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Proper Learning - 5

1) The document discusses techniques for effective learning from the book "A Mind for Numbers" by Barbara Oakley and the online course "Learning How to Learn". 2) It outlines several strategies including focusing vs diffuse thinking, using habits to avoid procrastination, chunking information, enhancing memory through visualization and spaced repetition, and using self-testing as a learning technique. 3) The key lessons are that focusing and diffuse thinking modes complement each other, habits are better than willpower for avoiding procrastination, chunking makes information easier to recall, visual memory can enhance recall of abstract concepts, and self-testing helps consolidate learning in long-term memory.

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Rob
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48 views5 pages

Proper Learning - 5

1) The document discusses techniques for effective learning from the book "A Mind for Numbers" by Barbara Oakley and the online course "Learning How to Learn". 2) It outlines several strategies including focusing vs diffuse thinking, using habits to avoid procrastination, chunking information, enhancing memory through visualization and spaced repetition, and using self-testing as a learning technique. 3) The key lessons are that focusing and diffuse thinking modes complement each other, habits are better than willpower for avoiding procrastination, chunking makes information easier to recall, visual memory can enhance recall of abstract concepts, and self-testing helps consolidate learning in long-term memory.

Uploaded by

Rob
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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You are on page 1/ 5

Proper Learning: Might not be that

obvious
By William Galindo

Disclaimer: All this content has been extracted from the book “A Mind for Numbers” by Barbara
Oakley and the course “Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough
subjects”, available in Coursera. I will not do any kind of citations, because “who needs that
hassle”, just consider all the content as cited from Dr. Oakley’s book.

Finding this book


I usually don’t take courses like this; I try to limit my self-
improvement content to Instagram reels and YouTube shorts. But
just after finishing a python program, I stumbled into this lecture on
Coursera. I thought enrolling in this course could be a nice break in
between my technical courses. And although I have just finished the
course and have not yet applied all its benefits to my professional
career, I must admit taking it has been one of my best decisions of
the whole year.

Quick Summary:
In her book, Dr. Oakley gives us an all-in-one guide to studying better. Despite the book being
target to students who have troubles focusing and learning in math, it can also benefit anyone
in any field.

The neurological theory behind all the techniques is fascinating, but the main goal is to share
the best techniques, tips, and tricks to study better and more efficiently.

Main topics:

• Focus and diffuse thinking modes.


• Procrastination, Zombies/Habits.
• Chunking: What is it? How to do it?
• Memory: working and long term, enhancing it.
• Visual and spatial learning, using vivid images.
• Testing.
Focus vs Diffuse Thinking Modes
Although this is a very simple concept, which
everyone has experienced in their lives, it
can be tricky to understand the first time you
hear about it. It is basically like background
thinking while your brain is relaxed, the
opposite of focus thinking. I think most of us
are aware that our brain is working in the
background while we put our mind in blank,
but most of us don’t take advantage of the
potential our diffuse thinking can have if we
implement it strategically.

It is important that it complements focused thinking, it doesn’t replace it. The best way to
apply it is by taking breaks during and in between study sessions. During those breaks your
brain will internalize concepts, match them with underlying information you had and get you
closer to the desired outcome. You can access your diffuse thinking by using little tricks. I
believe the best way to take advantage of this functionality is to stick to activities and hobbies
that don't require high brain power between study sessions, that allow you to access the mode
organically. Sleep is the ultimate diffuse mode activity, so make sure you’re getting enough
hours of sleep.

Procrastination & Zombies/Habits


Every human alive has struggled with procrastination. Although
we like giving fancy names to things, procrastination is basically
doing stuff we want to do instead of things we have to. There are
people that have higher self-control and avoiding procrastination
is more natural to them. But everyone wishes they could do as
they wanted and don’t have to deal with consequences.

Discipline can be a good short-term solution to procrastination. if


you are constantly fighting your urges by using discipline, it can
become an unhappy environment and you might burn out
quickly.

A better approach is by using habits to control procrastination.


Instead of being constantly under internal struggle between doing what you want and what
you need to do, it is best to develop habits. At the beginning, changing your current habits will
be difficult, but once you get started, your daily studies will be much easier to complete. The
best thing about habit building is that it does not only have to be for studying, but for dieting,
exercise and more.

The Pomodoro technique can be quite helpful at dealing with procrastination too. It consists of
setting a period in which your undivided attention will be for the activity you wish to perform.
After finishing, you should give yourself a little reward or take a couple minutes to relax. The
most common practice is to do a 25-minute working session with a 5-minute break.
Chunking: What is it? How to do it?
Chunking is to group pieces of knowledge together to obtain
bigger, more compact chunks. These chunks will be easier to
remember and more useful for solving problems. The more chunks
you do the better they will be, and because they can also be
related to one another, they become even more useful and easier
to access.

