This link has been bookmarked by 276 people . It was first bookmarked on 18 Feb 2008, by nirwall.
-
23 Oct 15
-
13 Oct 15
-
The 20 rules of formulating knowledge in learning
-
First read a chapter in your book that puts them together (e.g. the principles of the internal combustion engine). Only then proceed with learning using individual questions and answers (e.g. What moves the pistons in the internal combustion engine?), etc.
-
Stick to the minimum information principle
-
material
-
techniques
-
-
09 Oct 15
-
08 Oct 15
-
Effective learning: Twenty rules of formulating knowledge
-
This article will help you overcome one of the greatest difficulties you will face when trying to accelerate learning: formulating knowledge
-
. You will notice that the first 16 rules revolve around making memories simple! Some of the rules strongly overlap.
-
Do not learn if you do not understand
-
Learn before you memorize - build the picture of the whole before you dismember it into simple items in SuperMemo. If the whole shows holes, review it again!
-
Build upon the basics - never jump both feet into a complex manual because you may never see the end. Well remembered basics will help the remaining knowledge easily fit in
-
Stick to the minimum information principle - if you continue forgetting an item, try to make it as simple as possible. If it does not help, see the remaining rules (cloze deletion, graphics, mnemonic techniques, converting sets into enumerations, etc.)
-
Cloze deletion is easy and effective - completing a deleted word or phrase is not only an effective way of learning. Most of all, it greatly speeds up formulating knowledge and is highly recommended for beginners
-
Use imagery - a picture is worth a thousand words
-
Use mnemonic techniques - read about peg lists and mind maps. Study the books by Tony Buzan. Learn how to convert memories into funny pictures. You won't have problems with phone numbers and complex figures
-
Graphic deletion is as good as cloze deletion - obstructing parts of a picture is great for learning anatomy, geography and more
-
Avoid sets - larger sets are virtually un-memorizable unless you convert them into enumerations!
-
Avoid enumerations - enumerations are also hard to remember but can be dealt with using cloze deletion
-
Combat interference - even the simplest items can be completely intractable if they are similar to other items. Use examples, context cues, vivid illustrations, refer to emotions, and to your personal life
-
Optimize wording - like you reduce mathematical equations, you can reduce complex sentences into smart, compact and enjoyable maxims
-
Refer to other memories - building memories on other memories generates a coherent and hermetic structure that forgetting is less likely to affect. Build upon the basics and use planned redundancy to fill in the gaps
-
Personalize and provide examples - personalization might be the most effective way of building upon other memories. Your personal life is a gold mine of facts and events to refer to. As long as you build a collection for yourself, use personalization richly to build upon well established memories
-
Rely on emotional states - emotions are related to memories. If you learn a fact in the sate of sadness, you are more likely to recall it if when you are sad. Some memories can induce emotions and help you employ this property of the brain in remembering
-
Context cues simplify wording - providing context is a way of simplifying memories, building upon earlier knowledge and avoiding interference
-
Redundancy does not contradict minimum information principle - some forms of redundancy are welcome. There is little harm in memorizing the same fact as viewed from different angles. Passive and active approach is particularly practicable in learning word-pairs. Memorizing derivation steps in problem solving is a way towards boosting your intellectual powers!
-
Provide sources - sources help you manage the learning process, updating your knowledge, judging its reliability, or importance
-
Provide date stamping - time stamping is useful for volatile knowledge that changes in time
-
Prioritize - effective learning is all about prioritizing. In incremental reading you can start from badly formulated knowledge and improve its shape as you proceed with learning (in proportion to the cost of inappropriate formulation). If need be, you can review pieces of knowledge again, split it into parts, reformulate, reprioritize, or delete. See also: Incremental reading, Devouring knowledge, Flow of knowledge, Using tasklists
-
-
09 Sep 15
-
09 Aug 15
-
05 Aug 15
-
19 Jul 15
-
09 Apr 15
-
31 Mar 15
-
23 Dec 14
-
08 Dec 14
-
11 Nov 14
-
03 Nov 14
-
24 Sep 14
-
If you are not a speaker of German, it is still possible to learn a history textbook in German. The book can be crammed word for word. However, the time needed for such "blind learning" is astronomical. Even more important: The value of such knowledge is negligible. If you cram a German book on history, you will still know nothing of history.
