First off, I know I’m a day late, but you know what – it was a holiday and I think that warrants taking a day for myself. Let’s be honest, I did a lot more sleeping than I typically do, and it was GLORIOUS!
Secondly, I’ve been plugging the heck out of How we Learn by Benedict Carey, and no I haven’t finished it (because I was distracted with ploughing through Amy Poehler’s Yes Please – which was amazing – go purchase/read now!), and this week’s TT post is going to discuss some concepts he talks about in his book: Incubation and Percolation. Part of what I love about this book is how relatable it is, and I’ve been that person at the poker game lately who relays study tips to friends who are finding themselves in the ‘mature student’ role. I love learning, what can I say?!
Incubation
The concept of incubation is one which emphasizes the importance of distraction in learning – which is great to hear, because I distinctly remember marathoning Criminal Minds episodes during much of my graduate degree. Good to know I wasn’t wasting my potential!
Incubation should be used when we encounter a problem that we simply cannot figure out; we should step away from the problem, and come back at a later time – refreshed and renewed. From an Instructional Design context, I do this before reviewing products for delivery. You’ve spent so much time with a product, that you need that time away in order to provide a solid review and pick up any little errors you may have made. For me, most of my good (and functional ideas) come to me as dreams – having trouble getting some Storyline triggers to behave properly? Nap on it, and surely some idea may come to you! Having an enrolment crisis in a post-secondary university? Hit the sheets, and maybe you’ll come up with an idea for a new certificate program. Maybe my books will write themselves this way….no?
Carey (2014) explains that incubation is “subconscious. We’re not aware it’s happening.” – This explains why my dreamt up ideas make so much more sense! Basically we should just be napping all the time – I kid. But really. We should. J/K. An important step with incubation is verification, for obvious reasons. For example, one of the ideas that came to me to resolve a trigger issue didn’t work. BUT, it helped me think a little different about how to approach the issue, and I was able to resolve the problem in less time after incubation than before.
Percolation
Percolation is the idea that you let the mind linger on a problem, in order to provide a more well-rounded response. For example, when it comes to paper writing, term papers (based on all of the readings throughout the term) are often more well-rounded than say 6 papers throughout the term on 6 different topics. This is because the individual has time to percolate on one subject, without distracting the mind with different concepts or topics. Each reading and assignment throughout the term is provided on the same topic, in different contexts, with different goals, and they contribute to the greater whole of the end-of-term paper.
Within the percolation chapter, an interesting study was discussed which suggested that unfinished tasks linger in our memory longer than those that are finished. In considering the term paper example, this makes a lot of sense. Students likely perform better, churning out a well-rounded term paper, when they are able to percolate on the subject matter, in different contexts, throughout the course of the term versus changing topics each week. By changing topics, the student finishes each assignment, and may not carry forward the context of which that assignment was attempting to illustrate (e.g. the importance of an outline, or historical overview, literature reviews, formulation of own opinions, etc.).
Very interesting, no?
Resources
How we Learn: The Surprising Truth about When, Where and Why it Happens – Benedict Carey
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