The Science of Learning
The Science of Learning
The work of Robert and Elizabeth Björk
… we cannot overstate the importance of learning how to manage your own learning activities. In a world that is ever more complex and rapidly changing, and in which learning on one’s own is becoming ever more important, learning how to learn is the ultimate survival tool.1
The husband and wife team of Robert and Elizabeth Björk have been studying learning for a long time. While their work often deals with ways that college students prepare for examinations, it has yielded, nonetheless, a number of insights of value to people who have taken charge of their own education.
These include:
It is better to read two books, articles, or paragraphs on the same subject than to read the same work twice.
Learning in many different places is better than learning in one place.
Seeming obstacles, like occasional interruptions, often enhance learning.
You can find a large number of articles written by Robert and Elizabeth Björk on their respective Google Scholar sites.
You can get an overview of the findings of various experiments conducted by the Björks by watching (or listening to) this series of short videos.
Many interviews with one, or both, of the Björks can be found in various corners of the internet. Thus, if things like poor sound quality interfere with your enjoyment of one, you can easily find another that covers the same ground.
Elizabeth L. Bjork and Robert Bjork “Making Things Hard on Yourself, But in a Good Way: Creating Desirable Difficulties to Enhance Learning” in M. A. Gernsbacher, R. W. Pew, L. M. Hough, & J. R. Pomerantz (Editors), Psychology and the Real World (New York: Worth, 2010)