Make It Stick: Learning Strategies PDF

Make it stick | Peter C. Brown Henry L. Roediger III Mark A. McDaniel 03.09.2023 Learning is Misunderstood Receiving instructions in a form consistent with your learning style isn't supported by imperial learning. You are better off "going wide" drawing all your aptitudes and resourcefulness than b...

Make it stick | Peter C. Brown Henry L. Roediger III Mark A. McDaniel 03.09.2023 Learning is Misunderstood Receiving instructions in a form consistent with your learning style isn't supported by imperial learning. You are better off "going wide" drawing all your aptitudes and resourcefulness than being limited to instructions. When you are adept at finding the underlying principles of a problem, you become more successful at finding the right solutions to unfamiliar problems. In virtually all areas of learning, you build better mastery when you use testing to identify your weaknesses and strengths. All new learning requires a foundation of prior knowledge. To learn trigonometry, you need to memorize basic algebra and geometry. To learn cabinetmaking, you must have mastered wood and composite material properties. Engaging in mechanic repetition can easily make you reach the limit of what you have in mind. Instead, practice elaboration. Elaboration is giving newly learned material meaning in your own words and connecting it to what you already know. The more you can explain how newly learned knowledge relates to your prior knowledge, the more you can grasp the new learning, and the more connections you create, the easier it is to remember. Putting new knowledge in a larger concept helps to learn. The more ways you give a story meaning by connecting it to your human ambitions or personal experiences, the better the story sticks with you. People who extract the key ideas from a new material, organize it into a mental model, and create a mental model that is connected to their prior knowledge show an advantage in learning complex mastery. 03.10.2023 Many people believe that their intellectual ability is hard-wired to their birth. But what people don't understand is that every time you learn something new, you change your brain. Understand that when learning is hard, you are doing important work. Making mistakes and correcting them leads to advanced learning. Gains achieved through massed practice are not permanent and melt away quickly. Rereading has three strikes to it. It is time-consuming, doesn't create a durable memory, and creates a deception of growing familiarity with the text that feels more like a mastery of content. The amount of study time is no measure of mastery. Learning is made stronger when it matters, and the abstract is made concrete and personal. 03.11.2023 Interleaved learning is studying multiple subjects or topics at one time. This allows for more connections and a stronger pathway in the brain when remembering. Building pathways require a lot of effort, and a lot of effort means a stronger pathway. The belief in rereading and repetition is invasive, but the reality is that you cannot embed something in memory simply by repeating and repeating. 03.12.2023 Early Evidence Endel Tulving at the University of Toronto conducted an experiment to test people's ability to remember a list of common English nouns. Participants were given a list of paired words in the first phase, wherein the first word was always a noun. They then proceeded to read the list six times before continuing to the second phase. After reading the list six times, they were given a list of words to remember. One group was assigned a similar list of nouns in the prior reading phase; for the other group, the nouns differed. Tulving later found out that the two groups' learning of nouns did not differ. Mere repetition did not enhance learning. Some studies that have been conducted under the shoulders of earlier works by others suggested modest benefits from re-reading. These benefits have been found in two different situations. First, some students read and immediately re-read the material, while others only read it once. Both groups underwent an immediate test after, and the group who had read twice showed a slightly better performance than the other. However, the benefits of immediate re-reading have worn off on a delayed test. In the second situation, students read the material for the first time and wait a few days before rereading the material. This group that did space reading performed better on the test. Conclusion? It makes more sense to re-read a text once a meaningful amount of time has elapsed. Rereading in succession multiple times yields negligible benefits at the expense of more effective strategies that take less time. Illusion of Knowing As mentioned earlier, the growing familiarity with the text creates an illusion of mastery. As professors would attest, students strive to capture the precise wording of phrases. They fall under the misapprehension that the subject's essence lies within the syntax in which it is described. Mastering the lectures or the text isn't the same as mastering the ideas behind them. The fact that you've mastered the text and phrase of the subject does not mean that you have understood the significance of the precepts they describe, their application, and their relationship to what you've already learned. 03.14.2023 There are known knows: things we know that we know. There are known unknowns, things we know we don't know. And there are unknown unknowns; things we do not know we don't know. Even the most diligent students are restricted by two liabilities: a failure to know the areas where their learning is weak and a preference for study methods that create a false sense of mastery. 