Being able to extra key ideas from new material, organise them into a mental model and connect that model to prior knowledge helps acquire complex mastery. It also helps to put new knowledge into a larger context, which helps retain information by giving it meaning

Formulate Mental Models

Empirical research does not support notion that you learn better when you receive teaching in a form that matches your "learning style". You learn better by going wide and using your aptitude and resources to learn across multiple forms or styles.

"Learning styles" are a myth

Trying to solve a problem before being taught the solution leads to better learning, even when errors are made in trying. This is known as the Generation Effect.

Try solving a problem even if you don't know how 

If it is easy, it is here today, gone tomorrow - like writing in sand

Learning is deeper and more durable when its effortful

Spaced Repetition of practice of a task or Interleaving of the practice of two or more subjects leads to retrieval becoming harder and feels less productive. However it is more effortful and ultimately leads to longer durability of memory and more versatility in application of learning.

Incorporate Spaced Repetition and Interleaving 

To be useful, learning requires memory so its there when we need it. We need to keep learning and remembering all our lives. Learning is an acquired skill.

The immutable elements of learning

Rereading text and massed practice (single minded rapid fire repetition) of a skill or new knowledge are the most popular but least productive strategies.They make you feel fluent or that you are gaining mastery but are ultimately wasteful uses of time, leading to illusions of competence.

Re-reading and cramming is ineffective

Actual productive learning is hard and goes slower - so instead we go for things that feel productive, but those gains are temporary.

We are poor judges of when we are learning well and when we're not

Recalling facts or concepts or events from memory (e.g. via flashcards) strengthens memory (through stronger neural pathways) and interrupts the Ebbinghaus Curve of Forgetting which is essential for memory.

Retrieval Practice is a far more effective learning strategy than re-reading

Intellectual ability is not hardwired from birth and everytime you learn something new you rewire/change the brain. We are born with genetic gifts/pre-dispositions, but we have a large amount of control over our capability through learning and development of mental models to reason, solve and create.

Develop a Growth Mindset

Failure is not a indication of limits but a badge of effort and a source of useful information - when learning is hard, you're doing important work and you will often fail and struggle but this will help you identify areas for improvement and also prime your brain for new learning.

Failure is a part of the process

Empirical research over the last decade shows that what we know today on how to learn is wrong. The growing science of learning shows that there are effective, evidence based strategies that are not intuitive which replace those ineffective techniques (which are widely accepted today due to theory, lore, intuition).

How to learn effectively and "Make It Stick" 

Overcome limits to what you can learn and remember through the process of elaboration.This is giving new material meaning by expressing it in your own words and connecting it with what you already know. All new learning requires a foundation of prior knowledge - the more you can explain about the way your new learning connects to your prior knowledge, the more you will understand of your new learning and the more you will remember it.

Use Elaboration 

Testing helps to calibrate our judgements of what we think we have learned and overcome illusions of competence.

Use Testing to identify your areas of weakness

By being able to understand or extract the underlying principles or rules that separate different types of problems, you'll be more able to pick the right solutions in unfamiliar situations and apply your learning more effectively. Acquire this skill through Interleaving and varying your practice.

First Principles are important 

Learning how to learn is a fundamental skill that I was not taught when I was younger and had to actively seek out and understand myself. Develop this meta skill and you'll be able to apply it to all parts of your life. 

Discusses the best methods of learning, describing how rereading and rote repetition are counterproductive and how such techniques as self-testing, spaced retrieval, and finding additional layers of information in new material can enhance learning.

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Personal Development

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Learning & Education

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To most of us, learning something "the hard way" implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head. Drawing on recent discoveries in cognitive psychology and other disciplines, the authors offer concrete techniques for becoming more productive learners. Memory plays a central role in our ability to carry out complex cognitive tasks, such as applying knowledge to problems never before encountered and drawing inferences from facts already known. New insights into how memory is encoded, consolidated, and later retrieved have led to a better understanding of how we learn. Grappling with the impediments that make learning challenging leads both to more complex mastery and better retention of what was learned. Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning come from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. Speaking most urgently to students, teachers, trainers, and athletes, Make It Stick will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.

Peter C. Brown is a writer and former management consultant.

Peter C. Brown

Henry L. Roediger III is James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Henry L. Roediger III

Mark A. McDaniel is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE) at Washington University in St. Louis.

Learning is deeper and more durable when its effortful

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