Parallel learning: where more is more
I am working on several learning projects that employ parallel learning to cement new thoughts and connect them together to form meaningful memories. For example, I am preparing a class that teaches the Talk Well method (as it sounds, a method for helping you talk better) in the midst of a wine tasting. Participants will learn about wine as they learn conversation tools that will improve how they talk with each other.
Our brains like learning in small blasts. We like employing what we learn in a separate context to see how it works. We like connecting diverse things that do not at first seem connected. The faster we put to work what we learn, the better the chance it will stick. Learning two things at once, particularly one as pleasurable as wine tasting, can add to, and not detract, from how well we learn both subjects. Go figure.