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I just commented this in another thread, but I highly, highly recommend the free Coursera course Learning How To Learn. In particular, I found that the followi

by otras 8y ago

I just commented this in another thread, but I highly, highly recommend the free Coursera course Learning How To Learn. In particular, I found that the following worked especially well for me: * Emphasis on balance between focus and diffuse mode: taking a walk or exercising after a focused study session. * Spaced repetition: Anki works wonders. Reviewing notes multiple times is also tremendous. * Sleep: ignored the importance of this for so long, but it helps so much. I made it through undergrad without these, but applying these and the other lessons from the course in my post-graduate classes felt like magic. The results (both in understanding gained and grades) were completely different.

snarf21 8y ago
All of this. Your brain needs time to convert short term to long term. There are also techniques for memory like mind palaces which can assist learning.
nabnob 8y ago
Agreed! In that course, they also mention how important recall is for learning - so anything where you quiz yourself, or explain concepts to another person, etc. When I'm learning a new subject, I try to make my study time as active as possible. For example, if I'm reading a very dense piece of philosophy, this means taking notes on each section and creating a study guide/outline of the whole paper.
devinjflick 8y ago
I've recently gone through the course and it is as good if not better than I was told it would be. The better you can cement the strategies taught in the course the farther and faster you will go.
drawkbox 8y ago
For spaced repetition, if you haven't tried it here is a fun interactive that is well presented to try it out [1]. For spaced repetition tools, besides Anki [2] there is also TinyCards [3]. Ultimately learning new things means building projects in them, but for rote memorization and when getting started spaced repetition is great. It works well because it is similar to how people learn naturally, the more you see something, the more you lock it into memory. [1] https://ncase.me/remember/ https://ncase.me/remember/ [2] https://apps.ankiweb.net/ https://apps.ankiweb.net/ [3] https://tinycards.duolingo.com/ https://tinycards.duolingo.com/
- insickness 8y ago
  How does Tinycards compare to Anki? I've been using Anki for years. In terms of learning, it is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
  - drawkbox 8y ago
    Similar, both flash card based, and with spaced repetition. Anki is downloadable and TinyCards is web based and online. TinyCards has a community around it but Anki is probably more individual focused. Both are great tools and you will learn something everytime. Another comparison highlights differences [1] > They are both spaced repetition systems, but here are some key differences: > - They have a different look and feel, so that is a subjective factor. Tinycards is more modern, while Anki is arguably starting to look dated. > - Tinycards decks are limited to only 150 cards. This is a problem if you like big decks. Anki decks have no practical size limit. > - Tinycards can connect directly to your Duolingo account and has shared decks (that the original owner still controls), but Anki has a lot of shared decks that instantly become "yours" (free to make changes) once you download them. > - Anki has more overall functionality, so if you like to add pictures and audio, etc, then you have more control. [1] https://languagelearning.stackexchange.com/questions/3309/tinycards-and-anki https://languagelearning.stackexchange.com/questions/3309/ti...
    - volkisch 8y ago
      You lost me when you said "web based and online".
    - insickness 8y ago
      > - Tinycards decks are limited to only 150 cards. Huge deal breaker for me. I have thousands of cards. If I study for any certification exam, I will have a minimum of a couple hundred cards.
- pixelperfect 8y ago
  Quantum Country is another great introduction to spaced repetition (and quantum computing!) [1]. One of its authors also wrote a great essay about spaced repetition [2]. [1] https://quantum.country/qcvc https://quantum.country/qcvc [2] http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html
deanebarker 8y ago
I'm ashamed to say I had to stop watching this because I couldn't handle the woman's voice. It was like reverse-ASMR.
- sadlion 8y ago
  You can may be try the book or watch it at 1.5x playback speed.
plants 8y ago
How do you do anki with something like lecture notes? Do you just chunk the lecture notes into bite-size pieces and then review them as flash cards?
- otras 8y ago
  It definitely depended on the kind of notes, but pretty much! For something like an algorithms or math class, I would have the problem one side and a summary of how to do it on the other side. This meant I wouldn't focus on the answer itself but more the process. Definitions and terms are also easy, where I would have the term on one side and a summary on the other. Sometimes I skipped the bite-size and would make cards like "Review Lecture N." This doesn't seem exactly like The Anki Way of breaking down into small parts, but it was good for keeping track of when I should be reading over my notes periodically.
sadlion 8y ago
I have a similar experience too. I learned about that course after graduating but I apply the course's principles on my personal learning endeavors. I would like to add Cal Newport's Deep Work is also an excellent companion to this book. He ties in concepts from Peak, Grit and many more resources into concrete strategies that can be applied to effectively master cognitively demanding tasks. I wish I learned about those 2 books earlier.
raphaelb 8y ago
I have tried a few times to get on the anki/supermemo bandwagon but have always struggled a bit figuring out how to structure the cards. Maybe I just have some hangups with it but would love to see a good workflow or best practices for incorporating it into my study. I think specifically I would second guess myself for the syntax of the cards I was creating - and if there was another better way to do it. I always wanted to find almost like a guided walkthrough that would take me through the whole process or something and help me build the skills associated with it.
- rockdiesel 8y ago
  This article on SuperMemo might help you - https://www.supermemo.com/en/archives1990-2015/articles/20rules https://www.supermemo.com/en/archives1990-2015/articles/20ru...
  - lupin3ken 8y ago
    ^^ This. Piotr Wozniak (the creator of Supermemo and the man behind spaced repetition software) has re-formatted a lot of his old posts and ideas into a wiki at supermemo.guru. Use both liberally and you will learn how to learn.
- emilga 8y ago
  > I think specifically I would second guess myself for the syntax of the cards I was creating - and if there was another better way to do it. This kind of perfectionism has also been bothering me. ("I need to write the card perfectly, or else it's not even worth doing or even actively harmful.") But there's a couple of points worth remembering to change this belief: 1) If a card is bad, you will notice it when reviewing. It will be difficult to remember (i.e. you will fail the card often compared to other cards); it will be annoying to review (there's a general sense of "ugh" and/or confusion when you see the card); it will be unexpectedly time consuming to review, etc. 2) Bad cards can always be refactored. You can suspend the card (where the card is still in the database, but removed from the learning queue); reword; or split into multiple cards. Michael Nielsen [0] gives an example of a card which asked for the syntax for creating a symbolic link in Linux. He always messed up the order of the filname/linkname, so he created an additional card that explicitly asked for the order of the filname/linkename in the ln-command. 3) The only way of learning how to make good cards is by just starting making cards, and then noticing which ones don't work. When a card doesn't stick, it's useful to ask yourself what doesn't work and why. Is the back side surprising when you reveal it? If so, maybe rewrite the card to add more context to the front to make it clearer what you're asking for. Do you always miss one or two pieces of the answer? If so, maybe split the card into multiple cards, each of which asks for one part of the answer. (Or add an additional card to direct your attention specifically towards what you struggle with, ala Nielsen.) Etc. 4) There's diminishing returns on card improvement. Time spent on perfecting an already OK card is time taken away from creating new cards to remember new information. If your goal is to remember as much as possible in a given time, spending time on perfecting already existing cards is trade-off not always worth making. (The quote: "a poem's never finished, only abandoned" comes to mind to highlight this.) [0] http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html
Jefro118 8y ago
For a good guide and background on Anki, this piece by Michael Nielsen is great: http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html
walterbell 8y ago
How much does the course cost?
- inetsee 8y ago
  All the Coursera courses I've looked at can be audited for free. There are some advanced features of the courses that require enrolling for a fee. If you enroll, and pay the fee, you also get a Certificate of Completion. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for financial aid.
  - walterbell 8y ago
    Thanks, that explains why there were no prices, just a signup form :)
tmaly 8y ago
She also recently published a book Learning How To Learn last August. It is very easy to ready as it targets tweens, but it covers the same topics as the course.

