Are you studying to pass a test, or studying to learn?
One of the big complaints about our education system is that we’re just teaching our kids to pass tests. What about when you’re out of school and choosing to study a new skill. Are you trying to get to the end of the book/course, or are you trying to achieve a level of mastery? Over the years, I’ve changed the way I approach learning. Have you?
Listen to this new, 6-minute episode for some perspective on how you can maximize your learning efforts.
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– Do you study to pass the test or do you study to learn. Listen to this episode and find out. Hi, it’s Alan Berg, welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. This thought came to me the other day when I was doing a little bit of studying on my own. I’m doing, many of you know I do language lessons. I’ve taught myself Spanish and I’m still working on getting even better at that. And I’m working on French and now I’m working on American Sign Language. And I was doing some lessons on Duolingo, with D U O L I N G O, Duolingo, which is a app on my phone and my iPad, where for studying language. And it asked me, since I went back on Spanish and I went back to some beginner lessons again, because I like to repeat the fundamentals. And it asked me if I wanted to jump to the next level because I was doing really good with this. And I said No. There was a time when I would’ve said yes. And I would’ve said yes because I can get to the next level quicker. I’m going to get to the next level. But that was because I was trying to get to the end. And with this, with learning a language, there is no end. I’m not trying to get to the end.
And I started thinking about back in school. And in school, we were really learning to pass a test. I mean, that’s one of the complaints about our education system these days is studying to pass a test as opposed to studying to learn. Actually, I remember a quote by Malcolm Forbes, from Forbes Magazine. And it was that “Education’s purpose is to change an empty mind into an open one.” And that school and college is to teach you how to learn. It’s that you learn how to learn. You learn how to study, but it doesn’t teach you the basics of what you do. If you think about almost anybody listening right now, much of what you know you didn’t learn in school. But if school did its job, it taught you how to learn. So the question is, when you are trying to learn something new, are you reading a book? Are you trying to read the book as fast as you can to be done with the book or you’re trying to really take in what’s going on in that book or that show or whatever it is? Are you’re just racing to do it? And listen, I know I listen to my audio books at faster than regular speed because sometimes they’re just speaking too slowly and I can get through the book quicker. Am I trying to finish the book? Yes. Is that the goal, to finish the book? No, the goal is to get to the next nugget. The next idea, the next thing that’s going to help me know something different than I know now. Better than I know now. That I never even thought I might know. And it’s again, not studying to pass a test, but it’s just studying to get to the next nugget. Learning how to learn on there.
So think about yourself when you are going to a conference or when you are reading a book or when you are taking a course online or in person, some sort of it. Are you there to get the certificate and, hey, here it is on the wall! Or, are you doing it because you know that there’s something there for you. There’s some nugget there for you. I’m preparing right now to go to a speaker’s conference, and I haven’t even looked at the schedule. I literally have not even looked at the schedule to see who’s speaking to see what the breakouts are, because I know that there’s value for me in going, I know I’m going to meet someone, I’m going to learn something in a class. I also know that in previous years I’ve taken pages and pages and pages of notes that I’ve never gotten back to looking at. So now when I go, I’m looking, I actually do it on my phone or my iPad. And I’m writing down in a separate section the tips, the things that I think I want to do right away, separate from the full set of notes. So, it’s kind of like the little Cliff Notes version and then the regular, because I know that everything I hear and everything I write down. I’m not going to use and I’m not going to necessarily get back to.
But it’s also kind of like the owner’s manual in my car. I know how everything works in the car. And if I forget how to program the garage door opener or something that I need in there, I know I can go onto the manual and get it. So, I want the full notes, but I also want to know that what are those one, two or three things that I’m going to do actually, take action on from this particular class, course, conference, whatever it is that my goal was not to go here and say, hey, I went and to hang up another ID badge and say, yep, there I was. I was there at that conference. It’s what did I do there? What did I benefit from? Who did I meet there? And that to me are the wins not the fact that I just went and be able to brag about it. I know very often when I speak at conferences, especially, in Latin America they’re very big on, “Is there a certificate?” I remember doing a workshop and somebody asked “Do you have certificates for people after the workshop?” I was like, well no, it’s just a couple of presentations. And they said, well, it’s really important because culturally it’s important to have those certificates. I was like, sure, I can make them up. And I did. And I personally signed every one of them.
But to me, the win is not that you got the certificate the win is what did you learn? What did you use? How were you better off than before you went there? So, think about it yourself. The next time you are trying to learn something, understand something, are you just trying to get to the end of the book? Are you trying to get to the end of the class? Are you trying to get to the certificate? Or are you paying attention to the trip along the way? And what is this next nugget? What is this thing that I’ve learned that I’m better off than when I started here and that to me would be the win. So, just something to think about. I hope it gives you something to think about as well. Thanks.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:
- Apple Podcast:
- YouTube: www.WeddingBusinessSolutionsPodcast.tv
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sGsuB8
- Stitcher:
- Google Podcast:
- iHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/31C9Mic
- Pandora:
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