This topic has really opened my eyes not just to how I should be teaching once I become a professor but also how I am currently learning as a student. As I was reading about the difference between mindful learning and mindless learning I realized that I may be more prone to mindless learning which is something that I will now actively try to fix. I feel that my learning and study habits have actually gotten worse since being in grad school. This is most likely because I am so focused on my research projects that I don’t leave enough time to focus on my course work (for example I left writing this blog post until the very last minute again this week). This is something that I will really strive to work on in my last few semesters as a student. I think that if become a mindful learner it will help me to become a better professor, who can hopefully instill the importance of mindful learning onto my students. I definitely think that I have gotten caught in the habit of doing my assignments just to get them done and studying the material that I think will most likely be on an exam rather than trying to really understand and absorb the material. This is a major issue that I didn’t even realize I had and I am really glad that this topic came up so early on in the semester so that I can attempt to change my habits now.
Devine Thoughts 
Thanks for posting, Christina! I’m hoping you can expand on your plans to become more mindful; What aspects of mindful learning do you find to be important? How do you think you can curb your mindless learning habits and shift your focus into being more mindful in your learning and eventual teaching?
LikeLike
One aspect of mindful learning that really stuck out to me is critical thinking. This was a skill that I used to pride myself on and was one of the main reasons I decided to go into the field of engineering. Throughout my high school and even during my undergraduate career I think I excelled in my classes (especially in science and math) because I was able to think critically about what I was learning. I loved learning new concepts and being able to relate them to things that I already knew or see how these concepts would be used for future topics in my classes.
I’m not sure if it’s because I am a little burnt out from being in school for so long or if it’s because I no longer have as much time to focus on my assignment but I feel like I am no longer thinking critically about the concepts that I am learning.
I am currently in this mindset of “ok I need to read all of these articles so that I can come up with a blog post and get the points I need for this assignment” I think this touches on the subject of delayed gratification that Langer discussed. I am just putting in my work now so that I can receive a good grade at the end of the semester. What I now realize is that I should go into each weeks readings with the intent to gain new knowledge about teaching concepts and get a better understanding of how I would like to apply these concepts to develop my own teaching style over time.
As many of my classmates have commented below balancing research and course work is very difficult and usually research takes priority because it is deemed more important. For the most part I can agree with that however I do think that learning is important and will make an effort to manage my time more efficiently so that I can allow myself to think more about the readings and assignments that I am doing, because if I am not actively trying to learn while I am doing my assignments then I am really just wasting my time which is something that I can’t afford to do. If I am going to take time away from my research I should make sure that I am actually gaining something from my efforts not just getting it done for a grade.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing your personal experience! I sure feel it is important to allocate time for both course work and research. I also believe that students might copy our habits since they look up to us, especially the younger ones, which makes it more important for us to plan our time well and become more mindful in both our teaching and learning.
LikeLike
I can definitely relate to the student habits that you have pointed out. Rushing through assignments or just getting stuff done instead of absorbing the material (I am definitely guilty of that). But it is difficult to focus on your research and balance course work all at the same time so don’t be so hard on yourself. You also mentioned that how the article helped you reflect on how you learn as a student and how being a mindful learner can help you be a better professor and help you incorporate and teach mindful learning to your students. That is such a great break down and linear concept! Thank you for sharing such personal thoughts I hope to do this as well after I have read the article and your blog post I feel more encouraged!
LikeLike
The thing is, sometimes it’s not worth our time to actually put more effort on a course than we actually do. This is something I wanted to stress in the class when I saw Michael Wesch’s TED talk. We have a finite time, 24 hours each day and we need to rationally allocate time to every activity. If you place more emphasis on your research projects than your courses, then you should not think that there is something wrong going on with you, it means it is the rational thing to do: your research will add more value to your career than getting an A in your classes.
This is something Mr. Wesch, whose talks I find very interesting, should also take into account. There might actually be a rational decision making when a student chooses not to do his best during a class. It does not mean than the teacher has necessarily failed. A student might rationally decide that allocating 50% of his total focus/ability/whatever is the optimal action.
LikeLike
I also have the same feeling that I don’t have enough time on my course work. One reason may be that course work is important but not urgent as research projects. Also, since we are graduate students, a lot of advanced classes are very difficult or sometimes we feel that we had learned the same staff in four courses before, which makes us get bored easily. How to devote more time on courses and enjoy them as a freshman is a big problem.
LikeLike
You raise an interesting topic here. I think that part of it might also be just the challenge of taking on so many different tasks (research, multiple classes, extracurriculars, etc.) at the same time (in the same semester). Even though you may want to dedicate more time and effort to each one of them, it just seems impossible if you want to actually keep up and putting some work into ALL of them. I recall having this feeling during my undergrad and now in grad school where there were certain classes that really sparked my interest and I wish I could spend more time digging a little deeper into a particular topic but felt frustrated by the reality of all of my other commitments waiting to be tended to. I recall reading, a while ago, about a college that decided to change the curriculum as to teach one course at a time. The time of course would be condensed in order for students to still take the same amount of credits in a semester as the more conventional structure but they would focus on a single course at a time. I think this is one way to address the overload and perceived ‘lack of effort’ that comes from taking on too many things at the same time.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing your insight. I also came to realize that the practice of mindfulness may be beneficial not only in reducing our stress but also in better achieving in the educational settings. The fact that we have limited time to finish a heavy work load pushes us to choose the easiest and rigid ways to handle our tasks. Yet taking the time to observe and reflect on our practices, we may come up with more creative, interesting and/or efficient solutions to our tasks.
LikeLike
Making the best out of life and opportunities requires one to practice mindfulness. The world is constantly changing and the methods of teaching must also be adjusted according! I believe, my study habits have decrease as well since being in graduate school. I attribute this bad habit to experiences with mindlessness learning. Things become so mundane and standardized, and I feel myself becoming burnt out…Maybe we have been professional students for far too long.
LikeLike