Study Technology
What is Study Technology
Study Technology is a tremendous discovery made in the field of education by educator and humanitarian Mr L Ron Hubbard. With this technology, an individual is provided with the means to learn any subject with full understanding. During his humanitarian research, Mr Hubbard discovered three quite distinct barriers to learning – each with its own set of physiological and mental reactions. These reactions can be quite uncomfortable and unpleasant and can bar an individual from being able to learn or even wanting to learn.
For example, have you ever had the experience of reading a paragraph and suddenly finding yourself staring at the bottom of the page feeling blank, without having a clue about what you just read? Well, that is just one of the effects of going past a word or symbol that was not understood. Study Technology provides the procedure for finding such misunderstood words and getting them properly defined. This procedure remedies the blankness that can be encountered during study, along with other reactions caused by misunderstood words – such as feeling tired for no apparent reason, or nervous and upset. Having misunderstood words is one of the barriers to study.
Another barrier is called too steep a gradient – where an individual is trying to study something or carry out an action that he finds too difficult. This can cause an individual to feel, for example, confused. The remedy is not to keep on trying to do the same thing but to go back earlier and find out what action or datum in the learning process was missed. The trick is to study one step at a time and not go on to the next step until you have mastered the one you are on. Yet another barrier is studying without the mass (the physical objects of the subject being studied) present.
The reactions this can cause include feeling bored or exasperated or having a headache or your eyes hurting. The remedy is simple – get the mass, the thing itself or a reasonable substitute for it such as a model or a picture of it. If you’re going to teach someone about motorbikes, have a motorbike right there along with any written materials about it.
How Do We Implement It?
This gives you some idea about what Study Technology is. By having teachers and students know and understand Study Technology, learning becomes an effective, enjoyable and fulfilling activity, as an individual is able and can apply in life what has been studied.
All Teaching Staff at Greenfields undergo training on Study Technology as part of their induction so that they are familiar with the technology before teaching the students. The students themselves are introduced to Study Technology on a gradient as they progress up through the School.
Nursery and Reception
In the Nursery and Reception Class, the application of Study Technology is entirely in the hands of the teachers – who are mindful of the words that they use in front of the children, making sure to explain carefully what new words they introduce mean and are observant for any indicators in the children that suggest they have misunderstood something. The teachers provide plenty of pictures and, where possible, actual examples of things being learned about and take care not to move on to something new until a child understands the step they are currently on.
In the Infant School, the children are encouraged to let the teacher know if they do not understand a word being used or if they feel confused (too steep a gradient), bored (absence of mass), or if they are experiencing any other manifestations of the barriers to study.
Junior School
It is in Junior School where children are first introduced to courses on Study Technology, which teach them how to use a dictionary properly, what the Barriers to Study are and the physiological and mental reactions that they each cause.
In the Lower Seniors, knowledge of Study Technology is increased to include different ways of finding and handling misunderstood words, checking that other students have properly understood something they have been studying about, how to identify false data, and distinguishing between data that is important and data which is just nice to know. The result is a student who knows how to study anything they want to and how to understand and apply the information.
Upper School
Students in the Upper Seniors are expected to apply, in full, what they have learned about how to study to the study of their chosen GCSE and A-Level subjects. Their application of Study Technology is monitored by their teachers – who can request a review of any aspect of the technology that they are not applying. Students also have access to more advanced data relating to Study Technology, so that they can continue to improve their studies throughout their upper Senior Years.
Strange, is it not, that when one wants to drive a car, it is necessary to take driving lessons and pass a test before one is allowed to drive on a public road. Yet one can be placed in a classroom at four, or so, and told that one is now a pupil or a student! But what actually happened to make that possible? That’s just the point! NOTHING! Yet there is a whole body of information on HOW to BE a pupil or a student and to do the job properly. That information is to be found in the Study Technology!
jeff smith
Executive Head
Greenfields is an Applied Scholasticsâ„¢ School. Grateful acknowledgement is made to the L. Ron Hubbard Library for permission to reproduce selections from the copyrighted works of L. Ron Hubbard. Applied Scholastics and the Applied Scholastics Open Book design are trademarks and service marks owned by Association for Better Living and Education International and used with its permission.