-
example is an extreme
-
Do not start from memorizing loosely related facts!
-
minimum information principle
-
Use imagery
-
-
25 Aug 14
-
speed of learning will depend on the way you formulate the material
-
rules are listed in the order of importance
-
Do not learn if you do not understand
-
amazing proportion of students commit the offence of learning without comprehension
-
Learn before you memorize
-
you need to build an overall picture of the learned knowledge
-
Build upon the basics
-
shorter the initial chapter of your book the better. Simple models are easier to comprehend and encompass
-
Memorizing seemingly obvious things is not a waste of time!
-
Stick to the minimum information principle
-
material you learn
-
formulated in as simple way as it is only possible
-
imperative due to the way the brain works
-
simple material is easy to remember
-
easy for the brain to process it always in the same way
-
If it can run in only one unique way, the path is continuous and easy to follow
-
Repetitions of simple items are easier to schedule
-
If you split the complex item into sub-items, each can be repeated at its own pace saving your time.
-
Although the number of items increases, the number of repetitions of each item will usually be small enough to greatly outweigh the cos
-
forgetting the complex item
-
remembering it only in part
-
repeating it in excessively short intervals
-
the longer the time you need to remember knowledge, the more you benefit from simplifying your items!
-
want a minimum amount of information to be retrieved from memory in a single repetition!
-
Cloze deletion is a sentence with its parts missing
-
Cloze deletion makes the core of the fast reading and learning technique called incremental reading.
-
Visual cortex is that part of the brain in which visual stimuli are interpreted
-
verbal processing power is greatly inferior as compared with the visual processing power
-
Well-employed images will greatly reduce your learning time in areas such as anatomy, geography, geometry, chemistry, history, and many more
-
why the concept of Tony Buzan's mind maps is so popular
-
true bottleneck towards long-lasting and useful memories is not in quickly memorizing knowledge
-
ottleneck lies in retaining memories for months, years or for lifetime
-
with a dose of training you will need to consciously apply mnemonic techniques in only 1-5% of your items
-
Graphic deletion works like cloze deletion but instead of a missing phrase it uses a missing image componen
-
ifficult to learn is an item that asks for the list of the members of a set
-
high cost of retaining memories based on sets
-
hould always try to convert them into enumerations
-
ordered lists of members
-
orce the brain to list them always in the same order
-
despite containing more information, enumerations are easier to remember.
-
you should always try to make sure your brain works in the exactly same way at each repetition
-
f you cannot avoid them, deal with them using cloze deletions
-
student does not have to stop repetitions to recite the whole sequence
-
only focus on a small part of the learned material
-
recommended that he recite the whole alphabet after making the repetition
-
can also deal with enumerations by using grouping
-
When you learn about similar things you often confuse them
-
knowledge of one item makes it harder to remember another item, we have a case of memory interference
-
only hermetic procedure against it is to detect and eliminate
-
make items as unambiguous as possible
-
tick to the minimum information principle
-
eliminate interference as soon as you spot it, i.e. before it becomes your obsession
-
wording of your items must be optimized to make sure that in minimum time the right bulb in your brain lights up
-
educe error rates, increase specificity
-
Referring to other memories can place your item in a better context, simplify wording, and reduce interference
-
One of the most effective ways of enhancing memories is to provide them with a link to your personal life.
-
illustrate your items with examples that are vivid or even shocking
-
Context cues simplify wording
-
can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look
-
Redundancy in simple terms is more information than needed or duplicate information
-
oes not have to contradict
-
you will often want to boost your reasoning ability by asking about a solution to the problem
-
Instead of just memorizing the answer
-
derivation steps: in more complex problems to solve, memorizing individual derivation steps is always highly recommended
-
often the same knowledge can be represented and viewed from different angles
-
highly recommended that you include sources from which you have gathered your knowledge
-
Knowledge can be relatively stable
-
and highly volatile
-
provide your items with time stamping or other tags indicating the degree of obsolescence
-
The way you prioritize will affect the way your knowledge slots in
-
-
09 Aug 14
David A. HaleRules of organizing knowledge for easier recall and long-term memorization, by spaced repetition proponent Piotr Wozniak.
