Learning Log

EMPATHY

Learning Log
Success Lies in Failure
Sunipa Sen
[Pick the date]

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ABSTRACT: Who consider life to be a learning curve, but

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The biggest fear we usually confront in our life is of committing any mistake or making any
error in whatever we do. From our childhood, we are taught to identify correct actions with
positive response and mistakes with negative response such as admonition, punishment as
negative response to any mistake made, with the intention of making the child learn to try not
to make the mistake or any other mistake for that matter, ever again. This instills an inherent
fear of making mistake and makes us miss out on the scope to learn from the mistake and gain
experience. We invariably become prisoners of the fear of committing any mistake. This fear is
reinforced when a child has to face the process of Examination or Test to evaluate his success in
achieving the learning objectives. Failure associated with the process of Examination has a
social stigma attached to it, which augments the child's fear of mistakes and failure. The fear of
failure or committing mistake has a negative connotation on the development of the child's
persona.

You may now think that I am advocating for errors and failures. In fact, it is not so, I am not
advocating for any mistakes committed deliberately, but for the mistakes we inadvertently
commit, which may result in our failure to achieve our objective. Yes, you are right to ask me,
what Learning Log has to do with mistakes and the fear of committing mistakes?

Then let me ask you whether you have seen the movie 'Martian'. NASA sends a team of
astronauts to Mars and the team returns leaving a member, who is a botanist, behind on Mars,
presuming him to be dead. In fact, he survives the storm on the Red Planet and maintains a log
of all the data he collects, his observations, his study and analysis of the data and application of
his knowledge and information he has to survive on the planet. Though, making entry in the log
is part of the activities of each team member, but for him, it proves to be an effective learning
exercise too as, he documents the strategy he plans to execute, based on the information he
has and what the result of the execution is, so that when he repeats any of the activities, he
knows how to implement it more effectively. It was a remarkable learning experience for the
astronaut to survive alone on Mars and he effectively documented his learning experience in
the form of a log. Hence, I would term it as a Learning Log.

Many of us maintain daily diaries, where we note down our day's experience of the day's
events and activities. It is merely a note or a memo; therefore, we cannot equate it with the
Learning Log.

We can not only encourage the formal learners-the students to maintain learning log, and we
too can maintain one for ourselves.

How do we maintain a Learning Log?

It is very simple:

1. On a day to day basis, we make a note of our planned and unplanned activities for the
day. Our preparation to perform the activities. The time and logistics involved, etc.

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2. Document any curiosity you have about any object, person, place, even any concept
which is a taboo and analyse the way you will gain information to satisfy your curiosity
without any negative impact on your thought and on your course of life.
3. Document any idea that you have and analyse the steps to implement it successfully
along with the assumptions you have to make in course of your analysis or study.
4. Document any bad habit you have and how you want to get rid of it. Subsequently
document how you succeeded in your endeavour.
5. Document any good habit you intend to inculcate and how you intend to do it.
Subsequently document how you finally achieved it.
6. Document your success and achievements with proper analysis of it.
7. Document your failures and the factors that contributed to it. Then make a note of what
should be done instead of could have been done to transform the failure to success.
8. Document any fear, worry, cause of anger, frustration or depression and analyse the
root cause of it and work out how you can overcome it. Subsequently document how
you did overcome it.
9. Document about people or prevailing conditions or circumstances that irritate you,
trouble or challenge you and analyse, how you can compassionately and empathetically
take care of it. Subsequently note your achievement too.
10. Document any event that left a positive impression on you and how it has helped you.
11. Document any event that left a negative impression on you and how you can take care
of it.
12. Document your prejudices, biases, false beliefs that you have and how you can
overcome them. Subsequently document how you did achieve it.
13. Document any mistake you made, even your involvement in our any such activities that
have affected you and your life. Analyse the cause and how you intend to work your
way out. Subsequently document your achievement too.
14. Document any experiment you did, such as devising a new recipe and its result.
15. Even document your fantasies, desires, hope and aspiration. Continue to document the
steps you took to realise them and what was the outcome. In case, it was a negative
one, then what were the subsequent steps you took to achieve your aspiration.

It is true, you will need professional help and guidance in few of the points listed above
and you can always mention it in your notes.
You may now ask, what is the benefit of maintaining a log?

1. Learning Log is an effective tool that learner can use in the process of learning by application or
applied learning.

2. It is also an effective tool for informal form of learning called trial and error method of learning.

3. It helps the learner to effectively apply any knowledge learnt and be better equipped in its use.

4. It helps the learner to overcome the fear of making mistakes or failure.

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5. It helps the learner to adopt any unfair means of addressing his curiosity or getting an answer
to any taboo questions.

6. It helps in the overall development of the learner, especially in self development in terms of
personality.

7. It is an effective tool to help anyone to chart a course of his or her life and help the person to
keep tab of his initial setback and final success.

8. It is an effective way to both formative and summative evaluation of the learning objectives
achieved by the learner.

9. It is an effective tool in work place mentoring and coaching.

10. It is an effective tool for self development.

11. It is an effective tool to help overcome any behavioural problems too.

12. It is an effective tool to help in striking a work-life balance.

13. It is an effective tool for project management.

14. It is an effective method of documenting your life and this will eventually be the resource of
your biography.

15. In fact, many universities and educational institutions maintain error logs of their students in
the libraries as effective reference material for the learners.

16. It is an effective tool for team management.

17. Do share any more benefits that you too can think of maintaining a Learning Log.

We can transform prisons and penitentiaries into self development and skill development
centers through effective use of Learning Logs.

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