Modes of Thinking from zero to hero

Meta-learning, often referred to as "learning how to learn," involves understanding and managing one's own learning processes. This encompasses a range of skills, attitudes, and strategies that empower adults to take control of their learning experiences.

1. Self-Awareness: Recognizing strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and the effectiveness of different learning strategies.
2. Strategic Planning: Setting realistic goals, planning study sessions, and selecting appropriate learning methods.
3. Self-Regulation: Monitoring progress, adapting strategies when needed, and maintaining motivation and resilience.
4. Reflection: Regularly reflecting on experiences to understand what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve in the future.

• Efficiency: More effective use of time and resources by focusing on strategies that work best for the individual.
• Adaptability: Greater ability to adjust to different subjects, mediums, and learning environments.
• Confidence: Increased self-efficacy and motivation when learners recognize their ability to control and optimize their learning.
• Lifelong Learning: Enhanced ability to continue learning throughout life, adapting to new challenges and information fluently.

1. Goal Setting: Clearly defining short-term and long-term learning goals.
2. Mind Mapping: Organizing knowledge visually to understand and remember connections between concepts.
3. Socratic Questioning: Engaging in critical thinking by asking questions that challenge assumptions and explore deeper meanings.
4. Spaced Repetition: Scheduling reviews of material at increasing intervals to enhance retention.
5. Active Learning: Engaging with the material through discussion, teaching others, or practical application rather than passive reading or listening.
6. Reflection and Journaling: Keeping a learning journal to reflect on what was learned, how it was learned, and what can be improved.
7. Time Management: Allocating specific time blocks for focused study, including breaks, to enhance focus and productivity.

Meta-learning enables adults to become more effective and autonomous learners. By embracing and developing meta-learning skills, adults can not only enhance their current learning outcomes but also establish a solid foundation for continual self-improvement and lifelong learning.

Developed in the 1950s by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues, the Original Taxonomy of Educational Objectives is a framework designed to classify educational goals, objectives, and outcomes. It serves as a foundational tool for curriculum development, instruction, and assessment in education.

The original taxonomy is structured as a hierarchy of cognitive skills, categorized into six levels, each representing increasing levels of complexity in thinking and learning.

1. Knowledge:
   • The ability to recall or recognize facts and basic concepts.
   • Examples: Memorizing definitions, listing facts.
2. Comprehension:
   • The ability to understand information, summarize, and interpret it.
   • Examples: Explaining ideas, summarizing readings.
3. Application:
   • The ability to use learned material in new and concrete situations.
   • Examples: Solving problems, applying theories to new situations.
4. Analysis:
   • The ability to break down information into parts and understand its structure.
   • Examples: Identifying motives, analyzing arguments.
5. Synthesis:
   • The ability to combine information to form a new whole or propose new ideas.
   • Examples: Designing a new experiment, writing a cohesive paper.
6. Evaluation:
   • The ability to make judgments based on criteria and standards.
   • Examples: Assessing the validity of a theory, critiquing a piece of work.

of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

These questions aligned with each level of Bloom's Taxonomy help educators and learners focus on the appropriate cognitive processes necessary for mastering content and developing critical thinking skills. This structured approach to questioning enhances engagement and promotes deeper understanding throughout the learning experience.

• Curriculum Development: Provides a systematic approach for educators to formulate learning objectives that cater to a range of cognitive skills.
• Instructional Planning: Helps teachers design lesson plans and learning activities that engage students at multiple levels of cognitive complexity.
• Assessment Design: Creates a framework for developing assessments that align with desired educational outcomes, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation of student learning.

• Bloom's Taxonomy has significantly influenced educational practices, promoting a focus on higher-order thinking skills and encouraging a more active, engaging approach to learning.
• It has paved the way for revised taxonomies, recognizing the need to adapt and evolve as educational paradigms change.

Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives provides a foundational understanding of different cognitive processes involved in learning. By guiding educators in setting clear and structured goals, it enhances both teaching strategies and student learning outcomes, promoting a more robust educational experience.

Bloom, B. S. (Ed.) (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company. #+end_src

• Provides a structured framework for educators to formulate curriculum.
• Helps in designing assessments and evaluations aligned with learning objectives.
• Enhances the ability to promote higher-order thinking skills among learners.
• Facilitates clearer communication of educational goals between instructors and students.

• Course Design: Use the taxonomy to design courses that progress from basic to complex cognitive tasks.
• Assessment: Create assessments that evaluate not just factual knowledge but also deeper understanding, application, and critical analysis.
• Personal Development: Encourage adults to set learning goals that move beyond memorization to higher levels of cognitive function, such as evaluation and creation.
• Learning Strategies: Integrate learning activities that address different cognitive processes, enabling a more comprehensive approach to mastering content.

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy offers a valuable tool for both educators and learners to understand and develop cognitive skills systematically. By applying its principles, adult learners can achieve deeper, more meaningful, and transferable understanding and skill mastery.

Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (Eds.) (2001).

A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

The paper by Afton Kirk-Johnson and colleagues investigates the relationship between experienced effort in learning activities and perceived learning outcomes. The central theme is the "misinterpreted-effort hypothesis," which posits that individuals often misinterpret the effort they exert during learning as an indication of poor learning performance, leading to suboptimal study strategy choices.

• The "misinterpreted-effort hypothesis" suggests that learners may mistakenly equate higher effort with lower levels of learning due to discomfort or cognitive strain, thereby influencing their selection of learning strategies.

1. To explore the relationship between perceived effort and perceived learning.
2. To examine how this relationship affects the choice of study strategies.
3. To understand the cognitive mechanisms that underlie the misinterpretation of learning effort.

• The study employed experimental designs involving various learning tasks.
• Participants were asked to engage in study activities and report their perceived effort and perceived learning.
• The research measured the impact of these perceptions on subsequent choices of study strategies, such as rereading versus practice testing.

1. Effort and Learning Perception:
   • Participants often perceived higher effort as indicative of poorer learning, even when this was not the case.
   • The relationship between effort and perceived learning was influenced by task difficulty and familiarity.
2. Study Strategy Choice:
   • As a result of misinterpreting effort, participants were more likely to choose easier, less effective study strategies (e.g., rereading) over more challenging, effective ones (e.g., practice testing).
   • This misinterpretation was found to lead to less effective learning outcomes in the long term.
3. Cognitive Mechanisms:
   • The study suggested that cognitive strain and discomfort during challenging tasks may be misinterpreted as failure, affecting motivation and strategy selection.
   • It highlighted the need to educate learners about the nature of productive struggle and effortful learning to correct these misconceptions.

• Educational Practice: Educators should emphasize that effort and cognitive strain are not inherently negative and often correlate with deeper learning.
• Learner Awareness: Training learners to recognize the value of effortful processing and encouraging the use of evidence-based study strategies.
• Study Strategy Design: Development of interventions to help learners make better-informed decisions about their study strategies based on actual performance rather than perceived effort.

The research underscores the importance of understanding the subjective experience of effort in learning contexts. Addressing the misinterpreted-effort hypothesis can lead to more effective learning behaviors and improved educational outcomes, by helping learners differentiate between effort and effective learning.

Kirk-Johnson, A., et al. (Year).

Perceived Effort as Poor Learning: The Misinterpreted-Effort Hypothesis of How Experienced Effort and Perceived Learning Relate to Study Strategy Choice.

Cognitive Psychology