-
24 Jul 14
-
06 Jul 14
-
02 Jul 14
-
Tony Buzan
-
-
11 May 14
-
10 May 14
-
This article will help you overcome one of the greatest difficulties you will face when trying to accelerate learning: formulating knowledge
-
The rules are listed in the order of importance.
-
Do not learn if you do not understand
-
Learn before you memorize
-
build an overall picture of the learned knowledge. Only when individual pieces fit to build a single coherent structure, will you be able to dramatically reduce the learning time
-
Build upon the basics
-
The picture of the learned whole (as discussed in Rule 2: Learn before you memorize) does not have to be complete to the last detail. Just the opposite, the simpler the picture the better.
-
Do not neglect the basics.
-
Remember that usually you spend 50% of your time repeating just 3-5% of the learned material [source]!
-
Basics are usually easy to retain and take a microscopic proportion of your time. However, each memory lapse on basics can cost you dearly!
-
Stick to the minimum information principle
-
The material you learn must be formulated in as simple way as it is only possible.
-
If you split the complex item into sub-items, each can be repeated at its own pace saving your time.
-
Very often, inexperienced students create items that could easily be split into ten or more simpler sub-items!
-
Although the number of items increases, the number of repetitions of each item will usually be small enough to greatly outweigh the cost of (1) forgetting the complex item again and again, (2) repeating it in excessively short intervals or (3) actually remembering it only in part!
-
Here is a striking example:
Ill-formulated knowledge - Complex and wordy
Q: What are the characteristics of the Dead Sea? A: Salt lake located on the border between Israel and Jordan. Its shoreline is the lowest point on the Earth's surface, averaging 396 m below sea level. It is 74 km long. It is seven times as salty (30% by volume) as the ocean. Its density keeps swimmers afloat. Only simple organisms can live in its saline waters
Well-formulated knowledge - Simple and specific
Q: Where is the Dead Sea located?
A: on the border between Israel and JordanQ: What is the lowest point on the Earth's surface?
A: The Dead Sea shorelineQ: What is the average level on which the Dead Sea is located?
A: 400 meters (below sea level)Q: How long is the Dead Sea?
A: 70 kmQ: How much saltier is the Dead Sea as compared with the oceans?
A: 7 timesQ: What is the volume content of salt in the Dead Sea?
A: 30%Q: Why can the Dead Sea keep swimmers afloat?
A: due to high salt contentQ: Why is the Dead Sea called Dead?
A: because only simple organisms can live in itQ: Why only simple organisms can live in the Dead Sea?
A: because of high salt content -
This is particularly visible in the long perspective, i.e. the longer the time you need to remember knowledge, the more you benefit from simplifying your items!
-
Note in the example above how short the questions are. Note also that the answers are even shorter! We want a minimum amount of information to be retrieved from memory in a single repetition! We want answer to be as short as imaginably possible!
-
Cloze deletion is easy and effective
-
If you are a beginner and if you find it difficult to stick to the minimum information principle, use cloze deletion! If you are an advanced user, you will also like cloze deletion. It is a quick and effective method of converting textbook knowledge into knowledge that can be subject to learning based on spaced repetition. Cloze deletion makes the core of the fast reading and learning technique called incremental reading.
-
Use imagery
-
Visual cortex is that part of the brain in which visual stimuli are interpreted. It has been very well developed in the course of evolution and that is why we say one picture is worth a thousand words. Indeed if you look at the number of details kept in a picture and the easiness with which your memory can retain them, you will notice that our verbal processing power is greatly inferior as compared with the visual processing power. The same refers to memory. A graphic representation of information is usually far less volatile.
-
Well-employed images will greatly reduce your learning time in areas such as anatomy, geography, geometry, chemistry, history, and many more.
-
Before you start believing that mastering such techniques will provide you with an eternal solution to the problem of forgetting, be warned that the true bottleneck towards long-lasting and useful memories is not in quickly memorizing knowledge! This is indeed the easier part. The bottleneck lies in retaining memories for months, years or for lifetime!
-
Graphic deletion is as good as cloze deletion
-
Graphic deletion works like cloze deletion but instead of a missing phrase it uses a missing image component. For example, when learning anatomy, you might present a complex illustration. Only a small part of it would be missing. The student's job is to name the missing area. The same illustration can be used to formulate 10-20 items!
-
Each item can ask about a specific subcomponent of the image. Graphic deletion works great in learning geography!
