Make It Stick
Make It Stick

Make It Stick

we also apply two of the primary learning principles in the book: spaced repetition of key ideas, and the interleaving of different but related topics. If learners spread out their study of a topic, returning to it periodically over time, they remember it better. Similarly, if they interleave the study of different topics, they learn each better than if they had studied them one at a time in sequence. (Location 54)

Tags: learning

Note: .learning spaced repitition and interweaving topics helps reinforce learnings

learning: we mean acquiring knowledge and skills and having them readily available from memory so you can make sense of future problems and opportunities. (Location 82)

Tags: learning

Note: .learning Acquire knowledge and skills so they are readily available from memory whn needed

Learning is deeper and more durable when it’s effortful. Learning that’s easy is like writing in sand, here today and gone tomorrow. (Location 92)

Tags: metaphor, learning

Note: .learning you need to put in effort to learn things well

Rereading text and massed practice of a skill or new knowledge are by far the preferred study strategies of learners of all stripes, but they’re also among the least productive. By massed practice we mean the single-minded, rapid-fire repetition of something you’re trying to burn into memory, the “practice-practice-practice” of conventional wisdom. Cramming for exams is an example. (Location 96)

Note: Rereading text is a poor learning method

Retrieval practice—recalling facts or concepts or events from memory—is a more effective learning strategy than review by rereading. Flashcards are a simple example. Retrieval strengthens the memory and interrupts forgetting. A single, simple quiz after reading a text or hearing a lecture produces better learning and remembering than rereading the text or reviewing lecture notes. (Location 100)

Note: Retrieval practice is better than rereading

Trying to solve a problem before being taught the solution leads to better learning, even when errors are made in the attempt. (Location 107)

Note: Try to solve a problem before you know how

All new learning requires a foundation of prior knowledge. You need to know how to land a twin engine plane on two engines before you can learn to land it on one. To learn trigonometry, you need to remember your algebra and geometry. To learn cabinetmaking, you need to have mastered the properties of wood and composite materials, how to join boards, cut rabbets, rout edges, and miter corners. (Location 121)

Tags: learning

Note: All new learning requires a foundation of knowledge

Elaboration is the process of giving new material meaning by expressing it in your own words and connecting it with what you already know. The more you can explain about the way your new learning relates to your prior knowledge, the stronger your grasp of the new learning will be, and the more connections you create that will help you remember it later. (Location 127)

Tags: learning, favorite

Note: Express new learnings in your own language and relate it to topics you already know

Putting new knowledge into a larger context helps learning. For example, the more of the unfolding story of history you know, the more of it you can learn. And the more ways you give that story meaning, say by connecting it to your understanding of human ambition and the untidiness of fate, the better the story stays with you. Likewise, if you’re trying to learn an abstraction, like the principle of angular momentum, it’s easier when you ground it in something concrete that you already know, like the way a figure skater’s rotation speeds up as she draws her arms to her chest. (Location 135)

Note: Tie new learnings in with a larger context

The need to understand that when learning is hard, you’re doing important work. To understand that striving and setbacks, as in any action video game or new BMX bike stunt, are essential if you are to surpass your current level of performance toward true expertise. Making mistakes and correcting them builds the bridges to advanced learning. (Location 158)

Tags: learning

Note: When learning is hard it leads to retention

when learning is harder, it’s stronger and lasts longer. (Location 185)

It’s widely believed by teachers, trainers, and coaches that the most effective way to master a new skill is to give it dogged, single-minded focus, practicing over and over until you’ve got it down. Our faith in this runs deep, because most of us see fast gains during the learning phase of massed practice. What’s apparent from the research is that gains achieved during massed practice are transitory and melt away quickly. (Location 186)

Note: Mass practicse info is quickly lost

Learning is stronger when it matters, when the abstract is made concrete and personal. (Location 212)

Tags: learning

Note: Personalise your learnings

when the same text is read multiple times the same inferences are made and the same connections between topics are formed, and others suggested modest benefits from rereading. (Location 251)