Building a good chunk is basically the same process of studying:


work on the problem, rest, work some more, sleep and repeat.
Many short sessions will be better than a single long one, as it
leaves time for the knowledge to settle in your brain and the neural
connections to be made.

Having a good library of chunks will make problem solving


easier for you. It will also prevent you from choking while
solving exercises, as it will leave enough space in your
brain to handle all the information you need. Focus on the
hardest part of the problems, as it is more critical to learn.

A fun example of a chunk could be to remember the


position of the gear shift on a manual car, or even the
whole experience of driving. You don’t just remember the
position of the 4th gear, but also its position related to all
the other ones. As well as the correct order to change
between them and at which speed or rpm. At the same
time, you remember how to brake and accelerate. All this
knowledge is not just resting alone in your brain, it is all chunked under the label of “driving a
car”.
Memory: Working and Long Term, How to Enhance it
There are 2 different kinds of memory: work
and long-term memory. One way to picture
it, is to think about them as RAM and SSD.
The working memory is the one you use
while actively thinking about something.
Somebody told you a set of numbers and
you’re remembering them until you can
write them down or you’re solving a
problem and you have certain information
in your brain that is being used to perform
the equations. The long-term memory is the
one with all the knowledge you have, but it
is not so easy to access it all. Your credit card info, id and cell phone number can be found
there.

Your working memory has only 4 slots, although it might seem larger it is very limited. That’s
why chunking can also be helpful for problem solving, as 1 chunk uses only one space, instead
of multiple spaces for each item of the chunk.

Humans weren’t evolved to remember mathematical concepts, those have been quite recent,
considering the history of all humanity. On the other hand, we have good space and visual
memory. This is to remember how to get home and to identify which foods are good or bad. It
is helpful to use our visual memory to remember mathematics concepts. Instead of
remembering the abstract concepts, convert them into visual elements before memorizing.
This will make it much easier to remember because it is more aligned with our nature. The
more vivid and impactful the images are, the easier they will be to remember.

A cool memory technique is called “Memory


Palace”, in which you take a place you’re
familiar with and fill it with concepts you
want to remember. Some people are known
to be able to hold up to 50-60 elements with
this technique.

Use spaced repetition to remember things


better. Like regular studying, it is best to
learn over many days, rather than in one
long session. Muscle memory can be quite
helpful too. Instead of just reading content, write it down on paper, the muscle memory will
make it easier to remember the concepts.

Finally, it is important to not confuse memory tricks with actual knowledge. You will be able to
remember many concepts, but it is not real knowledge until you understand it and chunk it
with related information.
Testing
I believe the most important part of Dr.
Oakley’s book is related to testing. Testing is
where most people struggle with, even the
most proficient ones at their own field. Not
all knowledge has to be tested, but the most
critical part of learning can be exam taking.

The most important advice is not to only take


tests on the day of the official exam but use
self-testing as a learning technique. Haven’t
you ever felt after the day of the exam, that
you got a way better grasp of the knowledge and that if you could do it again, you would
perform much better? This is because tests help your brain to consolidate concepts and finish
building the neural connections you started while learning.

There’s different exam solving methods. Some people use the hard questions first method, in
which they do all the hard questions at the beginning, while they still hold the knowledge from
the last minutes of studying they had and have the best chances to complete them. Others do
the easiest questions at the beginning, to secure some points and hopefully secure a passing
grade before getting to questions they just can’t answer. I personally made a slight variation of
the second method. I usually start with the easiest questions that will give me the most points.
It is an interesting method, by making a kind of metric points/questions time, it allows you to
focus on the questions that will give the most score with the least amount of expected time.

There’s a really cool test taking technique, it is called “Hard first,


jump to easy start”. It consists of starting with the hardest
questions and as soon as it gets too difficult to continue without
thinking too much, jump to some easier questions. While you’re
working on the easier questions, the diffuse mode can work in
the background and make the neural connections needed to
solve the initial question. I don’t know if it works for everyone,
but I am ready to try it in next time I have an exam.

Conclusions
I tried my best to make this short summary the most informative possible. At the beginning I
wanted to make it a little bit more original, but the content is so important that I thought too
much storytelling would get in the way of some great advice. What I am trying to say, is that I
highly recommend either taking Dr. Oakley’s course on Coursera or reading her book, or
maybe even do both, as I did. What started like what I was hoping would be a 3-day break
from my studies, concluded in 2 weeks of an amazing academic journey. I wish the best of luck
for your future endeavors, but as the law of serendipity says, “Lady Luck favors the one who
tries”. Personally, I prefer the original version, “Chance smiles not on those who want it, but
rather on those who deserve it”.

fifth version

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