How knowledge is acquired

We all know learning when we see it! Or at least, many would make this claim. But we do not learn in a straightforward way – it is more staccato – we listen, we try, we concentrate, we try again, we make mistakes, we correct, and we learn together. Over the past century we have learnt a lot about learning, and this chapter looks at these findings grouped under three major topics:

a six principles of acquisition;

b six principles of memory retention; and

c five aspects of handling information overload.