Overcoming My Industrial-Age Education
Before I learned how to study and take tests, school was a struggle. Teachers put information up on the chalkboards, then later on screens, and we students tried to drink it all in, as from a fire hose.
We were basically showered in facts and figures, then told to just remember it. Then, if we could spew it back out on the test, we could pass and get more credits toward a diploma.
Some people, like myself, could write quickly, and took a lot of notes. Others, who were not so quick-handed, took fewer notes or brought a recorder to class.
None of our parents had much advice for handling tough subjects, except "read more" or "work harder at memorization."
It was all bullshit. No one I knew, NONE, had any understanding of human performance factors. No one had a clue as to how we learn or what we should do in order to learn more efficiently.
My big break came early in my career, when "the smart guys" gave up some secrets for success. My break got better yet, when I started reading about note-taking and how experts prepare for certification tests and practical exams.
All of the smart ones, who never broke a sweat during practicals and simulations, were studying with "Pomodoro, Zettelkasten, and Feynman" methods!
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They didn't purely follow any study method purely, but leaned mostly into a method and borrowed techniques from the others. Here is a basic breakdown which works:
Use multiple primary sources: lectures, textbooks, videos, and note collections. Put recorded tutorials or lectures on your smart phone and listen while exercising or doing other tasks.
Take notes and revise notes as you learn more. These are not mere copies of the books or lectures, but your own words about the important concepts, facts, and methods of problem solving.
Instead of paper notes, take electronic notes in markdown format. That's right. Create text files, because text will never become obsolete.
Use a note-taking app which allows interlinking notes and images. You can more easily learn the relationships between different items of knowledge.
Learn the basics first, then build your knowledge in steps; never try to "skip to the end" or "eat the whole elephant."
Break study sessions into a few 45 to 60 minute runs, with breaks to stretch, have a coffee, or just chill for a few minutes. Work toward achieving some kind of progress in a session: a new understanding or skill, to recognize when you have made progress.
Switch to another subject after you achieve progress in one. You want to move around among your subjects, not spending too much time in any.
Don't be afraid of weakness in any topic. Recognize it and work to build your knowledge and skills in areas where you are not strong.
Studying for important subjects and taking tests is never easy. Keep some kind of symbol for your goals, to help you keep your "eyes on the prize."
Do a lot of practice exercises, to develop your problem solving skills.
Study with a classmate or two, and take turns teaching the material to each other. You don't really know the material until you are familiar enough to put it into words, or to exercise the skill and explain what you're doing.
Memorization is for things you need to recall immediately, without time to look them up in the books or get from a web search. For other things, know where to find them, so you can go straight to them and see the information.
Always be ready to jot down fleeting notes. When you get little insights, or the first trace of an idea relating to something you are studying, get it into your fleeting notes. Later, build it up and create more substantial notes in the concept.
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