-
Avoid sets
-
For example: What countries belong to the European Union? You should avoid such items whenever possible due to the high cost of retaining memories based on sets
-
If sets are absolutely necessary, you should always try to convert them into enumerations. Enumerations are ordered lists of members (for example, the alphabetical list of the members of the EU). Enumerations are also hard to remember and should be avoided. However, the great advantage of enumerations over sets is that they are ordered and they force the brain to list them always in the same order.
-
you should always try to make sure your brain works in the exactly same way at each repetition.
-
It is nearly impossible to memorize sets containing more than five members without the use of mnemonic techniques, enumeration, grouping, etc.
-
Note that in the example above, we converted a 15-member set into 9 items, five of which are 2-3 member sets, and one is a six member enumeration. Put it to your SuperMemo, and see how easy it is to generate the list of the European Union members using the historic timeline!
-
Avoid enumerations
-
If you cannot avoid them, deal with them using cloze deletions (overlapping cloze deletions if possible).
-
They are still far more acceptable than sets.
-
Still it is recommended that he recite the whole alphabet after making the repetition. However, once all individual pieces are well remembered, reciting the whole should be a pleasant and speedy action that produces little frustration.
-
Learning poems is an example of learning enumerations (all words and sentences have to be uttered in a predefined sequence); however, due to strong semantic connections, the rhyme and the rhythm, it may often be possible to effectively remember poems without using cloze deletion and without the frustration of forgetting small subcomponents again and again.
-
A poem that is hard to remember
Q: The credit belongs ... (Teddy Roosevelt) A: The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat; a man who knows the great enthusiasm and the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who in the end knows the triumph of high achievement, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat
A poem split into easy items
Q: The credit belongs ... (Teddy Roosevelt)
A: to the man who's actually in the arenaQ: The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena ...
A: whose face is marred by dust and sweat (a man who knows the great enthusiasm)Q: whose face is marred by dust and sweat ... (The credit belongs)
A: a man who knows the great enthusiasm and the great devotions (who spends himself in a worthy cause)Q: a man who knows the great enthusiasm and the great devotions ... (The credit belongs)
A: who spends himself in a worthy cause (who in the end knows the triumph of high achievement)Q: who spends himself in a worthy cause ... (The credit belongs)
A: who in the end knows the triumph of high achievement (so that his place shall never be), etc. etc.Does it all sound artificial? It does! But you will never know how effective this approach is until you try it by yourself!
-
Combat interference
-
When you learn about similar things you often confuse them.
-
In simple terms: you will get confused about what is what.
-
Interference is probably the single greatest cause of forgetting in collections of an experienced user of SuperMemo.
-
- make items as unambiguous as possible
- stick to the minimum information principle (many of the remaining rules in this text are based on avoiding interference!)
- eliminate interference as soon as you spot it, i.e. before it becomes your obsession (e.g. as soon as you see the word inept you think "I know the meanings of inept and inapt but I will never know which is which!")
- read more: Memory interference
-
Optimize wording
-
Note that the loss of information content in this item is inconsequential. During repetition you are only supposed to learn the name: Quark. You should not hope that the trailing messages on the ownership of PageMaker and the year of its development will somehow trickle to your memory as a side effect. You should decide if the other pieces of information are important to you and if so, store them in separate items (perhaps reusing the above text, employing cloze deletion again and optimizing the wording in a new way). Otherwise the redundant information will only slow down your learning process!
-
Refer to other memories
-
Personalize and provide examples
-
One of the most effective ways of enhancing memories is to provide them with a link to your personal life.
-
Personalized examples are very resistant to interference and can greatly reduce your learning time
-
Rely on emotional states
-
If you can illustrate your items with examples that are vivid or even shocking, you are likely to enhance retrieval (as long as you do not overuse same tools and fall victim of interference!)
-
A well-thought example can often reduce your learning time several times!
-
Context cues simplify wording
-
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question.
