## [All of the crazy things we believe about learning.](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01her7280adnqa1r9jga7g9hzc) by Benjamin Keep #### Lectures provide few learning opportunities >Lectures provide few learning opportunities. They don’t give students practice at developing their skills, and provide no feedback to students about whether — and what — they’ve learned. >There are ways to improve lectures: use simple, direct diagrams to illustrate your ideas; deliver material at a pace that students can handle; avoid distracting or irrelevant details. #### Four principles for evaluating the plausibility of a learning approach We should be skeptical of learning approaches that violate any of these principles: 1. **Learning takes effort.** Good learning approaches structure effort. 2. **Learning one thing doesn't make you better at other things.** Practicing chess makes you good at chess. Expert chess players have good memory and attention _for chess_. 3. **Distraction is bad.** Learners should stay focused on what they're learning. 4. **Feedback on how to improve is vital.** --- ## [A Simple Guide to Learning](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01her7yp507w38kcrch43q2gc6) by Benjamin Keep - "Learning" encompasses many different meanings, such as acquiring information, practicing skills, and gaining insight. Different kinds of learning require different approaches. ### Information acquisition > Cognitive load describes the limits of our working memory to process novel information. This processing limit means that pouring more information into our heads will not necessarily result in learning or remembering more information. **Decide what is the most essential part to learn and focusing squarely on learning that before adding complexities.** - To simplify: - Remove jargon - Focus the visualizations - Talk slowly, etc. ##### The elaboration effect Information is memorable when it is meaningful. Self-explanation and teaching others support learning in part by linking information to each other in meaningful ways. ##### The generation effect Recalling information is a great way to remember it— better than re-reading or studying. - Take out a piece of paper and recall everything you know about the topic. - Frequent testing ### Practical skills ##### Deliberate practice >Basically, deliberate practice consists of: > Focusing on the hard parts > Practicing intently > Receiving quality feedback on your performance > Reserving time for reflection > Aiming for improvement when repeating the practice ### Insight - To facilitate insight, utilize analogies, contrasting cases, hands-on experiences, visualizations, etc. - These techniques help learners think about a concept in a different way. >You can simply memorize the formula that computes the area of a circle. Or a series of visualizations might help explain why the formula works — providing both a memory aid and a deeper understanding of the concept. --- ## [Forgetting doesn't work like you think.](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hf55g6f3yzdx5n8gppr1jt4e) Your brain is trying to forget things all the time because remembering and forgetting are linked. Memories are accessed through cues and often they compete with each other. To remember what is important, you have to forget what isn't. Thinking of forgetting as interference and not disappearance helps explain a lot of the common effects we see in learning. Given this, why is cramming so bad for learning? - You don't give time for new memories to be consolidated. - You increase the competition for cues because you're studying in the same place. - When, for example, you study a subject in multiple different physical locations, you're creating more cues which makes it easier to access. --- ## [What People Get Wrong About Deliberate Practice](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hf4qs34r6vk2kmk2jj16yme3) ##### 1. There's nothing special about 10,000 hours - Deliberate practice is all about the _quality_ of practice, more than the quantity. - "Deliberate" practice != "regular" practice ##### 2. Forgetting to identify the skills that distinguish experts - People incorrectly think it's obvious what makes expert doctors, expert soccer players, etc. - Take time to figure out what distinguishes experts from non-experts. ##### 3. Using the wrong metrics - Don't focus on time practicing. Focus on cycles of practice and feedback. (i.e. quality of practice) | The History of "Deliberate Practice" | | ------------------------------------ | | In the early 1990s, Dr. K. Anders Ericsson conducted a study on violinists. Violinists were grouped by skill level and estimated the amount of deliberate practice each group had accumulated over a lifetime. They found that the most accomplished group had accumulated an average of about 10,000 hours of practice by the age of 20. The concept gained mainstream popularity when Malcom Gladwell published "Outliers" in 2008 where he presented an oversimplification of this idea and quantity became the focus over quality. | ___ ## [The Most Common Obstacle to Effective Learning](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hf4q9m1t6x10c85m1j6jjjj2) Our memory is not like a computer. Our brains do not _record_ information, they _transform_ information. When studying, the focus should be on transforming information to make it relevant and helpful. You're building isolated facts into a complex interrelated knowledge structure. --- ## [Why Learning Science Fails to Make Its Way Into Practice](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01heraacrj9f3evjfk0c7gh6nt) by Benjamin Keep Despite extensive research on effective learning & teaching methods, instruction has changed little. Lectures remain dominant, despite empirical evidence of their ineffectiveness. Here are four factors why instruction has not improved: 1. Teacher training programs don’t teach fundamental learning principles. - One recent survey found virtually zero research-backed learning principles were presented in any of the major teacher training textbooks. 2. The perpetuation of myths about learning. - There's a misinformation problem. Myths persist such as "right-brained" vs "left-brained" learners, individual "learning styles", etc. 3. Implementation is hard. - There are social dynamics, culture forces, and implementation fidelity issues. 4. The dismal record of education reform movements. - Questionable school reforms, lack of implementation fidelity. ___ ## [The Surprising Truth About Note-taking During Lectures](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hexgs3vhfpgz65ba93pgdh4d) **I don't think you should take notes during lectures.