Robert Gillan

How We Learn

In the last fifteen years or so we have learned more about the brain, and therefore how we learn than in all previous time. Technologies such as PET Scans, EEGs and MRI Scans enable us to see exactly what is happening in the brain in response to absolutely any kind of stimulus. PET Scans (Positron Emission Tomography) scans measure blood flow and can show which parts of the brain are active when processing information. EEGs (Electroencephalographs) show the wavelength or frequency of the brain and can tell us how alert or responsive the brain is. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans give us remarkable visual insights into the brain which no X-Ray can possibly do.

This presentation showed some of the things which we now know thanks to the new technology. It showed, for example, how the brain, as a result of learning, lays down patterns and pathways along which new information can travel. We were shown a number of images which showed how powerful these patterns and pathways are, so much so that we can be greatly misled by new information. For example, by feeding the brain with certain pieces of information we can be persuaded to see things which are not actually there. We can either use these patterns to assist us in our learning or we can become slaves to them by failing to retain the childlike attitude of constant awe, wonder and questioning. It is in this state of absolute openness, of readiness to accept everything as new and exciting that we learn most effectively.

The session ended with a group activity. The task was for each group to prepare a presentation, not on how to teach but how to learn a particular topic. The topic in question was the planets: their names and positions relative to each other. Twelve groups each of about ten participants set about displaying an extraordinary degree of creativity as they devised ways of learning this particular subject. Three of the groups were able to treat us to a feast of entertainment and memorable learning which proved yet again that the real stars of such conferences are every bit as much the participants as the presenters.