-
Redundancy does not contradict minimum information principle
-
passive and active approach: if you learn a foreign language, e.g. Esperanto, you will often build word pairs such as phone-telefono, language-lingvo, hope-esperanto, etc. These pairs require active recall of the foreign word. Active recall does not, however, guarantee passive recognition and you may fail with telefono-phone, lingvo-language, or esperanto-hope. Adding new elements with swapped questions and answers may in some cases be redundant but it does not contradict the minimum information principle! Your items are still as simple as possible. You just get more of them
-
reasoning cues
-
derivation steps
-
multiple semantic representation
-
flexible repetition
-
Provide sources
-
Adding reliability labels may also be helpful (e.g. Watch out!, Other sources differ!, etc.). Sources should accompany your items but should not be part of the learned knowledge (unless it is critical for you to be able to recall the source whenever asked).
-
Provide date stamping
-
It is important that you provide your items with time stamping or other tags indicating the degree of obsolescence.
-
Prioritize
-
Prioritizing sources
-
Extracting knowledge
-
You will need to extract those parts that are most likely to impact the quality of your knowledge.
-
You can do it by (1) marking paragraphs in a book or journal, (2) pasting relevant web pages to SuperMemo, (3) pasting relevant passages to SuperMemo, (4) typing facts and figures directly to SuperMemo notes, etc. You will need some experience before you can accurately measure how much knowledge you can indeed transfer to your brain and what degree of detail you can feasibly master. Your best way to prioritize the flow of knowledge into your memory is to use incremental reading tools
-
Transferring knowledge to SuperMemo
-
Formulating items
-
Using forgetting index - you can use the forgetting index to prioritize pending items. The sequence of repetitions will naturally be determined by SuperMemo; however, you can request higher retention level for items that are more important and lower retention level for items of lower priority
-
Learning
-
-
03 May 14
-
29 Apr 14
-
03 Apr 14
-
18 Mar 14
-
31 Jan 14
-
16 Jan 14
-
31 Dec 13
-
29 Dec 13
-
17 Dec 13
-
Do not learn if you do not understand
-
Learn before you memorize
-
Only when individual pieces fit to build a single coherent structure, will you be able to dramatically reduce the learning time
-
you need to build an overall picture of the learned knowledge
-
Do not start from memorizing loosely related facts! First read a chapter in your book that puts them together (e.g. the principles of the internal combustion engine). Only then proceed with learning using individual questions and answers (e.g. What moves the pistons in the internal combustion engine?), etc
-
Build upon the basics
-
The shorter the initial chapter of your book the better. Simple models are easier to comprehend and encompass. You can always build upon them later on.
-
Basics are usually easy to retain and take a microscopic proportion of your time. However, each memory lapse on basics can cost you dearly!
-
Stick to the minimum information principle
-
Simple is easy
By definition, simple material is easy to remember. -
Repetitions of simple items are easier to schedule
I assume you will make repetitions of the learned material using optimum inter-repetition intervals -
Cloze deletion is easy and effective
-
If you are a beginner and if you find it difficult to stick to the minimum information principle, use cloze deletion!
-
Cloze deletion makes the core of the fast reading and learning technique called incremental reading.
-
Use imagery
-
mind maps, peg lists, mnemonic techniques, etc.
-
Graphic deletion is as good as cloze deletion
-
Avoid sets
-
Avoid enumerations
-
Enumerations are also an example of classic items that are hard to learn
-
Easy to learn items
Q: What three letters does the alphabet begin with?
A: ABCQ: Fill out the missing letters of the alphabet A ... ... ... E
A: B, C, DQ: Fill out the missing letters of the alphabet B ... ... ... F
A: C, D, EQ: Fill out the missing letters of the alphabet C ... ... ... G
A: D, E, F -
A poem split into easy items
Q: The credit belongs ... (Teddy Roosevelt)
A: to the man who's actually in the arenaQ: The credit belongs to the man who's actually in the arena ...
A: whose face is marred by dust and sweat (a man who knows the great enthusiasm)Q: whose face is marred by dust and sweat ... (The credit belongs)
A: a man who knows the great enthusiasm and the great devotions (who spends himself in a worthy cause)Q: a man who knows the great enthusiasm and the great devotions ... (The credit belongs)
A: who spends himself in a worthy cause (who in the end knows the triumph of high achievement)Q: who spends himself in a worthy cause ... (The credit belongs)
A: who in the end knows the triumph of high achievement (so that his place shall never be), etc. etc. -
Combat interference
-
You can never be sure when it strikes, and the only hermetic procedure against it is to detect and eliminate
-
- make items as unambiguous as possible
- stick to the minimum information principle (many of the remaining rules in this text are based on avoiding interference!)
