How to Learn Better: Evidence for Well-Known But Little-Used Technique

When people allow themselves to rest and reflect on things they have previously learned, they also become better at learning in the future, a new study finds.

While it’s now established that resting the mind strengthens past memories, the new research shows that it can also be beneficial to future learning.
Dr. Alison Preston, who led the research, said:

“We’ve shown for the first time that how the brain processes information during rest can improve future learning.

We think replaying memories during rest makes those earlier memories stronger, not just impacting the original content, but impacting the memories to come.”

In the research participants had to memorize pairs of photos (Schlichting & Preston, 2014).

In between tasks they were given time to rest, during which their brains were scanned.

The results showed that those who spent this time reflecting on what they’d learnt earlier in the day performed better on what they learned later on.

Dr. Preston continued:

“Nothing happens in isolation.
When you are learning something new, you bring to mind all of the things you know that are related to that new information.
In doing so, you embed the new information into your existing knowledge.”

This technique could be used in education to help students learn, Preston said:

“A professor might first get them thinking about the properties of electricity.

Not necessarily in lecture form, but by asking questions to get students to recall what they already know.

Then, the professor might begin the lecture on neuronal communication.

By prompting them beforehand, the professor might help them reactivate relevant knowledge and make the new material more digestible for them.”

In fact, it’s a technique we can all use: now we have the evidence that resting and reflecting also helps future learning, there’s all the more reason to put the book down for a moment and ponder…

Source: Psyblog via feedspot.com

Taking time to review and reflect on what students have just learned is something every teacher, every professor should be encouraging (and remembering to encourage) in every class and every student. Its importance in retaining information cannot be overstated.

Thailand to Revise Vias and Work Permit Rules

Here is a report from THE NATION, one of Thailand's premier English Language newdspapers with some good news for teachers:

Work permit, visa proposals get positive response
Erich Parpart
The Nation

• Procedures to be improved for foreign investors
• two-year visa for teachers
• online 90 day reporting
• improved procedure for work permit application

BANGKOK: -- The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking has given an update on its proposals to amend the country's visa and work-permit regulations, which it says have received a positive response - with some areas already having been fixed by government agencies.

Issara Wongkusolkij, president of the JSCCIB and chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, yesterday said the main amendment to the work-permit regulations proposed to the government concerned the separation of regulations for unskilled immigrant workers and foreign investors, in order to provide more support for investors, alongside the improvement of various business and foreign visas.

Kalin Sarasin, secretary-general of the Chamber, said there had been a meeting between the interior minister, the Labour Ministry, the Immigration Bureau, the Foreign Ministry, the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the JSCCIB, among others, on September 10.

The outcome of the discussion has already led to some changes in the visa and work-permit regulations, he added.

These include an improved procedure regarding applications for work permits, an online option for 90-day reporting, and the exemption from work-permit regulations for a foreign businessperson merely in the Kingdom for a meeting, although a business operator who wants to have authorisation power will still require a work permit.

Business operators who want to visit an exhibition in Thailand will also be exempted from having to get a work permit, but they will still need one if they want to open a booth or trade at a fair.

However, if it is a state-run exhibition, such as "Thai-Fex World of Food", any foreign operator who wants to open a booth or trade at the event will not require a work permit.

Meanwhile, foreign teachers can now apply for a maximum two-year visa, but they need a work permit guaranteeing their employment.

Foreign students will still need to apply for a year-on-year visa, while foreigners who want to visit to use the healthcare service in Thailand will be granted a permit to stay up to 60-90 days, with an extension possible with the presentation of a doctor's certificate.

However, Kalin said the information regarding work-permit and visa regulations, procedures and applications still needed to be more widely available and much easier to understand, and the JSCCIB urged government agencies to increase the use of technology in order to provide better access for foreigners.

Darren Buckley, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand, said he appreciated every government effort to simplify the procedure for getting a work permit and the improvement of visa requirements for businesspersons visiting Thailand on a temporary basis, as the system had overcomplicated matters.

If the system is simpler and better organised, it would improve foreign investors' sentiment, he said, adding the impact of the new regulations remained to be seen, however, as they were only introduced last month.

Source: http://www.nationmul...e-30244996.html

11 Circle Expressions

A circle is a perfectly round plane figure. The fact that a circle may be drawn from beginning to end without a break makes it a powerful symbol. The word circle occurs in many English idioms, often as a symbol of wholeness or repetition.

1. the circle of life: the cycle of reproduction and survival, from birth to death.

2. circle of hell: a place of punishment in the afterlife, from The Inferno. Dante describes nine circles or areas in which souls are punished according to the nature of their sins. 

3. family circle: a theatrical term to describe the seating area farthest from the stage (aka “upper circle”). In general usage, family circle refers to a person’s closest family members. The word circle can refer to any intimate group of friends. The expression “inner circle” refers to a small influential group of people who run things in politics, business, or the like.

4. vicious circle: in logic, a vicious circle results when a false premise is followed by a true premise. In general usage, a vicious circle refers to a situation in which no progress or improvement can be made. Sometimes the expression “vicious cycle” is used instead.

5. to run circles around: to surpass with little effort. Similar term: “to run rings round.” 

6. to come full circle: to complete a series of events; to come back to one’s starting place. 

7. to go in circles: to repeat the same action without arriving at the desired place. 

8. to square the circle: to attempt the impossible.
Other expressions draw on the verb circle, “to put a circle around something” or “to move in a circular direction.” 

9. to circle the drain: to be on the way out. The image is that of the last of the water draining from a bathtub.

10. to circle the subject: to avoid saying anything specific about a topic of discussion.

11. to circle the wagons: to take a defensive position. The image is that of migrating American settlers arranging their wagons in a circle as a barricade against attacking Indians. 

Note: The expression “to circle the wagons” is seen frequently in headlines and in articles about economics. The economists seem to view the American economy “as a fortress, a circle of wagons, as it were, that can be readily defined and defended” (Robert Reno, Newsday). Contemporary American Indians often find this expression offensive. 

Here are some examples of these expressions gathered from the Web:

Raising Backyard Chickens to Teach Children the Circle of Life
If the road to publication is comprised of all the circles of hell, the first circle, I am telling you, is the “not right for me” or “didn’t connect with the voice” circle.

Our sincere thoughts and prayers are with the Paisley family and the wider family circle.

The conditions exist for a vicious circle involving voting and civic duty, whereby nonvoters decrease their belief in the importance of voting and therefore become less likely to vote in future elections.

Ray Allen Running Circles Around Garnett, Pierce, Nets so Far
Fifteen years ago, Ana Patricia Botín was pushed out of her senior job at Banco Santander … by the bank’s chairman, who also happened to be her father. On Wednesday, Ms. Botín’s … career came full circle, with her being named chairman after her father’s sudden death.

To be fair and to bring the story full circle, many of Brown’s accomplishments had their origins in Brown’s administrations in the 1970s and early ’80s. 

Washington state goes in circles over drone regulations.
Pensions and Social Care for the Elderly: Trying to Square the Circle

Circling the Drain: Can the Euro Be Saved, Or Is It Doomed?
There’s been a lot of talk this year about online learning at Concordia. Board of Governors and Senate meetings keep circling the subject.

US investors circle the wagons, hope Fed rides to rescue

Source: Daily Writing Tips