 study on knowledge sharing stated it may foster competency development along with an enhanced sense of commitment. "Knowledge sharing in the organization has a great potential to foster competency development and generate a sense of affective commitment and intention to stay of employees of Gen Y." (Naim & Lenkla, 2016, p. 142). When people share knowledge with each other or when students do, it is a way of connecting not only with the person receiving the information, but also, the information itself. People often suggest teaching is the best way to learn. This study offers insight into why this could be.

By examining incoming information if the person is on the receiving end of the communication, this can also enhance learning. This is because it allows the receiver to interpret the information in their own way, further generating interest and thus motivation and commitment. Students often say how they may not be interested in the learning material. If they have something at stake thanks to introduction of social interaction into the lesson, it could increase the amount of interest and commitment that student has, to the project.

Another article concerning emotion understanding showed how set shifting predicted emotion understanding.

Set shifting, but not inhibitory control, predicted emotion understanding, over and above mothers' age, and children's IQ, language ability, and ToM. Mothers' age and children's language ability were also significant predictors in the final regression model. Results suggest that the capacity to shift mental sets is linked with inter-individual differences in children's understanding of situational causes of emotion (Martins, Osorio, Verissimo, & Martins, 2016, p. 1).

This article provided an interesting way to understand not only emotion understanding, but also emotional learning. Feelings play an integral role in social interaction and to some extent, learning. Feeling motivated can inspire emotions like joy, fascination, excitement, and curiosity. Accomplishing a task can inspire feelings of pride and confidence. Pair this with experiencing these feelings in a group setting, and it allows for a possibility of enhanced learning and increased commitment to learning.

Children and students need to feel positive about learning. They need to feel positive about social interaction. This is because these two things are integral in developing a healthy relationship with learning and information gathering and analysis. Children and students need to feel confident in their ability to learn and to carry out specific tasks. Without this, there is little in the way of what will spur further learning.

These two articles helped provide a link between emotion, social learning, and overall learning. However, learning is not just about social interactions and emotion understanding. Other areas include literacy and language development, which help with social interactions.

Overall language development can be a difficult task to undertake. However, especially early on, it can dramatically improve the chances of a student to learn more effectively and become literate faster. "High-quality preschool programs that promote early literacy through oral language, phonological awareness, print and word awareness, and alphabet knowledge prepare children to be more successful in kindergarten and more effective readers" (Knoche & Davis, 2016, p. 181). People often mistake the way to learn language as a linear and repetitive path. However, literacy and learning often takes a multi-faceted approach.

Knoche & Davis (2016), state creation of a literacy-rich home environment generates positive academic outcomes in children. "Integrated programming to support early literacy skills at home and school is important because children's skill levels and readiness at the time they enter school are strongly related to later school success" (Knoche & Davis, 2016, p. 181). Positive outcomes in literacy and learning stem from moments experienced at certain times that either encourage learning and personal growth or do not. By enabling a learning environment within the home, parents are encouraging their children to learn in a new way, away from the traditional and often ineffective methods taught in school.

Reading, writing, and language development mean using the outside world in different ways to create a rich means of interpreting what is observed. It is a means of assimilating information that must be met not with a single, traditional approach, but with a varied and modern approach. Use of multiple access points of learning encourages interest and motivates the student to continue learning as they grow and develop. Variation can include examining information from different perspectives such as different cultures and diverse populations.

Diversity is part of daily life in many parts of the United States. Exposure to diversity and various cultures strengthens the ability of students to learn through understanding things from different perspectives and analyzing subject matter through a different critical lens. When researchers study the effects of diversity and culture in learning, they aim for assessment of whether introduction to diversity improves learning and performance.

One study aimed to analyze the mediating and direction relationships among team and individual learning, team diversity, as well as team and individual innovation performance. By using a large sample of 266 Hong Kong-based white-collar professionals, they saw team diversity enabled better performance for both team and individual learning. "Team diversity is found to be the main enabler in the overall model" (Sun, Teh, Ho, & Lin, 2016, p. 22). Team diversity allowed participants to understand more what the needs of their group members were and allowed for thinking and learning that deviated from traditional methods.

Applied within a classroom context, culture and diversity permits students to see and interpret information from a different perspective. It opens discussion so students can ask and see more from another's way of thinking. All of which, leads to an improved measure of learning. Going back to the article, individual learning sparks interest in learning in a diversity themed setting. "Individual learning and team learning are independent and positively related to individual and team innovation performance. Individual learning partially mediates the relationship between team diversity and team learning" (Sun, Teh, Ho, & Lin, 2016, p. 22).

With more and more businesses and schools extending their reach to international areas or foreign students, a need for diversity education has grown. Studies like these provide proof that diversity and culture can improve learning. Furthermore, it can propel individual learning and performance.

When people hear the word connectionism, they may not have any idea what it means. Connectionism is a noun, meaning an artificial intelligence (AI) methodology to cognition that entails numerous connections between nodes (like brains in complex living organisms) forming a giant interactive network where numerous processes occur simultaneously. Specific processes within the network operate in parallel and are grouped in hierarchies together, that produce results like action or thought (Ramsey, Rumelhart, & Stich, 2013). A 2016 study using some aspects of connectionism attempted to better understand word learning, task interaction, and task success among second language learners with varying levels of speech proficiency.

These learners utilized a CALL application prior research demonstrated was effective for language development. Split into three groups or levels, they undertook the same task (web-based intervention), and used written form to reconstruct spoken text. The results highlight the lower levels of proficiency and correlated it with a higher need for stimulus material versus those that were had higher levels of proficiency.

In terms of task interaction, lower WRS proficiency participants chose to listen to stimulus material more often and changed their efforts at reconstruction significantly more frequently than participants of higher WRS proficiency levels. In relation to task success, lower WRS proficiency learners were significantly less accurate overall and less immediate in their arrival at peak reconstruction accuracy than higher WRS proficiency participants (Matthews, O'Toole, & Chen, 2016, p. 22).

While the behavior of the participants helped, the researchers see what correlations can be made from learning, it also allowed identification of ways to help those with lower levels of proficiency learn more effectively. Regarding academic word learning, the CALL application allowed assessment of WRD proficiency participants and allowed for discovery of major differences in performance. Such technology can be modified to participant behaviors and patterns to allow for a customized and effective curriculum. The future of learning could well include AI and the machine's ability to accommodate assessment and analysis.