- eliminate interference as soon as you spot it, i.e. before it becomes your obsession (e.g. as soon as you see the word inept you think "I know the meanings of inept and inapt but I will never know which is which!")
-
Optimize wording
-
Better item: fewer words will speed up learning
Q: Aldus invented desktop publishing in 1985 with PageMaker but failed to improve. Then ... blew past (PageMaker remains No. 2)
A: QuarkOr better:
Q: Aldus invented desktop publishing with PageMaker but failed to improve. It was soon outdistanced by ...
A: QuarkOr better:
Q: PageMaker failed to improve and was outdistanced by ...
A: QuarkOr better:
Q: PageMaker lost ground to ...
A: Quark -
Note that the loss of information content in this item is inconsequential. During repetition you are only supposed to learn the name: Quark
-
Refer to other memories
-
. Better focus helps eliminating interference
-
Personalize and provide examples
-
Easier item
Q: What is the name of a soft bed without arms or back? (like the one at Robert's parents)
A: divan -
Rely on emotional states
-
Context cues simplify wording
-
Context-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element -
Redundancy does not contradict minimum information principle
-
passive and active approach: if you learn a foreign language, e.g. Esperanto, you will often build word pairs such as phone-telefono, language-lingvo, hope-esperanto, etc. These pairs require active recall of the foreign word
-
reasoning cues: you will often want to boost your reasoning ability by asking about a solution to the problem. Instead of just memorizing the answer you would like to quickly follow the reasoning steps (e.g. solve a simple mathematical equation) and generate the answer
-
Provide sources
-
Provide date stamping
-
When learning software applications, it is enough you stamp the item with the software version
-
In case of statistical figures, you might stamp them with the year they have been collected
-
Prioritize
-
Prioritizing sources - there will always be a number of sources of your knowledge. If you are still at student years: these will most likely be books and notes pertaining to different subjects. Otherwise you will probably rely more on journals, Internet, TV, newspapers, encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc
-
Extracting knowledge
-
You can do it by (1) marking paragraphs in a book or journal, (2) pasting relevant web pages to SuperMemo, (3) pasting relevant passages to SuperMemo, (4) typing facts and figures directly to SuperMemo notes, etc
-
Transferring knowledge to SuperMemo
-
Formulating items - make sure that explanatory or optional components of the answer are placed in the parentheses so that your attention is focused on the most important part of the item
-
Using forgetting index - you can use the forgetting index to prioritize pending items
-
Learning
-
-
21 Nov 13
-
01 Nov 13
-
24 Oct 13
-
01 Oct 13
-
30 Sep 13
-
07 Sep 13
-
14 Aug 13
-
02 Aug 13
-
Only then proceed with learning using individual questions and answers (e.g. What moves the pistons in the internal combustion engine?), etc.
-
However, each memory lapse on basics can cost you dearly!
-
the longer the time you need to remember knowledge, the more you benefit from simplifying your items!
-
minimum amount of information to be retrieved from memory in a single repetition!
-
of ...(amount)
-
you should always try to make sure your brain works in the exactly same way at each repetition.
-
eliminate interference as soon as you spot it
-
lost ground to ...
-
should decide if the other pieces of information are important to you and if so, store them in separate items
-
vivid or even shocking,
-
bioch: GRE
-
-
29 Jul 13
-
06 Jun 13
-
24 May 13
-
30 Jan 13
-
13 Jan 13
-
10 Jan 13
-
09 Jan 13
-
07 Jan 13
-
-
build an overall picture of the learned knowledg
-
Stick to the minimum information principle
-
Graphic deletion is as good as cloze deletion
-
Avoid sets
-
Avoid enumerations
-
Enumerations are also an example of classic items that are hard to learn. They are still far more acceptable than sets. Avoid enumerations wherever you can.
-
Combat interference
-
- make items as unambiguous as possible
- stick to the minimum information principle (many of the remaining rules in this text are based on avoiding interference!)
