Laborious Learning

It is a common belief in educational circles that teaching people new ideas and facts works best when the learning process is made smooth and relatively easy. Teachers in schools usually assume that lessons have been successful when the concepts are easy to grasp—and today we have so many high-tech ways of simplifying learning, with computer graphics, animation, and other eye-catching techniques.

Yet current scientific research is showing that our brains respond better and learn more thoroughly when they face some difficulty. When classroom material is not easy to absorb, students tend to retain it better over the long run, as well as grasp it on a deeper level. It seems that when we force our gray matter to struggle, we actually become better learners. One experiment at Princeton University, for example, showed that students absorbed material to a greater degree when it was printed in a difficult font that forced them to work harder.

This result, of learning better when we struggle, is sometimes called “desirable difficulties,” to describe the idea that learning should be a challenge. Students at the University of Washington found that handwriting activated more of their brain than keyboard writing. Some teachers have noted that composing essays or poetry easily on computers—rather than experiencing the struggle of writing them out by hand—leads to much longer (and more boring) compositions.

Here are a few additional examples of laborious learning: The internet brings us riches of information, but it does not necessarily mean that we retain more knowledge or can express ourselves better. Hand calculators make an instant math whiz of anyone, and yet many youngsters today don't really grasp the mathematical concepts accomplished by that little whiz of a machine. Many artists find that their creativity is greater when they must struggle with the simple tools they have at hand, rather than gain access to high-tech tools. Modern recording studios offer a rich and easily accessible variety of electronic toys, which too often results in boring and pedestrian music.

When we face no obstacles—when life is easy—we are more likely to become unsure of what we really want or where we're headed. When we face distractions, however, it can cause us to dig a little deeper inside ourselves, to access greater cognitive ability. Our mind goes into high gear and we are more likely to generate unusual and creative connections, than when things are easy and our mind is on idle.

I'm an old man now. When I was a kid I remember my mom advising me that “you have to work hard in life, to get those things of value.” I guess Mom was either ahead of her time or was voicing an ancient truism that current scientific research is finding fascinating ways to validate.