Make it stick

https://read.amazon.co.uk/?asin=B00JQ3FN7M&ref_=kwl_kr_iv_rec_1

1. Learning is misunderstood

pilot landing story => shows importance of understanding

Some key points about learning: * Learning is more deeper when its harder / effortful * We are poor judges of when we are learning well * Rereading text and massed practice are not very productive * Retrieval practice (low stakes quizing/ flashcards) are more effective * Space out practice/ interleve practice of two or more subjects * Trying to solve a problem before being taught the solution leads to better learning * New learning requires a foundation of prior knowledge * Distilling the underlying principles or rules that differentiate types of problems

Subchapters * claims we make in this book * Empirical evidence versus theory lore and intuition * People misunderstand learning * Early evidence (that repetition is poor for learning) * Illusions of knowing * Knowledge: not sufficient but necessary * Testing: dipstick versus learning tool * The Takeaway (wrong advice is being given)

2. To Learn, Retrieve

Ebersold neurosurgeon, hunter story => shows how past experience can help in high stakes scenarios. Also importance of being qualified

Reflection is a form of practice * retrieving knowledge from memory, connecting these to new experiencies and vizualizing and mentally rehearsing what you might do differently next time

The Testing effect * Forgetting curve => we lose 70% percent fast, other 30% more slowly. * A central challenge is to interupt the process of forgetting * retrieval-practice effect -> far better than re exposure

Studying the testing effect in the lab * taking tests reduces forgetting * greater effort required by delayed recall solidifed the memory better * schedule of testing matters

Studying the testing effect in the wild * quizes after lessons resulted in better grades during exams (90% versus 70%) * material reviewed in quizes but not quized did not show difference in grades (reviewing material is not enough)

Exploring nuances * feddback strengthens retention than testing alone does * delayed feedback yeild better long term learning than immediate feedback * delayed feedback give practice thats spaed out in time

The Takeaway * effortful retrieval makes for stronger learning and retention

3. Mix up your practice

kids throwing beanbags at variable distance beat kids throwing bean bags at fixed distance for that same fixed distance.

The myth of massed practice * examples of massed practice: bootcamps, cramming for exam, colleges that offer concentration in a single subject * When practice is spaced interleaved and varied it requires more effort. * Spaced practice is better than mass practice

Spaced practice * Dura ble learing requires time for mental rehearsel and the other processes of consolidation * Increased effort to retreive the learning after a little forgetting has the effect of retriggering consolidation

Interleaved practice * practice of two or more subjects or skills at once * clustered/concentrated learning on a set of problems may provide initial benefits but this falls of long term * mixing the subjects results in low iniital benefits but better long term memory/consolidation * learning from interleaved practice feels slower than massed practice. But research shows mastery and long-term retention are much better.

Varied practice * varied practice improves ability to transfer learning from one situation and apply it successfully to another.

Developing discrimination skills 🤨 * Learning to differentiate between problem sets helps us in the real world * commonalites between same problems learned during massed practice proved less useful compared to difference in varied practice when finding differences between problems

Improving complex mastery for medical students * real life story about how med students need to know more than just what they are tested * "Practice like you play and play how you practice"

These principles are broadly applicable * American football coach Dooley (University of Georgia) * 1) you have to keep practicing the fundamentals from time to time * 2) you need to change it up in practice, because repetition is boring

The Takeaway * massed practice bad * beware of familiarity trap: the feeling you know something and no longer need to practice it * interleaving good * varied practice

4. Embrace difficulties

Mia Blundetto => marine scared of heights jumps from an airplane. Got caught in parachute of other jumper, but stayed calm.
Demonstrates how testing is a potent reality check on the accuracy of your own judgment of what you know how to do.

How Learning Occurs * Encoding: process of converting sensory perceptions to meaningful representations in the brain * Consolidation: Process of strengthening these mental representations is called conosolidation * Retrieval

Extended learning: updating retrieval case * Knowledge is more durable if its deeply entrenched, it has practical importance or keen emotional weight. * Use cues/context to retrieve

Easier isn't better * Experiment where baseballers practiced hitting different types of balls. One did mass practice (1 type of throw then another), whilst the other did varied. * Mass practice saw gratifying improvents at the start, but during play those who did varied practice saw more success.

