Adult learning advice?

falko89

As some will know I started back to the OU last month, I'd done 2 previous modules with them but forgot about the following aspect and wonder does anyone else suffer from this?

At school things are drummed into us and will probably stay with us the rest of our lives, things like maths, English etc with us forever. I'm now 31 and find learning as an adult a totally different experience, damn all sticks in the old grey matter. If you ask me something about the previous 2 modules I did I couldn't tell you however I did pass them.

I am finding the same to be true this time around, if you asked me to tell you what I've learned so far I could give a basic synopsis but no hope of going into detail and by the time I get to the end of the course it'll be a distant memory:(

I write down notes as I go along and reading back over these notes does bring it back but its not ingrained in my mind like it was as a child, without looking at these notes I couldn't tell you anything.

Does anyone else suffer from this?

ILW

Why are you not studying now then?

TrickyWicky

No I don't find that but I do find it takes time for stuff to sink in.

Realistically its not because you're an adult. It's because you're not in a repetitive environment where it is drummed into you day after day, week after week, year after year. THAT is why you remember stuff from school so much easier. It's also why people claim that young people learn so much 'easier'. It's not that, it's that young people have more TIME to learn and because its repetitive, it sinks in (eventually).

What I have found though is that this week I've been going over some old stuff I studied years ago at college. Now whilst some of it is still a bit of a mystery, I find its easier to pick it up at my own pace, go over calculations again, self diagnose wrong answers and use google to find various different descriptions of how something works until it sinks in. Unlike being at college where the lecturer tells you what is what, it doesn't sink in, you're too afraid to ask for help and look stupid in front of the others and end up failing miserably.

I've also found I'm better at creating shortcuts and tools to help me understand things than I was whe I was younger. Things like programming.. I've found ways of getting to know language manuals that makes it easier for me, using certain pieces of software to test theories / diagnose faults etc - things which I would never have thought of or used in my younger years.

I think a lot of it also depends on what you're studying too. There are some things which are not that strenuous on the mind whereas others (eg subjects that are heavily maths based) that are daunting and will always make people worry.

falko89

TrickyWicky wrote: »

No I don't find that but I do find it takes time for stuff to sink in.

Realistically its not because you're an adult. It's because you're not in a repetitive environment where it is drummed into you day after day, week after week, year after year. THAT is why you remember stuff from school so much easier. It's also why people claim that young people learn so much 'easier'. It's not that, it's that young people have more TIME to learn and because its repetitive, it sinks in (eventually).

What I have found though is that this week I've been going over some old stuff I studied years ago at college. Now whilst some of it is still a bit of a mystery, I find its easier to pick it up at my own pace, go over calculations again, self diagnose wrong answers and use google to find various different descriptions of how something works until it sinks in. Unlike being at college where the lecturer tells you what is what, it doesn't sink in, you're too afraid to ask for help and look stupid in front of the others and end up failing miserably.

I've also found I'm better at creating shortcuts and tools to help me understand things than I was whe I was younger.

Yes think your onto something, repetition is the mother of skill as someone once said, if I kept going over the same thing I'd get know where, I guess I should worry if my marks start to get effected.

TrickyWicky

falko89 wrote: »

If you ask me something about the previous 2 modules I did I couldn't tell you however I did pass them.

To be honest I think thats probably typical of most people. The OU just puts people through their paces in order to establish that they CAN DO things. Whether or not you remember them is not important it's the fact that you can do it and if necesssary read up on doing it again in the future.

No-one is perfect. No-one can remember everything but the point with the OU is that it proves you can read, read up on things, revise, practice and get it right.

jobbingmusician

I agree with the OP. Although being an expert does actually mean not realising the breadth and depth of what you DO know!

(However, I read my A level maths notes a while ago, and couldn't understand any of them )

LittleVoice

Learning things at school is not the same as learning things at university.

Rote learning and having things drummed into you works when you are at GCSE level. It is not (or should not be) what is required at degree level.

Hermia

I don't think you do remember more of what you learn as a child. When I got my old school books out of my parent's loft I could not even remember learning some of that stuff. I read one of my GCSE essays and was astonished I had written it as it all sounded like gobbledegook to me! I think the stuff you do remember from school is the stuff you use all the time (e.g. basic maths and English) and that is why you remember it.

I have done a few modules with the OU and my big problem with them is that you are not encouraged (and don't really have the time) to read around the subject. I actually asked my tutor whether I should seek out journal articles or other books and was told not to! I was actually told it would not be good for me to quote non-course books or articles in my essays. I think the reason I remember so much from my first (non-OU) degree is that we were encouraged to read widely. I read about the topics from the perspective of different academics. I read numerous studies and books. I still remember most of what I learned. I do admire the OU, but I do think their method of study can just turn into a comprehension exercise where you read a chapter, write about it and then move on.

lincroft1710

Hermia wrote: »

I don't think you do remember more of what you learn as a child. When I got my old school books out of my parent's loft I could not even remember learning some of that stuff. I read one of my GCSE essays and was astonished I had written it as it all sounded like gobbledegook to me! I think the stuff you do remember from school is the stuff you use all the time (e.g. basic maths and English) and that is why you remember it.

Totally agree with this.

About 3/4 years after I took my A-levels, I passed on my exam question papers to a friend who was doing a similar course. I looked at the papers and had no idea how to begin answering the questions. Yet I had passed the A-level only a few years previously!

gibson123

At degree level it is all about reasoning and applying knowledge, not so much about memory. I remember only about 10% of what I learned in my MBA, but I do now think differently and approach problems in a different way based on academic theories

adonis

Reading this made me remember my school report from many years ago, it said "slow to comprehend",
I think sometimes it can take a while for stuff to sink in unless you have a real passion for the subject.

It is true that you need to keep using the skills that you learn otherwise they can be forgotten.