Kognitivo: blog introduction

I'm Javier Santana, an Education professional full of passion and with 9+ years of experience. Kognitivo is my blog on the Science of Learning. Let me tell to you what drives me to write about this.

If you are like most people, you don’t know how to learn.

How to learn? Exactly, as in "learning". In general: not just what teenagers do in school, but also what you do when you cook a new recipe, when you’re figuring out how things work at a new company, when you untangle spicy gossip in a conversation (if only your brain had been that active during history class!), when you try new moves in your favorite sport, when you’re reading a novel and track the drama between the characters, when you ask the AI a nerdy question, when you're figuring out a new video game, when you’re starting to play a new instrument or when you’re saying your first words in a foreign language.

…or right now, reading a blog post to get a little smarter.

What ties all these situations together? Learning.

What is learning?

That's actually a philosophical question (I love philosophical questions): What does it mean to have learned something? How do you define knowledge? How can learning be best achieved? These questions have inspired quite some heavy philosophical and scientific books across history (not all of them good). And yet the question of learning is usually framed in an institutional context (schools, universities…).

However, in a deeper sense, learning is something that happens every day. If you have a brain (and you do have one, don’t you?), you’re constantly learning, whether you mean to or not.

Ok, so is learning a task? An ability? It's more than that: for humans, learning is a survival skill - and this isn’t a poetic license. Our relatively weak instincts are balanced by our capacity to build knowledge. Managed well, learning becomes a superpower. It’s the key to personal growth, unlocking potential in professional, artistic, and cultural domains. For those who master it, the joy of learning becomes a goal in itself.

But you already know that, don't you?

Most of us don’t know how to learn, but science does

You understand that learning is important, but do you know what's the best way to learn? Probably not. Ironically, most teachers expect their students to "just know" precisely that: how to learn. But no one is born with the skill of learning efficiently: it's not an instinctive one. It's acquired.

To the surprise of no one, research shows that most students use ineffective learning strategies. Why? Simply because they don't know any better. This is quite sad, since efficient learning strategies are actually well documented and there’s plenty of research backing them: science does have the answer, only you don’t.

Is the problem really that bad? Actually, it's worse. A study carried out in 2014 in the UK showed that high school students forget up to 60% of what they learned in high school only a year after finishing. Shocking? Let's make it personal! Here are 3 somewhat aggressive questions for you to reflect on:

• How much of what you learned in high school do you still remember? (Quadratic roots, anyone?)

• Could you pass now the exams you took at age 15?

• If you had to take an exam now, would you study differently? How?

So, what is the best way to learn? Enter Kognitivo

Part of the confusion around knowing how to learn better is simply not knowing where to begin. The Science of Learning is often buried behind paywalls or written in inaccessible academic language. That’s where Kognitivo steps in.

Kognitivo turns science into action,
so you can master how we learn and teach.

Kognitivo steals the fire from the gods of cognitive science and hands it to you. No ivory tower in sight: from learning theories to instructional design, Kognitivo breaks down one juicy topic at a time, making the Science of Learning engaging, fun and actionable. So learning can become your superpower too.

What you will learn will allow you to optimize how you communicate to maximize understanding: like good teachers do. Anyone who’s spent longer than a day at any organization (corporate, school…) knows how often projects derail due to miscommunication. The Science of Learning offers powerful and insightful answers to this issue. Kognitivo will unlock them for you!

Who knew your secret to professional growth might be learning about learning? Well, deep down you probably did.

And if you’re an education professional, Kognitivo will make you more confident when designing stronger, more impactful learning experiences, whether in a classroom, in print, or through an online course. You’ll gain tools to understand what works, what doesn’t, and how to optimize for better outcomes.

What to expect

Every week, Kognitivo delivers bite-sized, accessible posts about the Science of Learning: brief, easy to grasp, thought-provoking and just a little sassy. Every post is capped at 1000 words to keep it crisp, and ends with follow-up prompts you can use with your favorite AI chatbot to explore further.

Here’s a sneak peek at topics I’ll cover:

• cognitive load

• retrieval practice

• spaced repetition

• interleaving

• the myth of learning styles

• …and lots more brainy goodness.

Who’s behind Kognitivo?

I’m Javier Santana, an education professional from Gran Canaria, who lives in Tokyo, with 9+ years of experience in German ed-tech organizations. People who know me will tell you that I can hardly contain my energy when I throw myself into what I’m passionate about, I believe this passion is my secret weapon. I studied Philosophy (I love German philosophers like Nietzsche, Hegel and Kant) and my professional background is foreign language education: I’m a language nerd, I speak 5 languages fluently at the C1/C2 level (Spanish, German, English, French and Italian) and I’m learning my 6th one: Japanese.

More fun facts about me: I also have a not-so-secret passion for dancing, I love Pokémon, I’m really proud of my humble beard and I think Christmas is overrated.

Subscribe!

This blog and newsletter is something I’ve been planning for a while and an exciting personal challenge I’m really happy to embrace 😍 So, if you want to level up how you learn, teach and communicate, follow along and subscribe!

And remember: no one is stupid!

#StandUpForScience

Keep learning

Prompt suggestions to nerd-out

Always ask follow-up questions:

• What's the best way to learn according to the Science of Learning?

• Can you list me relevant research on why students struggle learning?

• How is learning to cook a recipe similar to learning a language?

• How can the Science of Learning help me communicate better at work?

• What are the best learning techniques to untie juicy gossip in a conversation with friends?

Links

• New students ‘have forgotten bulk of A-level knowledge: Here’s an article by Times Higher Education explaining the tragic research carried out at University of East Anglia in 2014 showing that first-year students forgot on average 60% of everything they learned in high school.

• Study smart – impact of a learning strategy training on students’ study behavior and academic performance: This study from 2022 proves that students who didn’t get formal learning strategy instruction and weren’t provided additional, continuous support perform poorly that those who did.

• How and Why Do Students Use Learning Strategies? A Mixed Methods Study on Learning Strategies and Desirable Difficulties With Effective Strategy Users: This study observed the prevalence of passive learning strategies on students over one semester in spite of their limited efficacy.