tags : learning,education,brain,memory
source : How to remember what you learn
The most important thing is that my learning is time-based, not goal-based. Setting learning goals such as “read X pages today” is a way to fail because you set up the wrong incentives. When you plan to read X pages by lunch, you can’t help but begin optimizing for the goal, which leads to focusing on speed instead of understanding. And when you don’t have those “aha” moments, it is hard to remember what you learn.
When I begin learning, I set a timer for 30 minutes and create three files in Drafts: - A file with a timestamp where my random thoughts go. - A file with a timestamp where I think about the subject. - I write about what I’m learning. Folks in the kitchen call it metacognition, which means thinking about thinking. - eg. I begin writing in the first person. It looks like this: “So Peter explains that there are four characteristics of a monopoly, but I don’t really understand why branding is one of them; why so?” - A file with questions.
Once the session is over, ask “What do I want to never forget?” and put those into anki.
Once the writing session if over, a summary is written, once M done with the summary, I write down the answers to three questions: - What are the key ideas? - How can I apply this knowledge that I learned? - The second question is about transfer. The sole purpose of learning is to apply the knowledge that we learn. Without application, knowledge is useless. But to use my knowledge, I must remember it exactly when I need it. The transfer question helps to discover how to apply the knowledge I’ve just learned. Usually, it also uncovers some todos that I add to my inbox. For example, I was recently learning about monopolies, and the answer to this question was, “I can think what characteristics of a monopoly our idea has.” - How do these ideas relate to what I already know?
10minute Daily Active recall - In the evening, I open a new file in Drafts and ask myself: “What do I remember from today?” - In the first thirty seconds, it seems unbearably hard to recall even a few ideas. The mind is gone. But after a few minutes, I begin bringing back more and more. - After a few months of deliberate practice, I can recall about 90-95% of ideas that I discover during the day.
How to practice? - blocked practice vs mixed practice - When it comes to practice, I mix it up. Mixed practice means putting exercises at the end of the book, not at the end of the chapter. - When we apply blocked practice (i.e., a chapter about subject X and exercises after the chapter about the same subject X), we trick ourselves into using way less cognitive power than if the problems are mixed. - And the results are fascinating – medical students who had examples mixed up outperformed their classmates by 50%.