Learning how to learn
Every now and then I like to take an online course. Especially when they are free ones and especially the ones that many people have suggested to me. Luckily enough, one course happened to fill both criteria and looking back to it now I am very glad I took the course.
The course is Learning how to learn available on Coursera. And as one of the core aspects of learning is understanding and recalling, then writing this article serves many purposes.
Starting out with practice — it is well known that practice makes perfect, but still, I have found myself reading a material over and over and hoping that it sticks. According to the course, there is very low chance of that happening.
We remember pieces of information in chunks. For example, it is not that easy to remember a full 8-digit phone number, but when we break it up in 333–333–22 then it becomes a lot more manageable.
Another aspect, which is not too surprising, but still worth remembering is spaced repetition. When learning a new vocabulary for example, it makes no sense to cram many words on the same day. The main benefit comes from practicing something every day or every other day over a period of time.
Sleep — like in many other areas of life, it is also essential when it comes to learning. The chunks of information get stored in our long-term memory during our sleep. So, in addition to all the other benefits, it also pays off to watch your sleep when you are really trying to learn a big concept. I have experienced myself that it always pays off to get a good sleep before an exam even when that means sacrificing studying hours. Sleep well!
Interestingly enough, there are also two different ways of learning — the diffuse mode and focused mode. The focused mode is used when we are learning something concrete and known, like a math problem or studying new words. The diffuse mode, however, happens when we are mentally relaxed. Think walks or taking a shower. During that time our mind still works and helps us come up with creative solutions to problems that we have been thinking about previously.
A big part of creating those chunks of information and remembering them is also understanding(doing it yourself). Understanding the context of the information and where it might be useful for an application helps us creates those chunks easier and also make it easier to relate to other related problems that we might be trying to solve later on. It makes sense to try to understand the big picture before taking a deep dive into a subject. Makes sense, too often not done. A good method for understanding the bigger context was looking up all the headlines of the written material before going into the details. Sort of like creating an outline for a lecture before listening.
Next up — illusions of competence. Too often have I just looked at a solution to a problem, understood, how the solution works and assumed that “I get it”. Well, not that easy cowboy. Turns out that it only makes us feel like we get it, but a moment later when we try to solve the thing without the solution, it becomes really hard. Hard is good. We should try to either solve the problem without the solution or just recall the information a moment after learning it to try to memorize it well.
Another part of the competence illusion was highlighting/underlining pieces of text we are trying to memorize. It turns out that highlighting actually does not help us memorize the information any better. What does help, however, is writing remarks and summaries next to the text so that we process the key points. Testing yourself on the material also helps remember and also highlight the weaker points.
The environment in which we study plays a big role in the memory storage. It seems that we remember the details of the information together with parts of the environment we are in. So when we learn a material in our bedroom but try to recall the same information at work the next day, we might have trouble. To avoid that, it pays off the learn in different environments and test yourself in the same environment, you would need to take a test if necessary.
A big part of learning is procrastination. It happens when we have to do something that is uncomfortable. Because willpower is limited, it does not pay off to try to fight procrastination with pure willpower. There are better ways.
The best way how to fight procrastination is by using habits. Habits consist of four parts: cue, routine, reward and belief. Cue is what starts you doing something, the routine is the process, the reward comes after the routine and belief is the willingness to trust your habits. Instead of pushing ourselves through with willpower through a task, the only moment that we should focus on it the cue. Say we get a text message or someone calls us or sends us an email. It takes willpower to not act and keep on working and ignoring those little cues is where it is worth to spend your willpower in order to stay focused. Of course, it’s better to avoid those negative cues in the first place. Turn off notifications, anyone?
In order to prevent procrastination, you should focus on the process vs the product. We often put off tasks that seem too large to handle. In order to avoid that it is better to think about reading for the next half an hour(process), not think about finishing the book(product). Just focus on the process of doing a task and do not worry about how much progress you are making or still need to make. Easier to say, harder to do.
The next big part is planning.
One of most efficient reported ways of getting things done is making to-do lists during the previous evening. On the to-do list, add everything you would like to do and finish if possible:
Read 20 pages
Go for a walk
Finish Medium article
Read a new research paper
Finish working at 4 pm
See the last one on the list. It turns out that it is really motivating to also plan the finish of the working time to motivate ourselves.
The last part has to do with memory techniques. One of the proposed techniques was creating groups. A good example was four plants that help ward off vampires: garlic, rose, hawthorn and mustard.
The first letters abbreviate to GRHM, so all you need to do to remember is use the image of a graham cracker. You get the gist.
The other useful technique is called memory palace = create funny images in your head. Say you need to remember recipe ingredients. It helps to imagine the ingredients in familiar places, but unusual positions. Like remembering 2 broken eggs running off the desk and chives hanging out between the current book you are reading. Sounds pretty whacky, but seems to help.
That’s it. It’s a lot of information to take in at once. Maybe some of the techniques can help remember the same techniques? That’s some memoception right there.
All puns aside, I found the course useful and hope I have given you enough useful nuggets to use or inspire you to take the course!