Note: Few additional connections are made from rereading

The fact that you can repeat the phrases in a text or your lecture notes is no indication that you understand the significance of the precepts they describe, their application, or how they relate to what you already know about the subject. (Location 274)

Note: Simply being able to recall the exact wording doesnt mean you understand the topics

While he was reading, had he thought of converting the main points of the text into a series of questions and then later tried to answer them while he was studying? Had he at least rephrased the main ideas in his own words as he read? Had he tried to relate them to what he already knew? Had he looked for examples outside the text? (Location 282)

Tags: learning

Note: .learning study techniques include jotting Down questions, summarising in your own words and relating to other topics

The act of retrieving learning from memory has two profound benefits. One, it tells you what you know and don’t know, and therefore where to focus further study to improve the areas where you’re weak. Two, recalling what you have learned causes your brain to reconsolidate the memory, which strengthens its connections to what you already know and makes it easier for you to recall in the future. In effect, retrieval—testing—interrupts forgetting. (Location 329)

Tags: memory

Note: Attempting to retrieve info shows you what you dont know and cements what you do know

One of the best habits a learner can instill in herself is regular self-quizzing to recalibrate her understanding of what she does and does not know. (Location 346)

The good news is that we now know of simple and practical strategies that anybody can use, at any point in life, to learn better and remember longer: various forms of retrieval practice, such as low-stakes quizzing and self-testing, spacing out practice, interleaving the practice of different but related topics or skills, trying to solve a problem before being taught the solution, distilling the underlying principles or rules that differentiate types of problems, and so on. (Location 351)

Tags: learning

Note: .learning

In 2010 the New York Times reported on a scientific study that showed that students who read a passage of text and then took a test asking them to recall what they had read retained an astonishing 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who had not been tested. (Location 441)

Tags: memory

Note: Testing helps memory recall

In 1978, researchers found that massed studying (cramming) leads to higher scores on an immediate test but results in faster forgetting compared to practicing retrieval. In a second test two days after an initial test, the crammers had forgotten 50 percent of what they had been able to recall on the initial test, while those who had spent the same period practicing retrieval instead of studying had forgotten only 13 percent of the information recalled initially. (Location 471)

Note: Cramming leads to quickly forgetting material

What does this mean? “Retrieval practice” means self-quizzing. Retrieving knowledge and skill from memory should become your primary study strategy in place of rereading. How to use retrieval practice as a study strategy: When you read a text or study lecture notes, pause periodically to ask yourself questions like these, without looking in the text: What are the key ideas? What terms or ideas are new to me? How would I define them? How do the ideas relate to what I already know? (Location 2735)

Note: Periodically pause to ask yourself what are the key learnings and main ideas

The harder it is for you to recall new learning from memory, the greater the benefit of doing so. Making errors will not set you back, so long as you check your answers and correct your mistakes. (Location 2744)

Note: Making errora wont set you back if you correctyoursef

How it feels: Compared to rereading, self-quizzing can feel awkward and frustrating, especially when the new learning is hard to recall. It does not feel as productive as rereading your class notes and highlighted passages of text feels. But what you don’t sense when you’re struggling to retrieve new learning is the fact that every time you work hard to recall a memory, you actually strengthen it. If you restudy something after failing to recall it, you actually learn it better than if you had not tried to recall it. The effort of retrieving knowledge or skills strengthens its staying power and your ability to recall it in the future. (Location 2759)

Note: Self quizzing and failing may seem difficult but is better in the long run

If you use self-quizzing as your primary study strategy and space out your study sessions so that a little forgetting has happened since your last practice, you will have to work harder to reconstruct what you already studied. In effect, you’re “reloading” it from long-term memory. This effort to reconstruct the learning makes the important ideas more salient and memorable and connects them more securely to other knowledge and to more recent learning. (Location 2784)

