DISCLAIMER: The following post was originally completed as part of my coursework for EDUC 520-Student Learning and Motivation, one of my grad classes. If you are not interested in education, this is going to be wicked boring. Please feel free to check out some of my other posts!
Research
Many educators today fall far short in many areas, but one of the most prevalent is in the area of teaching to the test: simply making sure that students memorize all the necessary information in order to get the best possible grade. Memorization of facts, or crystallized intelligence, is definitely useful. Life would be extremely tedious if people relied on writing down information like their addresses, phone numbers, and the names of every person they ever met! Crystallized intelligence is even important in the field of education; basic math facts, historical dates, and basic grammar rules must be memorized in order to be used most effectively. However, in order to be properly prepared for life, students must also be able to use their fluid intelligence. Andrea Kuszewski defines fluid intelligence as “your capacity to learn new information, retain it, then use that new knowledge as a foundation to solve the next problem, or learn the next new skill.” (2011) Kuszewski, who has helped many students learn to improve their cognitive function, not only asserts that this ability to learn is trainable but also suggests five principles to improve one’s fluid intelligence: seek novelty, challenge oneself, think creatively, do things the hard way, and network (2011).
The principle of seeking novelty, or trying new things, helps students improve their fluid intelligence. Although it may seem that this boost might simply be due to the initial surge of new information, there is real science to support this principle. Novelty creates “new synaptic connections,” according to Kuszewski (2011). The creation of new connections in the brain helps it to practice learning. Additionally, novelty triggers the release of dopamine, which further primes the brain for learning by causing motivation and creating new neurons (Kuszewski, 2011). In her article “9 Ways to Develop Your Intelligence at Any Age,” Mary Jaksch recommends many activities that trigger various areas of the brain. Among many others, these activities include learning a new language, picking up a new musical instrument, taking some martial arts lessons, and participating in community theater (Jaksch). Trying new things is not only fun, but it helps students get better at learning!
The second principle suggested is to challenge oneself (Kuszewski, 2011). The brain forcing itself to do tasks that require higher levels of energy and concentration stimulates cognitive development. Mary Jaksch recommends logic games like sudoku to challenge the mind and keep it active, even during down time. However, there is a caution. The brain also requires that the same challenging activity should not be used over and over. Repetition of the same challenge causes the brain to become more efficient, eliminating the challenge and returning the cognitive activity to normal. Kuszewski therefore recommends moving to a new challenging activity as soon as mastery of the first is achieved, therefore maintaining cognitive growth (2011).
The principle of thinking creatively does not involve doing creative activities, but rather teaching oneself to think in new ways. Rather than simply memorizing facts, Kuszewski recommends teaching concepts in new ways, making new associations to involve more areas of the mind and help learners remember new ideas, and finding creative ways to solve problems rather than just picking the correct solution from a multiple choice bank (2011). Although this may involve more work initially, teachers and learners alike benefit from and enjoy the process, and students also perform at higher levels on standard assessment formats, proving that the concepts were actually learned even though they were not taught by rote memory (Kuszewski, 2011). Music can play a helpful role in creating new connections in our brain. “Music opens up both sides of the brain. The key to all learning is utilizing many areas of the brain for each learning experience.” (Pearl, 2019, 12)
Doing things the hard way is different than challenging oneself. Rather than seeking mentally challenging activities to master, this principle involves removing simplification and efficiency from daily activities in order to stretch the mind to find new ways of completing the task, which creates new connections in the brain and helps it learn (Kuszewski, 2011). Kuszewski used illustrations of turning off the GPS while driving in a new city or turning off the spell check on a computer’s word processor (2011). The simplicity and efficiency offered by modern life can also contribute to the mind’s lethargy.
Networking is something of an added bonus because while it may not have a direct effect on cognitive growth, it creates opportunities for the other four principles. Constant direct exposure to people and situations outside one’s own field creates opportunities for novelty, challenging oneself, thinking creatively, and doing things the hard way (Kuszewski, 2011). Several of the suggested activities in “9 Ways to Develop Your Intelligence at Any Age” would increase one’s network, including sports, martial arts, group projects, and dramatic activities (Jaksch).
Personal Application
This is all great in theory and research, but how can this be applied to the classroom? I teach high school English and am already using several of these principles in various ways, as English lends itself quite easily to some of them. However, the research for this essay has challenged me to redouble my efforts and increase the intentional use of these principles even more.
I already challenge my students to seek novelty by requiring research topics outside of their current expertise or comfort zone. They are given parameters for their writing assignments that I specifically design to force them to research something they have little to no experience in. I can increase their mindset of seeking novelty even more by having them contribute their own ideas for topics that they are unfamiliar with but might enjoy learning about.
Students challenge themselves in my English classroom on a regular basis through sentence diagramming. This activity challenges their minds to find the connections between the words even if they do not have the grammatical terminology memorized yet. I can create even more opportunities for students to challenge themselves by increasing my own arsenal of grammar-based activities and games to employ in the classroom.
Thinking creatively hopefully comes naturally in my classroom, as I prime my students’ minds for increased synaptic connections through the use of quiet, calming music nearly every day. I also use funny “tricks” to help them remember certain grammatical concepts through non-grammatical associations (i.e., “Pronouns are so good at replacing nouns that they went pro!”)
Every so often I do things the hard way by having students write a short in-class essay by hand instead of using their laptops. I still require them to write correctly, but handwriting removes their capability to easily edit a previous paragraph, use spell check, or look up a word they are having a hard time coming up with. I encourage them to plan ahead instead of going back to edit, sound a word out rather than look it up, and think of a different way to say something if they cannot think of a word they wanted to use. These activities require extra work during class and to grade, but removing the technological safeguards of writing once a month hones their writing abilities in future assignments.
Networking is the principle I struggle most to encourage correctly in my classroom. I prefer for students to do their own work and therefore avoid group projects, but there are still abundant opportunities for students to work together. Review games can be done in groups, ungraded assignments could be reformatted as group activities, and presentations can also be done by a group instead of individuals, with certain parameters.
Teaching in a way that improves students’ fluid intelligence doesn’t mean we have to abandon content or even crystallized intelligence. Students still need to know the parts of speech, types of sentences, and how to form various verb tenses. However, all teachers should also work on incorporating mentalities and methods that spark the growth of fluid intelligence.
References
Jaksch, M. (n.d.) 9 ways to develop your intelligence at any age. GoodlifeZEN. https://goodlifezen.com/9-ways-to-evelop-your-intelligence-at-any-age/
Kuszewski, A. (March 7, 2011). You can increase your intelligence: 5 ways to maximize your cognitive potential. Scientific American. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/you-can-increase-your-intelligence-5-ways-to-maximize-your-cognitive-potential/
Pearl, D. (2019). Create a better brain through neuroplasticity: A manual for mamas. Pleasantville: No Greater Joy Ministries.
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