Tip Bit #6: lessons out of the blue

You can find learning opportunities in most unexpected places.   Yesterday, I found one on a bag of wild blueberries that I bought at a grocery store.  The bag had a nice graph of total antioxidant capacity for various berries from the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.  Oddly enough, I welcomed this opportunity to learn about berries and their antioxidant qualities even though it was a marketing technique on the part of the company:  wild blueberries have the highest antioxidant capacity after all.  But the point of tip bit #6 is not to read the messages on bags and boxes although you may learn something about warranties this way.  Rather, the point is to look for learning opportunities outside your usual learning environment.  Don’t pack your “legal hat” into the backpack with your books and notes.  Wear it in the real world.  We learn best when we can connect the material to real life situations we encounter.  I am more likely to remember the chart if I see it on the bag of blueberries that I like than if I study it in a textbook. Look for contexts where the concepts you are studying become relevant and test your knowledge.   You can also learn out of the blue.