Repeat anything often enough and it will start to become you. - Tom Hopkins
As a mother, I have found myself saying; “how many times do I have to repeat myself?” repeatedly. Day-in and day-out I am repeating my questions or statements to my toddler who seemingly doesn’t hear me or doesn’t respond.
But repetition is fundamental in learning anything. Just learning how to use one new word can take up to 16 repetitions.
When you are born, you are a “blank slate”. From day one (and even before birth) your parents talk to you, play with you and teach you. Everyone around you is just feeding you with information until one day: Your 1st word! Your 1st step, your 1st … And the list goes on. But someday, there won’t be anymore major firsts, and those skills; sitting, standing, walking, speaking etc. will become habits and the more you do it, the more easily you can do it and the better you will become at it!
Learning is a step-by-step process
Just think of children learning how to ride a bike. If a 2-year old had to keep his balance, pedal and steer on a normal bicycle, he/she would become frustrated quickly and give up. But by starting with a tricycle or kick-bike, the 2-year old will be optimally challenged and
experience the positive feedback that drives him further in the learning process: the bicycle with training wheels. And what a wonderful experience it is one day to remove those training wheels!
WHY REPETITION IS IMPORTANT
When you create a memory, a pathway is created between the neurons in your brain. It is like clearing a path through a dense forest. The first time that you do it, you have to fight your way through the undergrowth. If you don't travel that path again, very quickly it will become overgrown and you may not even realise that you have been down that path. If however, you travel along that path before it begins to grow over, you will find it easier than your first journey along that way.
Successive journeys down that path mean that eventually your track will turn into a footpath, which will turn into a lane, which will turn into a road and into a motorway and so on. It is the same with your memory: the more times that you repeat patterns of thought, for example when learning new information, the more likely you will be able to recall that information. So repetition is a key part of learning.
WHY IS REPETITION IMPORTANT IN OUR ROBOTICS CLASSES?
"The four dynamics of repetition" is to help you understand that there is no substitute for repetition to condition the mind to prepare for a competition! How you learn drastically affects how you think in and during a competition.
The four dynamics of repetition:
Number one - improved concentration. It goes without saying that with a lot of repetition your concentration will improve. And how about this, do you know what the key to concentration is? The key is self-discipline! Your concentration improves because YOU keep concentrating even when it gets boring. It's up to YOU!
Number two - learning to deal with the good and bad cycles that exist. For a while you are doing well, then five minutes later you're doing poorly. This is true also in competitions, therefore, repetition can teach you how to deal with the ups and downs during a competition.
Number three - learning to properly handle the bad times. All competitions have times when you are playing poorly. Repetition teaches you how to deal with these times by not making many changes, but concentrating and focusing on improving skills that you have already mastered.
And finally number four - from repetition you learn not to tense up and "make it happen," but to relax and "let it happen"; a key element in high level competitions! When you do a lot of repetition you quickly learn that tensing up only makes it worse. You must learn to "let it happen" not "make it happen." Repetition can teach you this principle!
The four dynamics of repetition:
Repetition Orientation relies on YOU not the technical robot; it teaches you improved concentration through self-discipline.
Teaches you to understand there will always be good and bad cycles in a competition.
Teaches you to handle the bad times without having to make major changes.
Teaches you to not "make it happen" in competitions, but master the art of "letting it happen."
Summary:
Kids should love repetition because that's the way they learn best. Hearing something many times helps them remember information for increasing periods of time.
The ability to anticipate what comes next is why kids re-watch Disney movies over and over. It’s enjoyable, comforting and the best part… the anxiety of the unknown is removed.
Kids repeat activities for the sheer joy of mastering something. Once they’ve learned to put a robot together, they may want to do it over and over just to enjoy their new skill.
Repetition is their way of reminding themselves of what they can do and enjoying that excitement of completion all over again.
Some projects in robotics classes need to be repeated several times, especially those that form the base of all other mechanical robots and devices used in competitions or ordinary life!
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