by otras 8y ago

snarf21 8y ago

All of this. Your brain needs time to convert short term to long term. There are also techniques for memory like mind palaces which can assist learning.

nabnob 8y ago

Agreed! In that course, they also mention how important recall is for learning - so anything where you quiz yourself, or explain concepts to another person, etc. When I'm learning a new subject, I try to make my study time as active as possible. For example, if I'm reading a very dense piece of philosophy, this means taking notes on each section and creating a study guide/outline of the whole paper.

devinjflick 8y ago

I've recently gone through the course and it is as good if not better than I was told it would be. The better you can cement the strategies taught in the course the farther and faster you will go.

drawkbox 8y ago

For spaced repetition, if you haven't tried it here is a fun interactive that is well presented to try it out [1]. For spaced repetition tools, besides Anki [2] there is also TinyCards [3]. Ultimately learning new things means building projects in them, but for rote memorization and when getting started spaced repetition is great. It works well because it is similar to how people learn naturally, the more you see something, the more you lock it into memory. [1] https://ncase.me/remember/ https://ncase.me/remember/ [2] https://apps.ankiweb.net/ https://apps.ankiweb.net/ [3] https://tinycards.duolingo.com/ https://tinycards.duolingo.com/

insickness 8y ago
How does Tinycards compare to Anki? I've been using Anki for years. In terms of learning, it is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
- drawkbox 8y ago
  Similar, both flash card based, and with spaced repetition. Anki is downloadable and TinyCards is web based and online. TinyCards has a community around it but Anki is probably more individual focused. Both are great tools and you will learn something everytime. Another comparison highlights differences [1] > They are both spaced repetition systems, but here are some key differences: > - They have a different look and feel, so that is a subjective factor. Tinycards is more modern, while Anki is arguably starting to look dated. > - Tinycards decks are limited to only 150 cards. This is a problem if you like big decks. Anki decks have no practical size limit. > - Tinycards can connect directly to your Duolingo account and has shared decks (that the original owner still controls), but Anki has a lot of shared decks that instantly become "yours" (free to make changes) once you download them. > - Anki has more overall functionality, so if you like to add pictures and audio, etc, then you have more control. [1] https://languagelearning.stackexchange.com/questions/3309/tinycards-and-anki https://languagelearning.stackexchange.com/questions/3309/ti...
  - volkisch 8y ago
    You lost me when you said "web based and online".
  - insickness 8y ago
    > - Tinycards decks are limited to only 150 cards. Huge deal breaker for me. I have thousands of cards. If I study for any certification exam, I will have a minimum of a couple hundred cards.
pixelperfect 8y ago
Quantum Country is another great introduction to spaced repetition (and quantum computing!) [1]. One of its authors also wrote a great essay about spaced repetition [2]. [1] https://quantum.country/qcvc https://quantum.country/qcvc [2] http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html

deanebarker 8y ago

I'm ashamed to say I had to stop watching this because I couldn't handle the woman's voice. It was like reverse-ASMR.

