Learning to learn

September 7, 2024

If your school and academic experience is a typical one like mine, you may recognise this: by the time I got to university I had 12 years of school, then 3 more for a Bachelors, 2 more for a Master’s, and  4 more years for a PhD. That’s 21 years dedicated to learning  - and yet, I never had a single class on “how to learn”! Did you?

My career has been one of learning and it’s so important to do it well. I've been exploring the practical side of learning science, and I'm excited to share my key takeaways with fellow lifelong learners

Set the stage

Your goals and your “why”

Set goals of what you want to learn or improve on. That creates a structure, and makes it easier to track progress and see you’re improving. It’s also a way of doing some initial research.

Understand your 'why.' Connect your learning goals to your broader ambitions. This will fuel your motivation and keep you going when things get tough

Schedule time and focus

Schedule dedicated time for learning. This reinforces your commitment and increases the likelihood of follow-through. It also signals to others that you're serious about your growth.

Focus is key during learning. Minimise distractions. If your mind wanders (which is perfectly normal), gently guide it back to the task at hand and reconnect with your 'why.

Sleep well

Sleep is crucial for two reasons: First, it's when your brain consolidates memories and processes information for long-term learning. Second, quality sleep ensures you're alert and focused for your next learning session.

Getting started

Formulate goals as a “project” you can do.

Let's say your goal is to learn programming. Frame it as a project, like 'building my own cooking app.' This provides a practical framework to apply and practise your broader learning objective.

Observing foundations and frameworks

Practice is key, but having the right foundation matters. Learn from the experts. Observe how they approach similar projects. Don't reinvent the wheel; leverage their knowledge. Refer back to expert examples as you progress

Doing it

Do the actual thing

Learning by doing is essential. Once you have a grasp of expert approaches, dive in and start practising. Avoid 'proxy' activities. If you want to be a great cook, spend less time reading recipes and more time in the kitchen.

Chunks of knowledge

As you progress, you'll encounter specific knowledge areas that require deeper understanding. Take the time to explore these 'chunks' and then apply them back to your project. For instance, if you're building your cooking app and encounter Object-Oriented Programming, master it before moving on."

Testing and Recall

Active recall is powerful. Test yourself after learning something new. Take notes, answer questions, and reflect on what you've retained. Then, check your understanding. This process solidifies learning.

Quantity and Variability

Practice makes perfect, but variety is key. If it's a physical skill, change your environment, tools, and collaborators. Learning to play an instrument? Practise different songs with different musicians. If it's theoretical, explore diverse sources and problem-solving approaches

Set the right level

If it feels too easy, you're likely not growing. Embrace the challenge. Learning should stretch your abilities. If you're already proficient, try adding constraints to push your boundaries. Paint without colour or cook without your go-to ingredients.

Feedback

Feedback is essential. Seek it actively. Ask for input, compare your work to others, or have someone review your progress. Test what you’re building and test yourself.

Teach

Teaching is a great way to consolidate and validate your knowledge. To teach something (well) if you have to know it well. Teaching also helps you organise your knowledge and will confront you with the perspectives and questions of others. These will teach you new things and test your own knowledge.

Other points

Offset forgetting: spaced repetition and interleaving

If something is important then practise it frequently with some time in between.  Focus on something you want to learn, but then change, and come back to it (interleave it). If you change to a different but related topic, you  make connections that are less obvious if you don’t mix your learning.

The illusion of competence:

Beware: recognising something is not the same as actually knowing it. When you want to be good at something you’ll need to be able to do it or recall it to mind or practice without help.

Stories, metaphors, and emotions

The human brain organises knowledge in stories in the physical world. Learn by association with a powerful emotion or story. At the same time, be in control of what you want to learn - don’t let other people’s stories decide what you know

Connect and reflect

Reflect on what you know - test your knowledge in your mind. Think about how you integrate your knowledge in your day to day activities. For example, if you’re thinking about communication, connect it to conversations you have or will have.

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These ideas are my summary of having read or listened to: Barbara Oakley PhD, Scott Young, Andrew Huberman PhD, Terrence Sejnowski PhD , Mark McDaniel PhD, Henry Roediger PhD.