Learning Re-invented !!!

Learning any content or doing any course would not be of much use unless retention of those learnings is ensured in the long run. Hence, in this article I would like to shed light on some methods and tools that would help make the process of learning more effective. 

As said by Ali Abdaal, a junior doctor in Cambridge (UK) and a youtuber, the act of learning has 2 components as depicted below:

We obviously need to understand what we are learning and then remember it, and in order to make remembering efficient, we should implement the above 2 concepts under remembering – active recall and spaced repetition.

The methods with the strategies and tools mentioned in this article assumes significant importance in the context of long-term retention and if followed on a consistent basis can dramatically improve one’s retention of any information.

1.    Understanding

We have heard numerous times that rather than mindless cramming, it is imperative to understand any subject conceptually but we are seldom made aware of as to how to ensure that our understanding is complete and without any loopholes.

A technique that is relevant in this case is the Feynman Technique. It is named after the Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman and who was also called “The Great Explainer”. The simple idea behind this technique is that whatever we learn, we should be able to explain it to a child in plain, simple language. I am however not suggesting to explain any concept to a child but to approach any new learning with this technique in mind. Or we can think how can we explain it to a layman who has no knowledge of what we are learning and try to do that hypothetically. While explaining, we may come across any loophole in the understanding or what we might have missed. We should than go back, re-read or hear it again and plug those loopholes and do the explaining again. Doing this with every concept we come across ensures real understanding.

2 (i)    Remembering - Active Recall

It has been scientifically proven that information gets coded in our memory whenever we try to remember it. The act of recalling any information repeatedly over a period of time is known as active recall and the same highly reduces our chances of forgetting any piece of information.

Recalling any information activates neurons in our brains and the more we do it, the more competent our brain becomes in the act of recalling that particular set of information.

Implementing Active Recall

The following two strategies can be followed to make active recall a part of our learning process:

Creating questions

While studying, we should try to take notes in a question – answer format i.e. creating questions by ourselves and answering those questions from the book or any video that we are learning from. After preparing the questions and answering them, we shall have a fair idea about the learning. Immediately after this, we should recall our learnings without seeing the prepared answers and re-visit the area of discrepancy. From the next day onwards, just recalling the answers to those questions periodically will incorporate active recall.

Using Notion

There are various softwares that help in implementing active recall and the one which I personally use and would suggest is ‘Notion’. It is available across both desktop and mobile platform. Though there are tons that can be done in this software but just its toggle feature is enough for implementing active recall.

Under the toggle feature, we can hide the answer for a question, so that when reviewed, only a list of questions will come up and the answers shall stay hidden. So, while active recalling, we can try to answer the questions by ourselves, and if we cannot, we can just click the toggle icon and the answer shall be revealed. A snapshot of the toggle feature is given below:

As we can see, the toggle for the third question is unlocked and hence the answer is visible, whereas the answers for the other questions are hidden. 

Using ‘Notion’ or any software however may not be that efficient for those who do not have a good typing speed, but the applicability of active recall remains the same when using a pen and paper as well.

2 (ii)    Remembering - Spaced Repetition

Every human being, even people having the best memory, have something that is known as the forgetting curve, which says that with the passage of time, our ability to retain information gradually declines. The same is depicted in the graph below:

This is where spaced repetition comes into the picture, the objective of which is to break this decline. Spaced repetition says that if we interrupt the forgetting curve by periodically re- visiting what we learned, our memory of the same goes back to its initial position.

As we can see, with each review, our retention shoots back to 100% and with increase in the number of reviews, we can also increase the gap between each review. Hence, it is not necessary to do it on a daily basis, as with each review, the information gets further embedded in our memory. 

The process of review here consists of recalling the answers to the questions which were prepared while studying the topic for the first time. (Refer ‘Active Recall’ Section)

Implementing Spaced Repetition

In order to incorporate spaced repetition, we can prepare a schedule which mentions on which day which topic is to be reviewed.

I use MS Excel for the above purpose and the mechanism I have adapted is explained below.

Table 1 contains the dates for the review of topics. The following highlighting mechanism is used: 

GREEN indicates good retention of the topic,

RED indicates bad retention of the topic

Now, in Table 1, the date of reviews shall be decided based on the quality of retention i.e. good or bad.

For example, for topic 1, while reviewing for the first time on 3rd March 2020, I found that I could recall it properly and hence marked GREEN, but I could not recall topic 2 properly and hence marked RED.

Hence, the 2nd review of topic 2 shall be earlier than that of topic 1.

Table 2 mentions the gap in days between consecutive reviews.

The 1st review for all the topics shall be done after 2 days of 1st study.

The 2nd review for the topics shall depend on the quality of retention in the 1st review.

     Good Retention (GREEN) = 2nd review after 6 days

     Bad Retention (RED) = 2nd review after 4 days

Accordingly, the Review 2 date for 

      topic 1 is set at 9th March 2020 (6 days after 3rd March), and

      topic 2 is set at 7th March 2020 (4 days after 3rd March)

The same tactic can be followed till one is confident about the retention of that topic. But even after very good retention is achieved, I still visit every topic that I want to keep remembering at least once a month.

 It is to be noted that the gap (in days) between each review may not the same for all and has to be initially tested and seen what works best for that person. 

I have encountered numerous cases wherein I have studied something only to forget it after a few days. I would then study it again and the same thing would happen. At the end, I would end up de-motivated and helpless and keep wondering what I am doing wrong. 

What went wrong was a lack of strategy in my studying and once I encountered the above concepts and techniques, learning became far more effective than it was before and I hope this article does the same for my readers as well.

Keep Learning. Stay Safe.

Photos: Curiosity, Versitas, Techcirle