sadlion 8y ago
You can may be try the book or watch it at 1.5x playback speed.

plants 8y ago

How do you do anki with something like lecture notes? Do you just chunk the lecture notes into bite-size pieces and then review them as flash cards?

otras 8y ago
It definitely depended on the kind of notes, but pretty much! For something like an algorithms or math class, I would have the problem one side and a summary of how to do it on the other side. This meant I wouldn't focus on the answer itself but more the process. Definitions and terms are also easy, where I would have the term on one side and a summary on the other. Sometimes I skipped the bite-size and would make cards like "Review Lecture N." This doesn't seem exactly like The Anki Way of breaking down into small parts, but it was good for keeping track of when I should be reading over my notes periodically.

sadlion 8y ago

I have a similar experience too. I learned about that course after graduating but I apply the course's principles on my personal learning endeavors. I would like to add Cal Newport's Deep Work is also an excellent companion to this book. He ties in concepts from Peak, Grit and many more resources into concrete strategies that can be applied to effectively master cognitively demanding tasks. I wish I learned about those 2 books earlier.

raphaelb 8y ago

I have tried a few times to get on the anki/supermemo bandwagon but have always struggled a bit figuring out how to structure the cards. Maybe I just have some hangups with it but would love to see a good workflow or best practices for incorporating it into my study. I think specifically I would second guess myself for the syntax of the cards I was creating - and if there was another better way to do it. I always wanted to find almost like a guided walkthrough that would take me through the whole process or something and help me build the skills associated with it.

rockdiesel 8y ago
This article on SuperMemo might help you - https://www.supermemo.com/en/archives1990-2015/articles/20rules https://www.supermemo.com/en/archives1990-2015/articles/20ru...
- lupin3ken 8y ago
  ^^ This. Piotr Wozniak (the creator of Supermemo and the man behind spaced repetition software) has re-formatted a lot of his old posts and ideas into a wiki at supermemo.guru. Use both liberally and you will learn how to learn.
emilga 8y ago
> I think specifically I would second guess myself for the syntax of the cards I was creating - and if there was another better way to do it. This kind of perfectionism has also been bothering me. ("I need to write the card perfectly, or else it's not even worth doing or even actively harmful.") But there's a couple of points worth remembering to change this belief: 1) If a card is bad, you will notice it when reviewing. It will be difficult to remember (i.e. you will fail the card often compared to other cards); it will be annoying to review (there's a general sense of "ugh" and/or confusion when you see the card); it will be unexpectedly time consuming to review, etc. 2) Bad cards can always be refactored. You can suspend the card (where the card is still in the database, but removed from the learning queue); reword; or split into multiple cards. Michael Nielsen [0] gives an example of a card which asked for the syntax for creating a symbolic link in Linux. He always messed up the order of the filname/linkname, so he created an additional card that explicitly asked for the order of the filname/linkename in the ln-command. 3) The only way of learning how to make good cards is by just starting making cards, and then noticing which ones don't work. When a card doesn't stick, it's useful to ask yourself what doesn't work and why. Is the back side surprising when you reveal it? If so, maybe rewrite the card to add more context to the front to make it clearer what you're asking for. Do you always miss one or two pieces of the answer? If so, maybe split the card into multiple cards, each of which asks for one part of the answer. (Or add an additional card to direct your attention specifically towards what you struggle with, ala Nielsen.) Etc. 4) There's diminishing returns on card improvement. Time spent on perfecting an already OK card is time taken away from creating new cards to remember new information. If your goal is to remember as much as possible in a given time, spending time on perfecting already existing cards is trade-off not always worth making. (The quote: "a poem's never finished, only abandoned" comes to mind to highlight this.) [0] http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html

Jefro118 8y ago

For a good guide and background on Anki, this piece by Michael Nielsen is great: http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html http://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html

walterbell 8y ago

How much does the course cost?

inetsee 8y ago
All the Coursera courses I've looked at can be audited for free. There are some advanced features of the courses that require enrolling for a fee. If you enroll, and pay the fee, you also get a Certificate of Completion. If you cannot afford the fee, you can apply for financial aid.
- walterbell 8y ago
  Thanks, that explains why there were no prices, just a signup form :)

tmaly 8y ago

She also recently published a book Learning How To Learn last August. It is very easy to ready as it targets tweens, but it covers the same topics as the course.