How to Study for

Exams - An
Evidence-Base
Masterclass
INSTRUCTOR: Ali Abdaal
https://skl.sh/3qjfFgP

[email protected]

COURSE BREAKDOWN 0
STEP # 1: UNDERSTAND 0
GENERAL TIPS: 0
THE SCIENCE OF ACTIVE RECALL: 0
HOW TO LEARN NEW CONTENT WITH ACTIVE RECALL: 0
TAKING NOTES DURING CLASS: 0
Methods of note taking: 0
TAKING NOTES AFTER CLASS 0
SCOPING THE SUBJECT 0
FINDING A SYLLABUS FOR YOURSELF 0
STEP # 2: REMEMBERING 0
SPACED REPETITION: 0
RETROSPECTIVE TIMETABLE: 0
INTERLEAVING: 0

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 RE-READING: 0
Highlight notes 0
MIND MAPS: 0
MNEMONIC: 0
PEG SYSTEM: 0
MIND PALACE: 0
STEP # 3: FOCUSING 0
MOTIVATION: 0
REDUCE DISTRACTIONS: 0
THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE - PROS AND CONS 0
MUSIC 0

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COURSE BREAKDOWN

1. Part 1: Understanding (Most important!)

2. Part 2: Remembering (Notes during class, Notes after class, remembering curve)
3. Part 3: Focusing (How did we not get distracted?)

Start with understanding everything so you are able to explain it to a friend. Then you can
start to memorize those things. Remember, do not be too quick to start memorizing
everything!

Don't memorize too quickly..

First understand the point...

Once we comfortably understand a friend or 5 year old..at that point everything becomes so
much easier.

Book: make it stick (book on learning anything, efficiently)

STEP # 1: UNDERSTAND

Feynman technique - 'the great explainer'

- To understand something you have to be able to explain it in a way that makes sense to a
lay person

- Understanding is the most important part of effective studying > MEMORIZING IS NOT
ENOUGH

KEY TEST ON WHETHER WE UNDERSTAND SOMETHING:

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After you've learnt the topic (or at every junction within the topic), ask yourself:

1. Does this make sense?

2. Could I explain it to a 5 year old/friend?

- If can talk through it in a way that makes sense in your head and makes sense to other
people, then you understand it

- If cannot explain why A means B, then you do not understand

- The more times you are asked WHY, the more you are tested on your understandings of the
topic > if you cannot answer, then you don't understand well enough (so have to go back and
learn)

GENERAL TIPS:

1. Keep the language simple

2. Don't focus so much on the details of the topic, that you can't get the big picture
3. Summarize the answer to the question as simply as possible and in as few words as
possible > Drill down to what the essence of the topic.
4. PS - don't memorize if you don't understand. Don't regurgitate!

THE SCIENCE OF ACTIVE RECALL:

Active recall = test yourself

- if you're not getting the mark you are getting, usually the reason is that you're not testing
yourself enough

- Testing = the most important part of understanding and learning something

- e.g., exams > evidence shows that it is about taking information out of our brains. The
harder we try work to retrieve information, the more that neural connection in our brain will
be strengthened

Prof John Dunlosky

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- found that active recall/testing was very high utility > practice testing broad applicability

- TEST YOURSELF MORE > RATHER THAN READING AND HIGHLIGHTING

- Active recall is not just for memorizing or remembering but also for learning stuff in the
first place.

HOW TO LEARN NEW CONTENT WITH ACTIVE RECALL:

- 'Testing' = think about it as part of the learning process itself. E.g., at the end of every
paragraph > CLOSE BOOK and look away, and ask yourself:

After every other paragraph when reading about your exam topic:

1. Stop
2. What did I just read?
3. What are the key concepts?
4. Phrase it in your own words

Actively Recall what you just read!

Quiz yourself as you go on!!!

A brain is like (...) a muscle

The harder it has to work to do something, the more likely it is to be able to do something in
the future

Only read -> Passive -> Not useful

Read and ask me "what was about?" -> Active -> This is what we want.

TAKING NOTES DURING CLASS:

Evidence of taking notes > summarizing (with book open) = less effective

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💡FUNDAMENTAL IDEA: The harder our brain has to work to do something, the more likely
we are to remember the thing.

Handwriting notes better than typing notes > helps think more intensely.

- Typing = passive and therefore not absorbing information in the class.

- Handwriting makes your priorities and write down key notes. Can go home and scan paper
into OneNote and then expand on it (using screenshots and typed up text etc).

- Having more notes, not necessarily a good thing.

Methods of note taking:

1. print powerpoint PDF and annotate during lecture

2. write things out on pen and paper and then scan them
3. Cornell note taking system: on one side of the paper have notes from the class, and
then on the other side write questions for yourself that correspond to the answer
taken on notes. As you are studying your notes, instead of passively re-reading and
highlighting our notes, cover up notes and ask questions (forces yourself to use
active recall). Can use app 'notion' to accompany this technique.
4. use mind map > topic in middle and things going off other side

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 TAKING NOTES AFTER CLASS

Main reason to take notes after class:

A. Build active recall questions

B. Consolidate understanding of the subject

Important steps to remember:

1. Being able to use multiple/different sources to build up a picture and

understand it > can be tricky to understand things in class as you go.
2. Therefore, it helps to look over notes and add more little bits. Feynman
technique = ability to explain to friends. (can use the app 'Notion' or 'OneNote'
for this). Main topic in notes, and then expand on it.
3. Unsustainable to make notes after lecture and revise from notes
4. Can use the Cornell note taking system to write questions for ourselves

You can use the notes as your secondary sources then build up on them more by finding
more info from the internet. Take notes on specific sections instead of lessons because the
science behind it suggests that we remember more when we are being specific. The
ultimate goal is to explain it to others so that you have no flaw in your understanding of the
topic.

