We all used to doodle when we were in school. Cartoon faces, birds with crests of all kinds, elegant butterflies, and leaf forms were among the images that adorned the margins of our notebooks. These automatically made long lectures seem more entertaining. Sketching happy faces, hearts, and a variety of shapes in the margins of notebooks is a popular classroom activity that might irritate teachers. Nobody ever views doodling as an effective learning tool.
It turns out that both pupils and teachers are unaware of the educational benefits that doodling can provide. It does not have to be a hindrance to learning.
Teachers and parents always view doodling as a frivolous activity that diverts attention from the learning process. Doodling, however, stimulates creativity, intellectual engagement, and attention retention in pupils. Continue reading to learn the role of doodling as an effective learning tool and how it can help you study more effectively.
Advantages of Doodling as an Effective Learning Tool
To begin with, doodling can keep the brain engaged when there is not enough stimulation to keep it interested. Consider doodling as a way to fill in the blanks in your stimulation. Yes, it could be a student’s approach of dealing with uninteresting material. However, it does not imply that the learner is tuning out. In fact, studies demonstrate that doodlers remember material better than non-doodlers.
However, there is another approach to use doodling as an effective learning tool to encourage children to become more active learners.
Educators can encourage pupils to doodle or sketch what they are learning
We already know that the more senses we use, the more we learn. For instance, if students are studying photosynthesis, they may take notes to keep the material verbal. They could, however, make diagrams of the procedure. This would aid their verbal and visual learning of the knowledge by allowing them to listen to what the teacher is saying and create drawings of the process. The drawing process would also aid in their assimilation of the knowledge, resulting in effective learning.
• Encourages the Use of Imagination
The very first benefit of using doodling as an effective learning tool is that it can help students who struggle with verbal reasoning and text-based classes come up with new ideas and kick-start the creative process. It is a low-risk practice that allows pupils to experiment with new material without having to worry about being judged or failing.
Doodling avoids the mistake of critiquing as you go, which every poet or writer knows is the easiest way to stifle the creative process. Students who doodle recruit deeper brain connections than those who only use words, resulting in a stronger bond with the content.
• Maintains Brain Activity
Even the best teachers will not be able to keep all of their students’ attention at all times. Individualized education has recently attracted a lot of attention since varied presentations appeal to various students. Doodling can keep the mind active and on task for kids who are not engaged by a lesson. It also allows doodlers to customize the session’s meaning.
When the student does not stimulate the brain enough, it creates its own content, diverting thoughts into fantasy. Doodling helps to keep the mind focused on the present moment and the activity at hand.
• Additional Senses are Recruited
Doodling counts as a visual learning tool, and educators have long recognized the benefits of multimodal learning. For instance, it can aid in the rapid and concise capture of extremely complex and subtle information. Drawing an animation of mitosis, for example, might be more beneficial to a biology student than reading about it for hours.
Similarly, studies demonstrate that the more senses used in learning, the better the concept is remembered. Doodling helps to engage the brain by activating the senses of sight and sound. Although doodling still has a negative reputation in schools, attitudes are changing. The scientific evidence in favor of doodling in the classroom is substantial. It has numerous benefits ranging from improved memory to increased attention span.
• Improves the Recollection of Memories
Numerous studies show that doodling boosts the memory of the subject a student is learning while drawing. This is an additional advantage of using doodling as an effective learning tool. The University of Plymouth, for instance, had participants listen to a long, tedious voicemail message detailing the names of those attending a party. On an unanticipated memory quiz, the group told to doodle while listening remembered 29 percent more than the group that merely listened.
Academic Benefits of Doodling
The investigation is not through yet. As per a Huffington Post article, Jackie Andrade, a psychology professor at Plymouth University who researched doodlers, “Doodling uses the brain’s executive resources – processes that help us strategize, multi-task, and focus.”
While we are listening to a lecture or are on the phone, using drawings to engage our executive resources ensures that they do not wander off to ponder about the shopping list or our plans for the weekend. Encouraging pupils to doodle while taking notes may really help them remember more.
Jesse Prinz, a philosophy professor at City University of New York Graduate Center who examined doodling in the context of art study, discovered that the technique is best suited for oral learning, according to the same article. Doodling, he claims, allows people to be in a condition of “pure listening.” That appears to be knowledge that teachers should be aware of and employ.
Concluding Remarks
You will discover a flood of diaries and sketch pads in your neighborhood gift or bookshop that promise to help stressed-out individuals reconnect with their creative side. People are more overwhelmed than ever before in the modern world. There is a wealth of information and opportunities available. This abundance, on the other hand, might contribute to tension and a lack of focus.
Doodling, according to research, can help us relax, process information, and solve problems creatively. Serious doodling affects your physical and neurological states in measurable ways.
This brings to mind a phrase from Pablo Picasso: “All children are artists. The issue is how to stay that way as we get older.” Doodling is one technique for everyone, whether or not they are artistically inclined, to stay visual thinkers. A blank sheet can act as an extension of the brain’s playing field. It allows people to rewrite and develop their creative ideas and thoughts.
Image Sources: Shutterstock and Unsplash
For more information on doodling as an effective learning tool, visit our blog.
Create. Engage. Inspire.
