The Natural Human Learning Process
Learning is the natural human ability. According to the research study of Dr. Rita Smilkstein, “We’re born to learn”. Human learning process is separated in several stages and performed by the brain activity called synaptic firing. In the human learning process, emotions play a very important role; they can either impede or motivate learning. Understanding how our brains work and how to control emotions which directly affect our learning will give us good ways for learning successfully, particularly if we use the most appropriate learning strategies.
In Dr. Rita Smilkstein research study, there are six stages of the natural human learning process (NHLP). The first stage of the natural human learning process is motivation. Before we learn something, we will choose a specific skill or concept that makes we feel interested and want to learn. The second stage is beginning practice. In this stage, trial and error is the term that is commonly used. We will make mistakes, but also learn from them. The third stage is advanced practice. In this stage of the learning process, we will keep practicing and making more mistakes. The more mistakes we make, the more we learn. We will become a little confidence, begin to enjoy the learning, and taking more lessons in order to achieve more success. The fourth stage of the learning process is skillfulness. In this stage, we are still practicing but by our own way. We will achieve more success and tend to share knowledge with others. The fifth stage is refinement; in this stage is when we are reaching to the highest level of our skill or concept and becoming creative. The last stage of the learning process is mastery, which very high level and we can teach others. (Smilkstein, Chap 2)
One of my skills that I have learned through the stages of the NHLP is playing soccer. My motivation to learn how to play soccer was to have fun with my friends. When I was a child, most of my friends liked to play soccer. I began to practice soccer after I saw my friends playing in the park. I started to simply kick the ball when I played in the back yard, but at the beginning, I couldn’t control the ball’s direction. After a few times, I got better and gained a little when I kicked the ball. For my advanced practice, I tried to spend time watching my friends when they played and keep practicing what I had seen from my friends. To become skillful, I had spent a lot of times to practice and joined in the games with my friends in order to get used to the real games. The more I practiced and made mistakes, the more I learned and got better. The years followed, my soccer skill became refine and I could confidently join into the games with my friends or any other teams. I also created my own skills and shared with my friends. However, to reach mastery in playing soccer, I believe that I have to practice more than what I have done.
Smilkstein writes that we learn in these stages because learning is actually a biological process that takes time and repetition in order to develop our brain cells into neural networks. Neurons begin to develop from soma or cell body, which is like heartwood of the trees. The axon is a fiber that grows out of soma. Its function is to conduct electrical-chemical impulses away from the neuron’s cell body. Parts at the end of the axon is the axon terminal bulb, which releases neurotransmitter through synaptic gap in order to communicate with other neurons, similar to the way the roots absorb water and nutrients to support the tree. Myelin sheaths surround exon to protect it like the bark covers and protects the tree trunk. The last part of the neuron is dendrites, which are created as a result of synaptic firing. The main function of dendrites is receiving electrical messages from other neurons like the way trees take in light energy in the photosynthesis process. The more we learn and remember, is the more dendrite grow by synaptic firing processes. (Smilkstein, Chap.3)
During the natural human learning process, learning takes place when synaptic firing occurs among neurons. It is synaptic firing which causes neuronal growth. Synaptic firing process is similar to the way spark plugs fire in the car engine. A Spark plug supports electrical energy for the fuel combustion process. Similar to spark plug, neuron’s axon transmits electric impulse for the synapses to fire. When axon terminal bulbs are close to another neuron, but not in contact, there is a tiny gap call synapse, where chemical information sparks to other neurons. A synapse is similar to the gap between two metal parts of the spark plug, where the electricity sparks across to burn the fuel. In the car’s engine, spark plug need fuel to fire for run the car. In our brains a chemical produced by body called endorphin, which is required for the synaptic firing to grow the dendrites. Like many things can affect spark plug functioning properly, synaptic firing is affected by a hormone called norepinephrine. Norepinephrine produced when stresses occurred. Wherever we feel stress, synaptic firing process will shut down. That is why sometimes we learn things really fast, but sometimes it is hard to pick up anything.
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Like the role of a spark plug in the car, emotions are very important to the ability of human learning. Emotions can either impede or motivate learning. When people feel good, their body will produce endorphins that support to the synaptic firing process, and they will learn easier. But when people feel anxious, uncomfortable, danger, or any kind of negative emotions, their body will produce norepinephrine, which shut down the synaptic firing process, and that make them learn harder. This is why we learn things we like faster than things we don’t.
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Being a college student, I have to deal with many things that can affects my study. One of my stresses while attend to college is my English skills. Like most international students, I am speaking English as a second language. I always worry that I will make mistakes when I am writing or speaking English. I sometimes feel so nervous when I go to the class. Because of feeling nervous, I sometimes can’t learn well in class. One more thing that make me feel really stressful is I don’t have enough time to do my assignments at home and there are too many distractions in my house.
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In order to be a successful student in college, I believe that I have to motivate myself and re-organize my study’s schedule in a reasonable way. There are some strategies on the Study Guides and Strategies website that can help me improve my English and my future education. First of all, to motivate myself, I will follow the strategy called “Succeeding in continuing and higher education”, which explained that new environment have many opportunities, and improve education is the best ways to get ready for the new world’s challenge. To improve my education, I will set my personals education goal, prepare and challenge myself for learning, identify some people in and outside of school that could help for my success. In order to re-organize my study’s schedule, I will follow the strategy called “Time Management”. I will block my study time and breaks to make sure how much time is reasonable to spend for study and break, dedicated my study spaces; which means keep away from distractions of environment and find myself a quiet place like library for better learning, review my study every week to remind me what I had learned to identify which I already understand, and which should I spend more time to work on. When I star to do my assignments, I will always to begin with the most difficult subjects because at the beginning my brain is fresh and full of energy to study, identify any resources that may help my study; for instance, I am still meet my English tutor in Literacy for Life and communicate with my GED teacher by email in order to improve my English skills. (Study Guides and Strategies)
Understanding how our brains work and what affect our learning is a great skill for college students. It helped me to determine what impedes my learning to avoid, and what should I do in order to learn faster and easier. It also made me believe that human learning ability is unlimited. If we have right strategies and good emotions, we can learn everything. After all, knowing how learning works on a biological level make me feel so excited and want to continue on my learning.
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Works Cited
Smilkstein, Rita. We're born to Learn: Using the Brain's Natural Learning Process to Create Today’s Curriculum. Thousand Oaks, Cal.: Corwin, 2003.
Landsberger Joseph. “Study Guides and Strategies” Study Guides and Strategies. 1996. <http://www.studygs.net/>