My first Magazine Zealousness Issue 5 | Page 8

Education and Interest Education and Interest Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela Author: Ameera Khawaja When we are young, we develop a fear of subjects such as math, science, and history. Simply be- cause we don’t understand it or we are afraid of failing. Which in turn makes us feel like we could never do well with them and we make excuses that we might never even use such topics for daily life. With lots of facts, numbers and arguments to be remembered, studying these subjects can seem like a task, and motivation is inconsequential. To make and keep the process of studying easy and interesting, here are a few tried and successful methods: Use interactive learning We have it much easier than the generation before us and we should take full advantage of that. There is a world of information just a few clicks away from us- links to videos, audios, images, etc. exist on the internet for every topic under the sun. If someone does not find an image interesting, they can watch a video to build enthusiasm. Mixing up learning formats breaks up the monotony of just learning from textbooks. Reward yourself You must always reward yourself for your efforts as it motivates you to learn more and do bet- ter every time. Not only does it make acquiring knowledge fun, but it also makes the learner feel positive and happy. For example, a person can read a book for 30 minutes, and then treat himself to a 15-minute snack/TV break. You learn to challenge yourself and finish a task while attaining something, and at the end of the day you feel like you have learnt something new and have been productive. Getting to go out with friends, eating a sweet, and watching a TV show could all be rewards for getting a job done. 6 SPRING 2017 Make learning practical at numbers and pies on charts. Fractions can be tedious to learn and harder to teach, which is why we should keep it in- teresting. We must teach children and our- selves how important learning the percent- age of something is, and how is it used in adult life. By showing prac- tical applications of some- thing such as percentage, the concept becomes easy to grasp. For example, demonstrating with a cake is fun. You could cut the cake in halves, quarters, and beyond, depend- ing on what you’re explaining. It makes more sense this way, rather than just looking Make a game out of it Making games out of studying keeps the student interested and they strive to do bet- ter each time. For instance, when learning counting, one can play card games, or use flash cards to associate some- thing with the numbers. Or when learning names for history or geography, one can use learning aids such as mnemonics- learning the order of North, East, South & West. It’s common to learn it by ‘Never Eat Shredded Wheat’. Using such tactics, one can keep those troublesome facts, SPRING 20 17 7