Conoce tu cerebro para aprender a aprender: Héctor Ruiz Martín’s Study Guide for Young Learners
Your brain is far more powerful than you think. Conoce tu cerebro para aprender a aprender (Get to Know Your Brain to Learn How to Learn) is a guide for young students that explains what scientists have discovered about the actions and circumstances that make the brain learn more effectively.
Author: Héctor Ruiz Martín
Title: Conoce tu cerebro para aprender a aprender (2020)
Format: Spanish paperback (Learning Bits), 140 pages
Scope: Study guide for students, based on the science of learning
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/8412213432 (ASIN 8412213432)
Strategies That Work
Some study strategies make learning noticeably easier, and each person’s motivation can make a big difference. When new vocabulary is hard to remember, you can use similar-sounding words or phrases: in Spanish, onomatopeya becomes "¡O no me atropella!", and the phases of cell division, prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase, become "Prometo, Ana, Telefonear".
Summaries, Diagrams and Analogies
Writing short summaries or simplified diagrams of a large body of information also helps. Analogies are a good way to explain complex concepts to yourself: a bus packed with people can illustrate density, the amount of matter per unit of space. These and many other techniques support learning and develop memory.
Attention and Planning
Focusing attention, reducing distractions and creating a relaxed working environment make it easier to concentrate and so to learn. Combining practice with study and planning your time well are essential.
About the Author
Héctor Ruiz Martín is a Spanish biologist who has devoted his career to bringing research on learning and memory into schools. He directs the International Science Teaching Foundation and has written widely for teachers. His best-known work, ¿Cómo aprendemos?, is a careful review of the science of learning aimed at educators; this short book takes the same ideas and puts them in the hands of students themselves.
Why the Science Matters
Many students study in ways that feel productive but are not: rereading notes again and again, underlining whole pages, or cramming the night before an exam. Research on memory has shown that what really helps is making the brain work: trying to recall information without looking, explaining it in your own words, and coming back to it after some time has passed. A book that explains why some habits work and others do not can save students a great deal of wasted effort.
Written for Young Readers
The tone is direct and friendly, with short chapters, everyday examples and memorable tricks like the ones the reviewer mentions. It avoids jargon and does not lecture: the aim is for students to understand how their own memory works so that they can choose better strategies for themselves. That is what "learning to learn" means here, and it is a skill that lasts well beyond school.
How to Use It
It is short enough to read in a weekend, but it is most useful when students try out one or two strategies at a time and see the results in their own work. Parents and teachers can read it alongside them; the ideas are just as useful for adults who are studying for exams or learning a new language.
A Book Worth Giving
It makes a thoughtful present for a student starting secondary school, or for one who works hard but feels the results do not reflect the effort. Understanding that memory can be trained, and that difficulty is often a sign of real learning, can change a young person’s attitude to study.
Who Is It For?
Secondary-school students, and the parents and teachers who help them. It is only available in Spanish; the author’s book for adults, How Do We Learn?, is a different and much longer work.
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