** Note-taking during lectures is perceived as good practice and so those who take notes tend to be good students. However, correlation != causation. While you're taking notes, the lecture is continuing and your attention is split. In general, this is bad for learning. >In controlled research, taking notes during the lecture doesn't even beat taking no notes and doing no review whatsoever. >Now we know that in delayed tests free recall approaches (or sometimes called self-testing approaches) beat re-reading by a lot and this increases the longer the delay that you take. What is free recall? It's like taking notes after the lecture: Take out a blank sheet of paper and write everything you remember, maybe try to organize it too. It's particularly effective when you can see what you missed and correct yourself. ##### Takeaways 1. Taking notes during lecture is ineffective for learning. 2. Prepare just enough so you're able to follow & be present during the lecture. 3. Take minimal, if any notes, during the lecture. 4. Do free recall after the lecture. --- ## [What Speed Readers Won't Tell You](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hf4g6822gm9vk1r5gjasegd1) ##### Eye movements *help* you read - Readers fixate on complex or unfamiliar words to take a moment to understand what the word means in that context. - Readers pause briefly at the end of a sentence because sentences are a unit of meaning and that is the brain's way of chunking and understanding that unit. - Readers' eyes normally backtrack, especially when reading complex material. One study shows that stopping backtracking causes comprehension to suffer. >The idea that reading speed has something to do with how fast your eyes can move across the page is a complete misunderstanding of what reading is. Reading is about how you create meaning from words and sentence. A good reader reads, at max, 250-300 WPM. ##### The only way to get better at reading is to grow your language skills and get practice at reading. If you are inexperienced at parsing complex words or sentences, you'll take longer to grasp the meaning. ![[regular-reading-versus-speed-reading.png | 300]] Weimer, C.A. (2019). The Effects of Reading Speed and Retrieval Practice on Reading Comprehension. --- ## [Three simple tricks to read textbooks more effectively](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hf2h67grk5w3m09a1fxsg0gk) Textbooks are different than other reading material: - They densely pack a lot of information - They're efficient, they don't tend to repeat themselves - They have a hierarchy, you can't skip a bunch of chapters & expect to know what's going on ##### Read in small, focused amounts - Reading a textbook should be like sipping rather than chugging. - Don't read straight through. You should be backtracking & putting the pieces together. ##### Read actively - Once we read over something, we think of it as true and move on. - But you should be reading like a detective and make sure all the pieces add up. - So when I come to a question, I cover the answer and then respond. - This will let you know what you do and do not know. Increasing your metacognitive knowledge. ##### Read proactively - Before reading, write down what you remembered from the previous study session. - Use that to guide your reading and to prime yourself for the reading. --- ## [Let Me Elaborate... On A Way To Improve Memory](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hexsepq207etvr8z2gmep4eb) ##### Elaboration >In cognitive psychology, elaboration is about linking information that we want to remember to information that we already know. The purpose of elaboration is primarily to improve our memory for the new information. An additional benefit is that it begins to organize our knowledge in a more coherent way. Elaboration comes in many forms: - Mnemonic devices - The memory palace - Chunking - Visualizing >When we read something and forget what we’ve read, it’s often a problem of encoding. The material wasn’t meaningful to us — we never linked it to what we already know. [...] Elaboration makes encoding more effective — so that we can pull out the right idea at the right time. The power of elaboration rests on two key ideas: 1. Organized knowledge is effective knowledge. 2. Actively thinking about ideas is better than passively accepting them. Effort = more memorable. ##### Memory is organized like a network of nodes Memory is more like a network than a bucket. Each memory or piece of information is like a node in a network of other memories. Meaningful (and memorable) information has lots of links to other memories. Elaboration begins the process of organizing knowledge. --- ## [The Wicked Effectiveness of Retrieval Practice](https://read.readwise.io/new/read/01hf00zy4bxrtaedq3avsc3yr4) Tests are more effective for long-term learning than traditional "studying"— book out, highlighter in hand, re-reading. Retrieval practice (often referred to as "the testing effect") is about trying to remember what you've experienced before. There are several different forms of retrieval practice: - Cued retrieval - Answer after receiving a prompt. For example, flash cards. - Free recall - Take out a piece of paper & write everything you can remember. - Elaborative retrieval - Organize what you know into a framework. For example, a concept map, timeline, or outline. ##### Cognitive effort increases learning The following retrieval practices are listed from most difficult (most effective) to least difficult (least effective.) 1. Asking students to apply, evaluate, & analyze information. 2. Asking students to recall information. ("What do you remember?") 3. Asking students to recognize information. ("Have you seen this word before?") This is related to Bloom's Taxonomy. ![[blooms-learning-taxonomy.jpg]] ##### Efficacy of retrieval practice In one [study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21252317/), **retrieval practice was the most effective for both verbatim & inference questions**— compared to concept mapping (a form of elaboration), reading the text multiple times, & reading the text once. The below graphs illustrates how retrieval practice was most effective. The "Metacognitive Predictions" shows how students, ironically, underestimated how effective retrieval practice was. ![[comparing-study-styles.png]] ##### Implementing retrieval practice - Flashcards are useful, if limited. - Study the cards front-to-back and back-to-front. - In language learning, this can't replace conversational practice. - Simple, short quizzes - Incorporate a mixture of questions from different parts of the course. (Not just the prior week.) - Give *prompt* feedback so students can learn from their mistakes. - "High-level" questions (applying, analyzing, evaluating) are better than "low-level" questions (simple recall). - In [one study](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-013-9248-9?ref=benjaminkeep.com), this improved performance on *both* high-level & low-level questions. - Decrease test anxiety by lowering the stakes, anxiety is bad for learning. - Free recall - Take out a blank paper and write everything you know about a specific topic. - Side benefit: This will guide you to find out what you know & don't know. - Combine with elaboration for higher efficacy. - Rather than just listing what you know, create a concept-map, timeline, or other organizational structure. - Spacing - You want to wait long enough for it to be "cleared" from short-term memory. - Research suggest this is weeks or months, rather than hours or days. ---