It often feels like, outside of the classroom, learning is a purely independent activity. Reading a difficult textbook at the desk in your room. Facing down a math worksheet, struggling to figure out the problems. Staring at a mostly-empty word document, wondering how to start your essay.
But learning is actually a deeply interdependent activity. Humans are, by nature, interdependent. We’re not meant to go it alone. We’re a tribal species. And although we don’t live in hunter-gatherer tribes anymore, we’re still meant to work together.
Whether you realize it or not, you’re already a member of several “tribes,” which vary greatly in size and composition: your family, your friend group, your school’s grade level, the soccer team, Ms. Nguyen’s 4th period Biology class, your city, your nation, etc. All of these tribes are designed to be, on some level, mutually supportive.
The proverbial lone wolf doesn’t even exist. Wolves live in packs; they hunt together. A wolf with no pack won’t survive. So don’t be a lone wolf.
You Have Permission to Get Help
The interdependence of human learning means that it’s okay to get help. If the teacher has office hours or tutorial, go. If you have access to knowledgeable family members or tutors, use them. If you have friends taking the same courses, help each other out.
Many students mistake working together with peers for cheating. Now, dividing up the homework problems and copying each other’s work is cheating. But working together on difficult problems and helping each other learn is a perfectly legitimate strategy. It’s called having a study group.
Be Resourceful
Interdependent learning also means using your resources. Often, when students are trying to figure things out at home, they forget about the resources that are readily available. They get stuck, can’t figure it out on their own, and give up. They forget that the teacher left helpful PowerPoint slides up on Canvas. They forget about Khan Academy’s videos and great YouTube teachers like The Organic Chemistry Tutor and Heimler’s History. They don’t open the textbook.
Make Use of Other People’s Minds
Interdependent learning also means tapping into the minds of other people. You don’t have to know those minds personally; you can just access their knowledge via the internet or books. One of humanity’s distinguishing features is the way we accumulate and pass down knowledge. The modern world is a product of that process, played out over millennia. So give yourself permission to be human and embrace the interdependent nature of human learning.
Learning is difficult, so studying effectively requires a strategic approach. But you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You can seek out and utilize the mechanical solutions other people have figured out. Tap into humanity’s collective wisdom. Use what psychologists and neuroscientists have discovered to make learning easier.
Embracing Interdependence Leads to Greater Independence
Ironically, I often speak of helping students become better at learning independently. By this, I mean learning outside of the classroom. And one of the best ways to become a more independent learner is to embrace the interdependence of learning: asking for help when you need it, working with your peers to figure things out, using resources that other people have made, and borrowing strategies that other people have figured out.
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