Struggling with learning materials can lead to better results.<ul><li>Difficulty in recalling information strengthens memory and understanding.</li><li>Embrace challenges and mistakes as they promote deeper learning and retention.</li><li>Overcoming obstacles during learning rewires the brain for improved cognitive abilities.</li></ul>"Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." — African Proverb

The More Difficulties, the Better the Results

Development and expertise require a structured approach.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Expertise is achieved through long-term practice and continuous improvement.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Internal discipline and consistent analysis of performance are necessary for growth.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Create an environment conducive to learning and development.</li></ul>"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." — Aristotle

Set Yourself Up for Development to Achieve Expertise

"Make it Stick" provides actionable insights into mastering the art of learning, emphasizing the importance of strategic, long-term approaches. Here are three pieces of actionable advice based on the book's content:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Implement active recall and spaced repetition in your study routine.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Embrace challenges and mistakes as opportunities for growth.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Prioritize consistent practice and continuous improvement to develop expertise.</li></ul>This approach will help you not only learn more effectively but also retain knowledge and apply it successfully in various aspects of your life.

Conclusion

Adopt complex and long-term learning strategies for deeper understanding.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Spaced repetition helps solidify knowledge by reviewing information over increasing intervals.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Interleaving different subjects or topics forces your brain to constantly switch gears, improving learning.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Elaborative interrogation involves asking 'why' questions to understand the material more deeply.</li></ul>"Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity." — Bruce Lee

Choose Complex Long-term Strategies

Mistakes are a critical part of the learning process.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Making and correcting mistakes helps embed information in your memory.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Errors provide valuable feedback and learning opportunities.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Encouraging a growth mindset allows you to view mistakes as part of the path to mastery.</li></ul>"Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence." — Colin Powell

Make Mistakes to Learn Deeply

Understanding how to study effectively is crucial for mastering any subject.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Effective study methods include active recall, spaced repetition, and interleaved practice.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Simply re-reading or highlighting text is not as beneficial as engaging with the material actively.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Testing yourself on the material enhances retention and comprehension.</li></ul>"The best way to get better at something is to practice deliberately and push yourself beyond your comfort zone." — Anders Ericsson

Learn How to Study Effectively

Learning styles are not as important as commonly believed.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Research shows that the concept of learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) is not supported by evidence.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Effective study techniques work regardless of perceived learning styles.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Focus on methods proven to enhance learning, such as active engagement and retrieval practice.</li></ul>"Learning is not a spectator sport." — D. Blocher

Your Learning Style Doesn’t Matter

Testing is an essential part of the learning process.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Self-testing is more effective than passively reviewing notes.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Frequent low-stakes quizzes can help reinforce material and highlight areas needing improvement.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Testing provides feedback that guides further study and learning efforts.</li></ul>"You don’t know what you know until you can teach it to someone else." — Richard Feynman

Don’t Be Sure You Know Until You Test It

"Make it Stick" delves into the science of successful learning, debunking myths and providing research-backed strategies for better retention. One key insight from the book is that overcoming learning difficulties enhances memory and understanding. This book can transform your approach to studying and mastering new skills, making learning more efficient and effective.

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.

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Personal Development

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Learning & Education

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Problem Solving

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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.