Four Kick-ass Learning Practices That Help You Retain and Recall Forever
When faced with unfamiliar problems, digging through possible solutions is a tiring and futile task for our brains.
It simply does not have a map that guides it directly to the solution.
Learning enables us to cultivate a series of patterns and techniques to cut down on a brute-force search of our brains for the answers.
In short, learning creates that map.
But how does learning actually work? And how can learning practices help you?
Learning is more than just storing information. The key ingredient of effective learning is the ability to recall what new things you learnt, at will.
It starts creating the map.
Repeated acts of retrieval strengthen both the brain and your memory.Retrieval Practice is Underappreciated as a Learning Strategy
This practice gives you long-lasting, durable, coherent and well-organized learning.
Your own unique mind map.
It readily supports information transfer, inference and problem-solving.
Here are four time tested learning retrieval and retention practices:
1. Quizzing — You can repeatedly practice recalling the information by quizzing with your friends or with yourself.
This is a great way to remember and recall factual data — dates, figures, quantities….
2. Solving Case Studies — You can apply your learning in a wide range of simulations. Reinforce it by reading and solving case studies. T
This is the perfect activity for reinforcing and building your understanding of concepts and models.
3. Teaching — One of the most effective techniques to remember what you learnt is to teach it to someone else .
Repeating your understanding of a new skill to someone and answering their questions helps your learning move on at a faster clip.
4. Notes and Maps — Make note-taking a habit and develop your own style. Later, it’ll be beneficial to revisit those notes to see how far you’ve come
This method is a personal learning system that combines your grasp of ideas and connects the dots between what you already know and what you desire to learn next.
Spacing the retrieval practice over time is more effective than bunching up the practice at one go. And you must use all or some of these techniques to practice. Nothing goes waste.
Think back, plan forward
After all that effort, there will be times when you are complete stumped. Then what?
The brain looks through past knowledge or tries to find patterns that could be used to develop a possible solution. At times, the brain may even give us an answer but we can’t be sure it is the correct one.
If no answer is forthcoming, the brain switches to problem-solving mode because it’s memory bank has no ready solution.
While this seems like an elaborate, step-by-step process, it actually happens in a short time.
However, even with problem solving, what you already know and what you can recall, determines how equipped you are to solve the problem.
If you do not know geometry, getting you started in Pythagoras’s theory is to skip major knowledge gaps and set you up to fail.
It’ll just fry your brain.
Whereas if you have done and dusted all theorem, then trigonometry or calculus would be a good next step.
Your brain already has a map!
When you make learning and retrieval a cycle, any new things you learn, integrate well into what you already know. Your memory remains in sync.
Retrieval practice strengthens the foundation of your knowledge, giving you more hooks to recall information later.
Future learning is possible on top of this foundation, and only when you know what you know.
Put that effort, build that foundation and watch your learning soar. These Learning Practices will help you retain your learning and recall it virtually forever.
Hi, I am Nalanda. I write about Adventure Travel, Personal Effectiveness and stories from the rich tapestry of LIFE!
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