Did you know researchers have found that students typically make poor choices when they attempt to learn information on their own? We discuss some of the biases that get in the way of learning in our blog post: Jump With Me? Reciprocity, Mentorship, and Unlearning the Naturalness Bias

Extensive research in the field of school and learning psychology has shown that as important as learning is, the emphasis teachers and students place on learning how to learn—the process of committing to memory facts and concepts that will enable students to reason and problem solve—is often overlooked.

A startling example of this tendency: In one experiment, students were given two different strategies for learning the specific characteristics of different painters: studying the paintings in either similar groups (massed studying) or all mixed together (interleaved studying.) The students who studied the paintings in interleaved fashion performed better on tests they took after their study periods—but this did not seem to make a difference in how they thought about studying. Despite their success using the interleaved technique, students persisted in preferring massed practice, convinced that it served them better. They continued to believe in the power of a less effective strategy even though it was just proved inferior. The students, like all of us, fell victim to the biases and misconceptions about how learning works.

In Making it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning,Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel point out that,  “Much of what we’ve been doing as teachers and students isn’t serving us well, but some comparatively simple changes could make a big difference.”

And this is where YP jumps in! While our Learning Coaches are experts in the content areas they teach, they also commit to ongoing professional development as a team, in the science of learning how to learn.

Our understanding of the biases which create obstacles to student learning and the habits and encouragement we can put into place to solve them enables a YP Learning Coach to help a student “tune-up” her or his learning skills for a more successful (and enjoyable) academic experience. Whether an 8-10 week Student Operating System course or a full-year of study coaching, YP Learning Coaches help students build the confidence they need to create an engaging and rewarding life full of learning, geared to help them use their unique abilities and passions to serve others.

-Cara