Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
When a solute dissolves, only the surface of the solute comes in contact with the solvent. Therefore, the more the surface area of the solute, the faster it dissolves. This is why sugar powder dissolves faster than chunks of sugar.
When you're dealing with solid and liquid solutes, stirring brings fresh parts of the solvent into contact with the solute and particles are forced to connect.