Learning Curve What it is and how it is defined

The term learning curve It is commonly used in educational environments, and its first mention dates from 1936. Who introduced the concept was the aeronautical engineer TP Wright, in order to be able to keep track of the production of aircraft assemblies.

Appearance of the learning curve

It was originally oriented towards industry, where its symbols represented the time that a man needed to complete a production unit, time that had to decrease in each new round.

At that time, employers began to realize that the most trained and experienced workers could do twice the production than those who only had a few weeks of work. A fact that, curiously, TP Wright was also able to observe during his research on aeronautical production systems..

In the 1980s, with the popularity of minimally invasive surgery, the learning curve began to relate to those doctors who had the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the best surgical intervention.

Suppose we are a patient, and we need to choose a surgeon to perform an operation. It is common that we come to think that the one who leaves the operating room faster is the one who will have more experience and consequently will be able to perform a more effective work, which reveals the efficiency of the professional who applies the intervention.

Concept extension

It was in 2001, where a different concept began to be given to the learning curve, defining it as the result of interaction of the person with the environment.

“The learning curve becomes the result of experience, of man's contact with his environment. Evidence of new learning occurs when a person expresses a controlled response, either internally or externally "

Theoretical bases that support the learning curve

To understand the learning curve, we must first understand how learning occurs. Psychology observes it from 3 schools or aspects; constructivism, cognitivism, and behaviorism.

Constructivist approach

The learning curve from a constructivist (or humanist) approach could be distinguished as follows:

Unconscious incompetence

It is when a person does not know that he does not know, it is when we are ignorant of our own ignorance. At this point we are at the widest end of the learning curve..

An example of this would be to know all the cars that exist, it is rare to know them all. Normally only collectors, mechanics or car lovers know this type of data ... But we want to be specialists.

Conscious incompetence

Here the person becomes aware of what he was ignorant of or does not master. It is here where the person is motivated to learn, wanting to enlighten his mind. Now is when we want to know everything about cars.

Conscious competition

It is when the desired skills have been consciously learned. However, the game is so far, about to begin. We know brands, models and operation, but there is still much more to do

Unconscious competence

It occurs when the person has mastered an activity automatically. You do not need to dwell on the details because you are doing the activity without realizing it. For which guide or specialist if you already know everything you need to learn? There is no one who knows more about cars than you.

Cognitivist approach

For its part, cognitivism considers knowledge as a structure created by the subject, which is being shaped day after day thanks to the constant interaction between cognitive and social factors..

This allows the subject to process and self-manage the information obtained from the environment and give rise to new knowledge or mental constructions..

Cognitivism thus observes the learning curve ...

Sequentiality

This point means that stages in the acquisition of new knowledge cannot be skipped. We cannot run if until now we start walking

Integration

New ideas are put into contemplation with old ones to create new thought patterns. Here we have to ask an expert (that is, ourselves), how we can organize everything we are learning.

Overall structure

It refers to the fact that it is not possible to think differently from the current stage of thought, which is dictated by the biological stage in which the subject is passing. The manager has his concerns, we do not have to worry about his problems or responsibilities while we are not there yet ...

Logical description

Worthy and representative of a mathematical logical thinking, which predominates in our cognitive system, reaching a certain development and biological maturity.

2 + 2 = 4… When we get to this point, our reasoning is much more elaborate, creating alternative concepts and stories to try to explain what happens in our lives..

Behavioral approach

Behaviorism, for its part, observes different evaluative criteria to discern how the human being assimilates new experiences:

1. It is learned by associating stimuli with responses.
2. The environment conditions our learning
3. Learning is not lasting, it needs to be reinforced.
4. Knowledge is rote, repetitive and mechanical and responds to stimuli.

Remember that classical behaviorism is reductionist, therefore it does not take into account factors such as consciousness or thought to explain its postulates. However, he very precisely explains how learning occurs from his branch of study.

As observed in all the theories raised, learning will always be gradual, it will always happen gradually. Therefore, the greater our degree of practical knowledge in an area, the narrower and more reduced the curve will become, you will see why.

The development of a particular skill is not only related to the education that we perceive from a specialist or the environment, but the modality also influences our learning process. For example, learning to shoot a target in a game from a Smartphone is not the same as being in an open field, with a bow, arrow and a target 20M from your position..

In certain activities, learning environments play a fundamental role in acquiring the desired knowledge.

Understanding the context: We all go through the learning curve

From a general perspective you can look at the learning curve from the following evolutionary and practical approach:

1. It encourages change, because who experiences it, learns something that was previously unknown.
2. It involves the development of skills and new abilities.
3. It is a process that results from constant practice, trial and error.

In order to properly measure the learning curve, we need to understand how your progress rates work.. The higher the learning rate, the shorter the learning curve.. This will be the only time that 60% will be higher than 80%.

For a person to learn any knowledge or skill, he must first be interested in that knowledge. There must be a learning need that encourages the individual to want to deepen, or at least master the subject in question, as seen in discovery learning.

The learning curve is full of values ​​and intrinsic information of the individual, which can be confronted by the new data that is discovering.

At this point you must have critical or abstract thinking, to avoid getting carried away by emotions and making unobjective judgments in relation to what we are now discovering and that can make us improve as people or professionals.

"Let us always remember that practice, discipline and repetition are the behaviors that will allow us to obtain sufficient experience to master any type of knowledge"