Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)
by John Medina
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Book Summary Information
Author: John MedinaEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-26
ISBN: 0979777704
Number of pages: 301
Publisher: Pear Press
Book Reviews of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)
Book Review: Learning How to Learn
Summary: 5 Stars
Every day we use our brain without knowing what really is going on inside of our heads. Brain Rules is a fantastic journey to our brain, because we are not just discovering how the brain works, but how to boost our memory and how to improve our learning skills. Brain Rules is a fundamental tool that helps us to become better students by helping us to understand how long it takes to consolidate what we learned in class, why repetition helps us to remember schools' lessons and why attention is so important to improve our learning skills. If we apply Medina's Brain Rules we will not just be better students but we will be life long learners.
How does the brain consolidate information? And how long does the brain take to store it? By knowing how the brain consolidates new memories students can boost their memory and their learning skills. Medina, in his short and long term memory chapters, explains that the brain has different types of encoding. One type of encoding is automatic, that is the one that doesn't need a lot of effort to store the information in the brain. But the brain has other types of encoding that need more effort and attention to store the new information. These types are: Semantic encodes the definitions of words, Phonetic encodes the comparison between sounds, and Structural encodes the visual inspection of shapes. But the brain does not just encode information in different ways, the brain also takes its time to consolidate information. To consolidate information the brain takes years, not days or months. This means that what students learned today in class will be consolidated in around 10 years. Therefore what a fifth grader learned today at school will be consolidated in his or her brain when he or she is 20 or 21 years old.
Because the brain doesn't encode information the same way and because the brain takes so long consolidating information, Medina points out that the best way students can remember new information is by giving it a personal meaning. Making the information more elaborate and repeating it over and over will allow the brain to store the information more effectively. By giving a personal meaning to new information students encode the information with personal experiences. Providing the new information with personal examples makes the information more elaborate, more complex, better encoded, and consequently, better learned. By making the information more elaborate students personalize the information giving it more meaning; therefore the information will be better encoded. Thinking, talking and reviewing over and over new information students will remember in detail what they learn in class. Medina also mentions that students should review what they learned in class 90 minutes after a lecture, so the neurons don't forget the information that they got from the teacher.
Students many times have a hard time paying attention to class or to school's chores. Brain Rules explains why sometimes it is so difficult for students to pay attention, and also explains how students can improve their ability to pay attention. The best way to be better learners is by making knowledge interesting. Nobody's brain pays attention to boring things; the brain pays attention to emotions, to new and interesting things, and to things that are more elaborate and meaningful. People's emotions make events and new information stay in the memory longer. Students can improve their learning skills by relating the new information to their emotions. Therefore the information becomes more elaborate, making the information better encoded.
In addition, it is important to understand that the brain needs a break. The best way to encode new information is by giving the brain time to rest. Many students try to study for a lesson in three or more consecutive hours. What happens after studying for so many hours without resting is that the brain burns out, and the information and the time will be lost. The best way to study is by taking breaks, giving the brain some time to store the information. Another way to be better students is to understand that multitasking is a myth. Many students try to do many things at the same time. For example, some students turn on the TV, text to their friends and study for their next test at the same time. What happens is that the brain can only pay attention to one thing at a time. The brain can not multitask; it gets overwhelmed by all the information that is happening at the same time. The best way to learn is by paying attention to one thing at a time. By turning all the electronics off, leaving the phone off or on silent, and just doing one task at a time, students can improve their learning skills.
In sum, Brain Rules does not just explain how the brain works, but gives students the tools to improve their learning skills. John Medina explains in his book twelve rules that will help any student to become a long term learner and be more efficient in school and therefore at work. Medina explains how the brain works with real experiences and also gives simple tools that anyone can use to transform the brain into a powerful part of his or her life.
More Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD) reviews:
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Summary of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School (Book & DVD)
In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule—what scientists know for sure about how our brains work—and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.
Medina?s fascinating stories and infectious sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You?ll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You?ll peer over a surgeon?s shoulder as he proves that most of us have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You?ll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can?t tie his own shoes.
You will discover how:
* Every brain is wired differently
* Exercise improves cognition
* We are designed to never stop learning and exploring
* Memories are volatile
* Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn
* Vision trumps all of the other senses
* Stress changes the way we learn
* Exercise improves cognition
* We are designed to never stop learning and exploring
* Memories are volatile
* Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn
* Vision trumps all of the other senses
* Stress changes the way we learn
In the end, you?ll understand how your brain really works—and how to get the most out of it.
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