03.16.2023 Knowledge: Not Sufficient, but Necessary Albert Einstein declared that "Creativity is more important than knowledge," and this sentiment is widely shared by college students, and why wouldn't they? Without creativity, where will we get the creative ideas to come up with scientific, economic, and economic breakthroughs? But you wouldn't want to see a pilot practicing this sentiment mid-air, would you now? But, of course, the dichotomy is false. The real problem is how we build both knowledge and creative thinking. Because without the knowledge, it would be impossible to have higher levels of skills in analysis, synthesis, and creative problem-solving. One cannot apply what he knows in a practical matter if he does not know anything to apply. Mastery is both the possession of knowledge and the conceptual understanding of how to use it. 03.17.2023 Testing: Dipstick vs Learning Tool Many students and educators have often viewed tests as a lightning rod for frustration. They believe that testing favors memorization rather than a full grasp of creative ability. But rather than viewing testing as a dipstick to measure learning, if we think of it as a practical retrieval tool from memory, it opens up another possibility: testing as a tool for learning. Testing is the most powerful method of active retrieval that strengthens memory. The more effortful retrieval, the stronger the memory. Think of active flight simulation vs PowerPoints, quiz vs rereading. Testing has two benefits. One, it allows you to determine the areas where you are weak, thus allowing yourself to improve. Two, recalling allows your brain to reconsolidate information to create stronger connections with what you already know. Retrieval-testing-prevents forgetting. Practicing active retrieval makes knowledge accessible when we need it. 3.20.2023 To Learn, Retrieve Reflection is a form of practice. There is an essential aspect of learning from reflection of personal experiences. Reflecting involves several cognitive abilities; retrieving knowledge and earlier training, connecting old experiences to new ones, and visualizing and mentally rehearsing what you might do differently next time. 3.21.2023 To make sure new learning is available when you need it, it is crucial to memorize the list of things you need to do in a given situation: steps A, B, C, and D. Then, the time will come when you no longer have to think about these steps as it will become a reflex. Unless you keep repeating this process, it will not become a reflex. Recalling over and over, practicing over and over, is just so crucial and important. 3.22.2023 Exercise in repeatedly recalling a thing strengthens the memory. 3.24.2023 To be more effective, the retrieval method must be repeated again and again in spaced-out sessions so that the recall will become a cognitive effort rather than a mindless recitation. Repeated retrieval can embed knowledge and skill so that it becomes reflexive; the brain acts even before the mind has time to think. A 2010 scientific study featured in the New York Times report showed that 50% of students retained more information after being tested on a prior passage reading, unlike those who weren't tested. Many commented online about this, stating, "Once again, another author confuses learning with memorizing." But forget about memorizing; many commenters argued that education must be about high-order skills. If memorization is irrelevant to problem-solving, don't your neurosurgeon about it. Many people forget that favoring the development of creative thinking against learning basic knowledge is a false choice. Both need to be cultivated. The stronger the knowledge one has about the subject, the more creative energy they are able to put into solving a new problem. Just as knowledge amounts to little with no imagination, creativity without a foundation of knowledge will build a shaky house. 3.25.2023 Studying the Testing Effect in the Lab A large-scale investigation was conducted in the 1917 where children from grades 3, 5, 6, and 8 studied a brief biography. Some were directed to look up the material and recite it to themselves in varying time periods, and the others simply reread the material. Groups who had participated in a recall test retained more that those who simply kept rereading. The best results were from spending 60% of the time in recitation. In 1939 an experiment was also conducted in Iowa. The kids studied 600 word articles and then took various test before a final test two months later. The research showed interesting results. First, the longer the first test was delayed the more children forgot. Second, after being tested, the forgetting seemed to have stopped and the students score subsequently dropped very little. A study on the testing effect in the 1967 showed that research subjects learned as much with testing as studying did. In a 1978 study, researchers found out that massed studying (cramming) resulted to a higher scored in immediate tests, but it also resulted in faster forgetting. 