Tags: michel thomas

Note: Spacing out quizzing forces you to retrieve ideas from Long term memory

Why interleaved practice is better: Mixing up problem types and specimens improves your ability to discriminate between types, identify the unifying characteristics within a type, and improves your success in a later test or in real-world settings where you must discern the kind of problem you’re trying to solve in order to apply the correct solution. (Location 2808)

meaning in new material. For instance: Examples include relating the material to what you already know, explaining it to somebody else in your own words, or explaining how it relates to your life outside of class. (Location 2818)

Note: Elaboration involves writing the material in your own words,connecting to to other ideas

A powerful form of elaboration is to discover a metaphor or visual image for the new material. (Location 2820)

Note: Discovering a metaphor for a new idea is a powerful form of elaboration

MNEMONIC DEVICES help you to retrieve what you have learned and to hold arbitrary information in memory (Location 2867)

Mnemonics are not tools for learning per se but for creating mental structures that make it easier to retrieve what you have learned. (Location 2875)

Tags: memory

Always does the reading prior to a lecture •  Anticipates test questions and their answers as he reads •  Answers rhetorical questions in his head during lectures to test his retention of the reading •  Reviews study guides, finds terms he can’t recall or doesn’t know, and relearns those terms •  Copies bolded terms and their definitions into a reading notebook, making sure that he understands them •  Takes the practice test that is provided online by his professor; from this he discovers which concepts he doesn’t know and makes a point to learn them •  Reorganizes the course information into a study guide of his design •  Writes out concepts that are detailed or important, posts them above his bed, and tests himself on them from time to time •  Spaces out his review and practice over the duration of the course (Location 2946)

Note: Study checklist

You don’t engage the mind by reading a text over and over again or by passively watching PowerPoint slides. You engage it by making the effort to explain the material yourself, in your own words—connecting the facts, making it vivid, relating it to what you already know. (Location 3022)

Note: Say material in your own words

students must be helped to understand such fundamental ideas as these: •  Some kinds of difficulties during learning help to make the learning stronger and better remembered. •  When learning is easy, it is often superficial and soon forgotten. •  Not all of our intellectual abilities are hardwired. In fact, when learning is effortful, it changes the brain, making new connections and increasing intellectual ability. •  You learn better when you wrestle with new problems before being shown the solution, rather than the other way around. •  To achieve excellence in any sphere, you must strive to surpass your current level of ability. •  Striving, by its nature, often results in setbacks, and setbacks are often what provide the essential information needed to adjust strategies to achieve mastery. (Location 3077)

Note: When learning is effortful it is better retained

Where practical, use frequent quizzing to help students consolidate learning and interrupt the process of forgetting. Make the ground rules acceptable to your students and yourself. Students find quizzing more acceptable when it is predictable and the stakes for any individual quiz are low. Teachers find quizzing more acceptable when it is simple, quick, and does not lead to negotiating makeup quizzes. (Location 3091)

Tags: memory

Note: Have regular low stakes quizzes

Free recall.   Wenderoth assigns her students to spend ten minutes at the end of each day sitting with a blank piece of paper on which to write everything they can remember from class. They must sit for ten minutes. (Location 3150)

Tags: learning, favorite

Note: Spend time writing down everything you know

McDermott sets the ground rules very clearly at the start of the term. She lays out the research on learning and the testing effect and explains why the quizzes are helpful, even if they don’t feel helpful. Students are allowed to drop four quizzes across the semester. In exchange, absences need not be justified, and no missed quizzes will be made up. (Location 3235)

schedule follow-up emails to appear in your inbox every month or so with questions that require you to retrieve the critical learning you gained from the seminar. (Location 3271)

Note: Schedule follow up emails with questions the following month to help you recall

initial get-acquainted exercise that proved so fruitful: asking about one’s family, occupation, recreation, and enjoyment. That icebreaker now morphs into a handy tool for getting to know a prospective client and it gets an acronym: FORE. (Location 3320)