Brain Matters: Leadership and Learning

Developing critical thought in leadership is a reflective experience that occurs physiologically through neuro-pathways in the brain. Reflection, however, seems to elude the quick pace of day to day management activity. Often managers spend their day responding to urgent needs, multi-tasking along the way. Reflection time for the sake of critical thought may be a rarity. However, there is an added risk to the development of critical thought that is far greater than what happens in the environmental work world. It is a risk you will find right in front of your eyes and at your fingertips. The threat is to the inner-working of the brain from constant contact and essential dependence on Internet interaction. In health care we use the internet to access patient records, analyze data, orient new employees, teach patients, provide in-service to staff, and communicate with colleagues. The Internet is used for every matter of business under the “health care sun” from accreditation to proposals of funding and research. We cannot escape the necessary use of the Internet. It has become a global phenomenon.

Research now provides evidence that frequent use of the Internet for social, professional and academic work, literally changes the brain. The human brain is plastic. It constantly changes. The circuitry is reworked and rewired based on input, attention and thought processes.1 As is seen in the musculature of a body, muscles that are used will develop, muscles not used atrophy.

Cognitive skills gained through learning on the Internet—such as scanning, sorting, and research—come at the expense of other mental skills that are essential to critical thought and applying newly acquired information.2, 3 The Internet promotes multitasking and juggling of numerous activities simultaneously to the exclusion of consideration and contemplation. Mental processes that are key to moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory are bypassed.1  For instance, when a person reads a book or a long printed article, attention is focused on one activity. Readers have deep engagement and use concentrated thinking. 4 However, reading the same material on the Internet poses a constant stream of interruptions. Distractions are inherent. Receiving an auditory or pop-up message notification while reading diverts attention every time it occurs. The appearance of a hyperlink embedded in text shifts a reader's thoughts and requires a decision on whether the additional information is needed. In addition to the “programmed distractions”, natural curiosity is a factor with unintended online encounters, encouraging diversions in thinking and reading, which leads to superficial learning.4

Thoughtful attention is required to create working pathways between short-term and long-term memory. Consequentially, it is only after data is coded to long-term memory that it can be combined with other stored memory to generate higher-ordered cognitive thought. Understanding, reflection, analysis, evaluation, application, and imagination are necessary elements involved in critical thought.

Realization of the fact that the Internet is changing the way people learn and think is key to leading learning with current and future generations. There are certain advantages to Internet use related to multitasking and quick decision making, but there are losses in processing data into information that is stored in long-term memory to be retrieved and applied to new situations.

As new leaders on board in organizations, it is a duty as experienced nurse managers and administrators to foster the development of critical thought. It appears that options available to balance methods of learning may be “old school”, but effective. Teaching methods have been identified by leading authors and researchers for offline environments that can be used to close the encoding gap between short-term and long-term memory.

The objective of all learning is to make it “stick”: that is, to lock in information so that it can be retrieved and applied later. Evidence-based techniques designed to make learning stick are addressed in the book Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning.5 One particularly effective technique is active retrieval and articulation. Immediate active retrieval facilitates moving information from short-term memory into long-term memory. Scientific studies have shown that immediate recall promotes better retention and long-term retrieval than repeated studying.6

Higher levels of proficiency can also be attained by educating through variety.15 Varied practice helps learners to gain abilities in assessing changing conditions and adjust their responses to fit different situations.

Relating new learning to what is already known – a reflective experience, builds connections that promote retention and applicability.15 Elaboration is a tool that can be used to deepen knowledge.5 Explaining and elaborating on what is known to help someone else understand requires deep thought and demonstrates that the nurse has achieved mastery of the topic.

As leaders of nurse leaders – it is a professional responsibility of nursing administrators to create a learning environment that supports critical thought and wisdom in decision-making. Recognizing how brains adapt to the Internet and identifying how we can promote professional development through alternative effective learning techniques is essential to meet the new needs of thought induced by our new and ever changing learning environment. *

Exerpts abridged from: Plonien, C. Leading Learning in the Internet Age, AORN Journal.2017; 105:4. P 350-352. http://www.aornjournal.org/article/S0001-2092(17)30137-0/fulltext

References

1. Pascual-Leone, A., Amedi, A., Fregni, F., and Merabet, L.B. The plastic human brain cortex. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2005; 28: 377–401

2. Rosser, J.C. Jr., Lynch, P.J., Cuddihy, L., Gentile, D.A., Klonsky, J., and Merrell, R. The impact of video games on training surgeons in the 21st century. Arch Surg. 2007; 142: 181–186

3. Greenfield, P. M. Technology and informal education: what is taught, what is learned. Science. 2009; 323: 69 – 71

4. Carr, N. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains. W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY; 2011

5. Brown, P.C. Roediger, H.L. III, and McDaniel, M.A. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; 2014.

6. Roediger, H.L. and Karpicke. J.D. Test-enahanced learning: Taking memory tests improcves long-term retention. Psychol, Sci. 2006; 17: 249-255.