50% of what they learned had been forgotten in contrast to those who practiced retrieval who only forgot 13% of the information. A study was conducted to understand the effect of multiple2 tests would have on a subjects retention. A single test showed that 53% of information was retained on immediate testing but only 39% a week after the initial testing, in contrast to 28% when not tested until a week later. Another group who was tested three times were able to recall 53% a week later. In agreement to later research, multiple retrieval practice proves to be better that one, especially if the test sessions are spaced out. 3.26.2023 Studying the Testing Effect "in the wild" The positives of retrieval practice have been observed in laboratories but haven't been tested in regular classrooms. So, in 2006 a study was conducted in a middle school near Columbia, Illinois. The study would be minimally intrusive by using existing curricula, lesson plans, and even the same textbooks. The only difference is that they will be introducing occasional short quizzes. The experiment began with teachers giving one quiz about material that hadn't been discussed at the start of the class. A second quiz at the end of the class, and finally, a review quiz given after 24 hours before each unit exam. There was a concern that getting a better score on the unit exam after a quiz was the effect of reexposure to the material. So, to counter this possibility, some of the non-quizzed materials were interspersed with some of the quizzed materials. The quizzes would only take a few minutes. After the quiz, the teachers would step out of the room and project a series of slides on the board. When the slides contained a question, the students would use their clickers to answer A, B, C, or D. When all have responded, the correct answers alongside comments and feedback will be revealed. After conducting unit exams and final exams at the end of the year with the same study material, normal class lessons, homework, and worksheets (the only difference being one-third of the material was quizzed, and the other third was presented for study three times), the results were compelling: The kids scored a full grade higher on the material that had been quizzed than on the material that had not been quizzed. Moreover, the results for the material that was presented for study three times were no better than those for the non-reviewed. 03.31.2023 How does giving feedback on wrong answers to test questions affect learning? Studies show that giving feedback strengthens learning more than testing alone. Another interesting finding is that delayed feedback briefly produces better long-term memory that immediate feedback. In motor learning, trial and error with delayed feedback is more awkward, but has more benefit that immediate learning. Immediate learning can be compared to riding a bike with training wheels. We become too dependent on the presence of the correction. In a classroom setting, immediate feedback is comparable to an open book exam. 04.04.2023 Mix up your practice Most of us believe that we can get more out of something if we single-mindedly put effort into it. Researches call this "massed" practice. We have a large faith in this process, and we can see it making a difference. Nevertheless, this faith is misplaced. Rapid gains also result to rapid losses, but interleaving your practice and spacing out your training is much more effective. Although this may be true, it takes a lot of effort to do this, thus resulting in a feeling of slowness when learning. Even in studies where spaced learning shows superior results, participants still seem to believe that learned more in massed practice spacing out your practice feels less productive since you become aware that some forgetting has occurred, and you need to put in more effort to recall the concepts. It doesn't make you feel on top of everything. What you're not aware off is how much this makes learning stronger. A quick example of how interleaved practice has more benefits: Two college groups we're tasked to find the volume of four obscure geometrical patters. One group approached the task by solving it based on cluster types (solving all problems for the spheroid, and then moving on to the wedge). The other group, mixed the problems (solved for spheroid, and then wedge, and then half cones). Upon getting the results, the group who did the massed approach of solving problems scored 89% correct, while the other group who solved it in a mixed sequence got 60% correct. After conducting a final test later in the week, the group who did massed practice retained only 20% correctness, while the group who did interleaved practice scored 63%. The use of interleaved learning feels slow, that's why teachers find it sluggish and students find it confusing. They sense that grasping each concept comes more slowly, and they don't feel the compensating long-term advantage. But research shows that long-term retention and mastery comes better if you interleave your practice. Varied Practice The idea of varied practice allows you to transfer your newly learnt motor skill to another situation and apply it successfully. 