How effort helps * Reconsolidating memory: effortful recall of learning * Creating mental models: * Broadening mastery * Fostering conceptual learning * Improving versatility * Priming the mind for learning

Other learning strategies that incorporate desirable difficulties * when a font is blurry you remember better * when a course is in a different order to the textbook you remember better * Making the reader work harder to contruct an interpretation that makes sense improves learning * Generation: act of trying to answer a question or attempting to solve a problem rather than being presented the solution

Failure and the myth of errorless learning * Retrieval from short term memory is an ineffective learning strategy * Errors are an integral part of increasing mastery * Fear of failure reduces test performance * A significant portion of your working memory goes into worrying about performance, if you have test anxiety

An example of generative learning * Generative learning: The process of solving a problem without the benefit of how * Bonnie Blodgetts garden writing: "leap before you look", also be forgiving about errors made. Its part of the learning process

Undesirable difficulties * Desirable difficulty is something that can be overcome with effort * Undesirable difficulty is something like reading in a book in Lithuanian without knowing the language

The Takeaway * Learning is a 3 step process: initial encoding into short term memory -> consolidated into long term memory -> Retrieval updates learning and enables you to apply when you need it * Recall learning from short term memory requires little mental effort

5. Avoid the illusions of knowing

Metacognition: monitoring your own thinking
We can delude ourselves
2008 robbers get shot by police for stealing of delivery drivers.

The two systems of of knowing * system 1: reflexive * system 2: analytical * Story of chinese pilot flying over the pacific. Nearly crashed the plane because he trusted his system 1 way of thinking over what the flight instruments were saying. * Must cultivate a disciplined System 2

Illusions and memory distortions * Memory can be distorted in many ways * Imagination inflation * Suggestion -> like leading questions * Interference * Curse of knowledge: people tend underestimate how long it will take another person to learn something new or perform a task they have already mastered. * A lie told enough times can come to be accepted as truth * Fluency illusions

Mental Models * We tend to bundle together the incremental steps that are required to solve different types of problems

Unskilled and unaware of it

Tools and habits for calibrating your judgement

6. Get beyond learning styles

The idea the individuals have distinct learning styles is borderline untrue

Active learning from the get go * People who as a matter of habit extract underlying principles or rules from new experiences are more successful learners than those who take their experiences at face value * Bruce Hendry's story -> self made man. Started and failed with real estate. Worked for Kodak as a salesman. Then went into investing salesman. Found companies going into bankruptcy, with assets greater than junior bonds issued. Bought them up and made a profit. * What you tell yourself about your ability plays a part in shaping the ways you learn

Successful intelligence * 2 kinds of intelligence: * fluid - ability to reason, see relationships, think abstractly * crystallized - ones accumulated knowledge of the world * IQ is not fixed from birth, it changes as you learn

Dynamic testing * Dynamic testing helps us discover our weakness and correct them. * 3 steps: * 1. test of some kind * 2. I dedicate myself to becoming more competent * 3. I test myself again, paying attento to what works

Structure building * structure building: the act as we encounter new material, of extracting the salient ideas and constructing a coherent mental framework out of them. (mental models) * High structure builders learn new material better than low structure builders * Low structure builders have difficulty setting aside irrelavent information.

Rule versus example learning * Rule learners identify the underlying principle that differentiate the examples * Example learners tend to memorize examples

Takeaway * Be the one in charge * Embrace the notion of successful intelligence * Adopt active learning strategies * Don’t assume that you’re doing something wrong if the learning feels hard. Remember that difficulties you can overcome with greater cognitive effort will more than repay you in the depth and durability of your learning. * Distill the underlying principles, build the structure

7. Increase your abilities

Marshmallow study -> children who waited for 2 marshmallows were seen to be more successful later on in life.
Mnemonic can help increase memory

Neuroplasticity * Number of synapsess peaks at age of one or two, plateus until puberty then decreases * The brain is mutable * The speed of our mental abilities is determined by the robustness of our mental connections * neurogenesis: hippocampus (where we consolidate learning and memory) is able to generate newer neurons later in life

Is IQ mutable? * IQ has increased over time an IQ of 100 today is the same as an IQ of 116 60 years ago. * Different factors affect IQ: Nutrition, wealth, education

Brain training * brain training games have not showed any real benefit. effgiects were called illusory by study trying to recreate it * Brain is not a muscle training one area does not strengthen others

Growth mindset * "If you think you can, or you think you can't, you are right." * Those who interpret failure as the result of insufficient effort, dig deeper and try different aproaches compared to those who just give up. * Performance goals vs learning goals -> limited potential vs unlimited * Sucess is less dependent on IQ than on grit, curiosity and persistence

Deliberate practice *

Memory Cues * Mnemonic device (e.g. ROY G BIV) * Memory palace * The value of mnemonics to reaise intellectual abilites comes after mastery of new material

The Takeaway * effortful learning changes the brain * intellectual abilities are not fixed from birth

8. Make it stick

Learning Tips for students * Significant learning is often difficult * Practice retrieving new learning from memory (i.e. self quizzing) * After one or two reviews of a text, self-quizzing is far more potent for learning than additional rereading. * Space out your retrieval practice: leave considerable time between practice sessions * Interleave the study of different problem types * Michael Young * Timothy Fellows

Tips for lifelong learners * Retrieval practice

Tips for teachers

Tips for trainers