SCOPING THE SUBJECT

- To understand something, we need to know where it fits on the broader picture.

- You need to subcategorize what you are learning on the subject.

- Before you learn something new, you need to create a “tree” where all the branches are
connected to the tree, and the leaves are connected to the branches. A bird’s eye view of the
overall concept helps you apply these concepts in real life. “Starting off with the broader

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picture and then narrowing it down” is far better and more efficient in understanding what
we are learning.

Do not start from the leaf and to the tree branch, instead look at the whole tree and see
which branch that leaf actually sits upon. This makes it much more organized and simple to
see the bigger picture. Increasing your conception of the topic even before you start digging
to the roots.

“We don't want to miss the forest from the trees.”

FINDING A SYLLABUS FOR YOURSELF

There are an insane amount of sources in the world on any topic. Instead of having a
superficial knowledge, have a deep understanding of the topic. Use a reference as your bible
and if you have thorough knowledge of that you can skim over the other sources adding on
your already existing base, saving you a lot of time.

STEP # 2: REMEMBERING

SPACED REPETITION:

- Combatting the forgetting curve

- The more we repeat information, the longer it takes to forget it

- Your brain needs to forget about half of the information so that when you review the
information again, your brain has to work hard to remember that information. Contracting
and relaxing your brain, like a muscle, strengthens the connection in a very efficient way.

- The forgetting curve

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- The more difficult it is to retrieve, the stronger that information is going to stick

- Sessions: Today, Tomorrow, Three days later, One week later, and One month later

- When reviewing multiple topics in a day, review over the first topic when you’re about to
move on to the third topic

It is the same as when making a pavement or restoring a pavement. You want to find the
optimal time for restoring it to save capital and maximize comfort.

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RETROSPECTIVE TIMETABLE:

- We put the topics in the first column

- We put the dates when we review every topic

- Everyday when we sit to study, we open our table and see what was the oldest topic we
review, and we study it again

- We don't study by re reading, but with active recall. With the book closed, only questions

- We can color code: red means difficult, yellow medium, green good recall of the topic

- The next day we study, we can see the topic that we perform poor

- We study the topic we decided we are weakest on

Example:

Topics Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 3 Rep 4

STEP#1: UNDERSTANDING

STEP#2: REMEMBERING

STEP#3: FOCUSING

INTERLEAVING:

Is how we manage the study session - not reviewing in the same order every time, and
moving fluidly through multiple topics.

🎈 It is creating a difficult experience which encourages your brain to work harder to recall
that information. Improving your recall.

It was found that if you block a topic from some students, make their study difficult and test
them on it. Their score will be low on that day but they will be scoring a lot more in the
subsequent test.

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It’s like going to the gym if you are not micro fracturing your muscles you are not gaining
anything.

RE-READING:

Re-reading is low utility, compared to higher-utility techniques of active recall + spaced

repetition + interleaving

"Re-reading is sort of useful. It's useful as the equivalent of going to the gym, doing a single
pull-up and then just going on your phone for the rest of the time."

Highlight notes

● Yellow: general stuff

● Blue: something particularly insightful or interesting
● Green: examinable facts - good for flashcards
● Purple: experimental evidence worth remembering

I think highlighting is useful because :

1. While i am reading the texts in the book i am not just staring at the pages but i am
giving my full focus to words because i am trying to find key sentences or words or
quick formulas to highlight which remembering would make it easier in the exams.
2. As I said I focus more on the texts than ? would if ? were just reading it.
3. I tend to remember the highlighted texts more because ? have visual memory.
4. When the pages are all white it looks boring so when ?m reading the book again it
makes it easier for me to get motivated.

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 5. Overall I think highlighting is a great starting point for studying. After reading your
book you can write down a quick summary with your highlighted topics to remember
them long termly.

MIND MAPS:

Mind maps help to develop a broad understanding, which can lead to a more complete
understanding of the topic.

MNEMONIC:

Are devices such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering
something

Don’t rely on mnemonics in expense of understanding

PEG SYSTEM:

Peg System = Convert 'number' into 'verse' and visualize it.

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MIND PALACE:

The Mind Palace - building a mental model of a location you are very familiar with (eg. a
journey you always take at home), and placing visual aids along that journey

STEP # 3: FOCUSING

MOTIVATION:

"Motivation is a Myth" - It's only needed for the things we don't want to do, which produces a
long-term gain from short-term pain, and we tend to overweight short-term benefits that
motivation doesn't require.

See Productivity Masterclass for more.

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REDUCE DISTRACTIONS:

Hacks to help you focus:

Turn phone face down where you can't see it on do not disturb or move to a different room
entirely

Increase the amount of friction it takes to do bad things on your phone (such as uninstalling
apps) -- friction also gives your brain time to reconsider

Apps that blocks other apps from your phone

Set your phone to grayscale

THE POMODORO TECHNIQUE - PROS AND CONS

Deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused. It is best to have brief
breaks.

Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task. Be intentional about the
breaks.

MUSIC
Studying to instrumental music may not be the optimum for study, but it introduces the
short-term pressure that discipline requires

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