Seven Steps for Effective Learning

Charles L Flatt, 2020-01-12

Warning: Learning Ahead! (plus science)

The steps below are based on dozens of science-based articles on effective learning. I've written a fuller article with more details, How To Learn.

I hope this helps you on your learning journeys!

Steps

1. What's the next physical action to take, and when will you?
2. Choose what you want to learn based on excitement and utility.
3. Choose your goal, then narrow using research.
4. Choose your first target.
5. Define success.
6. When beginning, focus on commitment and process.
7. As you advance, focus on progress.

Techniques

Early On

• Do not share your goal, especially if it's tied to your identity.
• Beginners need praise for commitment, and should seek positive feedback.
• Do something small and useful, give yourself easy wins.
• Learn enough to self-correct.

As You Advance

• Experts need praise for progress, but also should seek negative feedback.
• Share your goal, but...
• Only make yourself accountable to people you trust and who have no stake in the outcome.

Overall

• Make the practice hard enough that you have to work to get better. Too easy and you'll just keep doing the same easy thing. Too hard and you'll give up.
• When faced with barriers, try WOOP (I love this technique!)
• Space learning: 30-50 minute bursts, take progressively longer breaks between learning
• Self-test: put away the material and work to recall. Use flash cards.
• Change it up: practice the same thing slightly differently
• Interleave: practice something else, then come back.
• Connect new ideas to prior knowledge.

Myths

1. Students have different "learning styles," i.e. visual, auditory, reading, kinesthetic.
   FALSE, people learn using all these senses, and often don't know which they're using well.
2. Humans only use 10% of their brains.
   FALSE, humans use 100% of their brains each day.
3. People are right- or left-brained.
   FALSE, the differences between the left and right side of the brain aren't this simplistic, and the connection between the two halves is normally strong.
4. Novices and experts can think in all the same ways.
   FALSE
5. Cognitive development progresses via a fixed progression of age-related stages.
   FALSE, cognition develops in fits and starts.

References

• Amazon.com: Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Gladwell
• I haven't found Ericsson's original study yet, but here are two interviews with him, plus an overview article.
  • ANDERS ERICSSON on Deliberate Practice & The 10000 Hour Rule [Interview 2018]
  • ANDERS ERICSSON: DISMANTLING THE 10,000 HOUR RULE
  • 10,000-Hour Rule: Does It Take This Long to Master Something?
• The first 20 hours -- how to learn anything | Josh Kaufman | TEDxCSU I'm still searching for Kaufman's supporting research.
• Hidden Brain: Why our memory fails, and how to improve it : NPR
• "Yes Or No?" -- A Classic And Effective Book For Decision-Making | Software Meadows
• Developing a Growth Mindset with Dr. Carol Dweck - YouTube
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us: Daniel H. Pink
• The Science-Backed Reasons You Shouldn't Share Your Goals
• WOOP my life In research, WOOP is usually examined under the scientific term "mental contrasting with implementation intentions", abbreviated “MCII”. Here's a site devoted to the technique.
• Effects of person versus process praise on student motivation: stability and change in emerging adulthood: Educational Psychology: Vol 31, No 5
• The_Science_of_Learning.pdf
• Six Brain Hacks To Learn Anything Faster
• Brief diversions vastly improve focus, researchers find -- ScienceDaily
• Sleep makes relearning faster and longer-lasting | EurekAlert! Science News
• Want to Learn a New Skill? Faster? Change Up Your Practice Sessions
• Are 'Learning Styles' Real? - The Atlantic
• Do People Only Use 10 Percent of Their Brains?
• Why the Left-Brain Right-Brain Myth Will Probably Never Die | Psychology Today

Comment for me? Send an email. I might even update the post!