04.05.2023 Developing Discrimination Skills The advantage interleaved learning and variation has in comparison to massed practice is that it gives us the ability to assess the problem, discriminate between given options, and to find out other possibilities that exist. Often, in mathematics, massing is embedded in the books. You study a chapter by bulk and proceed to the next one. But, when the day of testing arrives, you find yourself wondering which chapter you read of this problem; was it in chapter 5, 6, or 7. When you study in mass, you had no learning in that critical sorting process. This is often the case in life where problems come to us at different moments that are unpredictable, and out of sequence. We have to learn how to ask ourselves "What problem is this" and find the best solution in that situation. On a study to differentiate bird families, students were pressed to identify the differences and then proceed to identify each bird. This posed to be a complex challenge because though bird in the same family have similar characteristics, not all of them are the same. It would be impossible to identify all bird species if they only focused on one characteristic of a family. Interleaved practice helps learning those underlying concepts that unite and differentiate the bird species and families. conceptual knowledge requires the understanding of interrelation between the basic elements within a larger structure that enables it to function together. 04.06.2023 Improving Complex Mastery for Medical Students The bird classification skills is similar to the skills needed by medical students to determine what is wrong. Every patient visit is a test. explicit and implicit memory is involved in a lot of situation where you have to determine the problem and their interrelation with the given symptoms. Implicit memory is when you remember past experience and interpret it into new information to be used in the present. 04.07.2023 With medical students, the quality of learning is relatively better when the students have a hands-on experience with the patient rather than having a written test about a patient. Therefore, the strongest type of retrieval practice is one that allows you to utilize the knowledge you've gained at a later date. It's not just about what you know, what how you practice what you know that determines how well your learning has served you. Practice like you play, and you will play like you practice 04.11.2023 By practicing adjustments enough times in different situations, you'll be able to do it whatever comes your way. The Takeaway We harbor convictions that we learn better with single-minded focus and dogged repetition. Although we see visible improvements from the "practice-practice-practice" setting, science has proven it to be a "momentary strength". Cramming, often been linked to binge-and-purge eating, allows a lot of information to come in, but it effectively brings it all out right away. Interleaving, spacing, and varied practice, slow visible acquisition of knowledge which does not help motivate our efforts. But by simply using these simple acts of learning, it can help build a stronger memory and enhanced learning, in effect building habit strength. A little forgetting in between is good and normal, but to much forgetting, to the point wherein you need to relearn the material, should be avoided. German scientist, Sebastian Leitner developed his own system for spaced-learning called the Leitner box. It involves four boxes, the first being topic that you've studied and are familiar with, the second box being topics you've practiced less, and the third box, topics you've studied less than the second, and so on. Once you forget a topic in any of the boxes, you must move it up a box. The underlying idea is that the better your mastery, the less frequent you'll study. Beware the familiarity trap, the feeling that you don't need to test yourself anymore. You must learn to know when to say "Alright, I need to test myself, and if I don't I might not know what I missed." 04.16.2023 Interleaving two or more subjects also act as varied practice. Interleaving helps build discrimination skills between different kinds of problems and helps select the proper tool in your tool kit of solutions. In interleaving you must move from one practice to the other before each practice is complete. An example is when a hockey coach teaches his players skating and then switches to stick handling. The players may feel like they are not improving, but they will soon realize that they are getting better in all aspects. Something called "blocked practice" is sometimes mistaken as interleaving. In blocked practice a drill is run over and over again. It's like practicing flash cards in the same order, or practicing the same skill in the same way in the same place in the same environment. Spacing, interleaving, and variability is a natural feature of our lives. Every patient, every football game, and every traffic stop for a cop is in itself a different experience with different possible outcomes. The common term is "Learning from experience." Some learn from their experiences and others don't, but one thing that sets aside those who learn from their mistakes and those who don't is the cultivation of reflection. What did I do? How did I do it? What can I do better? How can I do this better? What will I do different next time? Making the brain work is actually what makes a difference-bringing in more complex networks, then using those circuits repeatedly, which makes them more robust. Embrace Difficulties Some difficulties elicit more effort and slowed down learning - interleaving, spacing, and mixing up practice - will more than compensate for their inconvenience by making the learning stronger, more precise and more enduring. Short term impediments that make for stronger learning come to be called desired difficulties. It's one thing to feel confident of your own knowledge, but it's something else to demonstrate it. Testing is not only a tool for learning, it is a potent reality check on the accuracy of your own judgement of what you know how to do. When confidence is based on repeated performance and demonstrated through real world performance, you can lean into it.