by Kathy Barnikel

Research over the past half decade or so into Accelerated Learning has generated new conceptions of learning in five unique areas. New information about human learning has being investigated by psychologists and the belief that effective learning proceeds have shifted to focus on students’ understanding and application of knowledge and away from rote or drill and learning have now been generally accepted as best practice.

The five areas involved in accelerated learning are early learning foundations, structure of knowledge and memory, problem solving and analysis, self regulatory and metacognitive processes and community participation and cultural experiences and each can play and important role the whole learning experience and its successful outcome.

Memory and structure of knowledge. Knowing how learners develop coherent structures of information has been particularly useful in understanding the nature of organized knowledge that underlies effective comprehension and thinking. Essential to Accelerated Learning, memory has come to be understood as more than simple associations; evidence describes the structures that represent knowledge and meaning.

Analysis of problem solving and reasoning. Accelerated Learning theory can now account for how learners acquire skills to search a problem space and then use these general strategies in many problem-solving situations. One of the most important influences on contemporary learning theory has been the basic research on expert learners. There is a clear distinction between learned problem-solving skills in novice learners and the specialized expertise of individuals who have proficiency in particular subjects.

Early foundation. Scientific studies of infants and young children have revealed the relationships between children’s learning predispositions and their emergent abilities to discover strategies for problem solving, organize and coordinate information, make inferences about the learning environment and bring these to new learning situations.

As a result, educators are rethinking the role of the skills and abilities children bring with them to school. The development of Accelerated Learning and creative methodologies for assessing infants’ responses in controlled research settings has done much to illuminate early learning.

Self-regulation and Metacognitive processes. Accelerated Learning also requires individuals be taught to regulate their behaviors. Self motivation and self regulation are important skills that need to be brought to any learning environment. These regulatory activities enable control of one’s performance via self-monitoring. The activities include such strategies as planning and time management, predicting outcomes for the learning task, noting failures in understanding or comprehension, and using existing knowledge to enhance the learning procedure.

Cultural experience and community participation. Accelerated Learning and indeed any kind of learning involves becoming attuned to the constraints and resources, the limits and possibilities, that are involved in the practices of the community. Participation in social practice is a fundamental form of learning. Learning is promoted by social norms that value the search for understanding.

Early learning is assisted by the supportive context of the family and the social environment, through the kinds of activities in which adults engage with children. Encouraging children to find their own solutions to problems will develop skills necessary for future learning success. These activities have the effect of providing to toddlers the structure and interpretation of the culture’s norms and rules, and these processes occur long before children enter school.

About the Author:

Kathy is a psychologist, and writes articles and course for Accelerated Learning, Personal Development, and Self Help Issues. Learn more about Accelerated Learning at Accelerated Learning and Your Unlimited Brain Power