-
eliminate interference as soon as you spot it, i.e. before it becomes your obsession
-
Optimize wording
-
Refer to other memories
-
Personalize and provide examples
-
One of the most effective ways of enhancing memories is to provide them with a link to your personal life. In the example below you will save time if you use a personal reference rather than trying to paint a picture that would aptly illustrate the question
-
Rely on emotional states
-
Context cues simplify wording
-
-
06 Jan 13
-
14 Dec 12
-
13 Dec 12
-
12 Dec 12
-
24 Sep 12
-
24 Aug 12
-
treacherous
-
coherent
-
Cloze deletion
-
impeachment
-
Mnemonic
-
hermetic
-
unambiguous
-
-
09 Aug 12
-
violated
-
in the order of importance
-
optimally
-
Do not learn if you do not understand
-
utmost
-
comprehension
-
deplorable
-
crammed
-
astronomical
-
negligible
-
pollute
-
Learn before you memorize
-
treacherously
-
build an overall picture of the learned knowledge
-
coherent
-
First read a chapter in your book that puts them together
-
Build upon the basics
-
combustion
-
Just the opposite, the simpler the picture the better
-
encompass
-
neglect
-
Stick to the minimum information principle
-
volatile
-
lapse
-
microscopic
-
Simple is easy
-
Repetitions of simple items are easier to schedule
-
-
09 Jul 12
-
want answer to be as short as imaginably possible!
-
-
14 Apr 12
Ha Le1) Understanding
2) Whole picture
3) Basics
4) Minimum simplicity
5) Cloze deletion
6) Imagery
7) Graphic/image deletion
8) Mnemonic techniques
9) Non-set
10) Non-enumeration
11) Interference omission
12) Optimal wording
13) Memory relevance
14) Personalization + examples
15) Emotions
16) Context cues
17) Redundancy (Pair or added elements/reasoning/derivation/flexible repetition)
18) Sources
19) Date stamping
20) Priority -
04 Apr 12
Calvin HobbesSupermemo's 20 rules for formulating knowledge correctly for learning
-
09 Feb 12
-
10 Jan 12
-
01 Jan 12
-
30 Dec 11
-
26 Dec 11
-
20 Dec 11
-
19 Dec 11
-
Wesley Robertsnonsense. Still, an amazing proportion of students commit the offence of learning without comprehension. Very often they have no other choice! The quality of many textbooks or lecture scripts is deplorable while examination deadlines are unmovable.
If you are not a speaker of German, it is still possible to learn a history textbook in German. The book can be crammed word for word. However, the time needed for such "blind learning" is astronomical. Even more important: The value of such knowledge is negligible. If you cram a German book on history, you will still know nothing of history.
The German history book example is an extreme. However, the materials you learn may often seem well structured and you may tend to blame yourself for lack of comprehension. Soon you may pollute your learning process with a great deal of useless material that treacherously makes you believe "it will be useful some day".
Learn before you memorize
Before you proceed with memorizing individual facts and rules, you need to build an overall picture of the learned knowledge. Only when individual pieces fit to build a single coherent structure, will you be able to dramatically reduce the learning time. This is closely related to the problem comprehension mentioned in Rule 1: Do not learn if you do not understand. A single separated piece of your picture is like a single German word in the textbook of history.
Do not start from memorizing loosely related facts! First read a chapter in your book that puts them together (e.g. the principles of the internal combustion engine). Only then proceed with learning using individual questions and answers (e.g. What moves the pistons in the internal combustion engine?), etc.
Build upon the basics -
18 Dec 11
-
12 Nov 11
-
You might want to experiment and try to learn two subjects using the two above approaches and see for yourself what advantage is brought by minimum information principle. This is particularly visible in the long perspective, i.e. the longer the time you need to remember knowledge, the more you benefit from simplifying your items!
-
-
27 Sep 11
-
You should avoid such items whenever possible due to the high cost of retaining memories based on sets. If sets are absolutely necessary, you should always try to convert them into enumerations.
-
-
24 Jul 11
-
18 Jun 11
-
22 Apr 11
-
08 Apr 11
-
The speed of learning will depend on the way you formulate the material.
-
The rules are listed in the order of importance. Those listed first are most often violated or bring most benefit if complied with!
-
-
02 Mar 11
-
22 Feb 11
-
16 Feb 11
-
30 Dec 10
Yusuf Tranbreaking learning down, how best to learn and retain
-
27 Dec 10
-
01 Dec 10
-
13 Oct 10
-
27 Aug 10
-
26 Jul 10
-
07 Jun 10
-
24 May 10
-
01 Feb 10
-
22 Dec 09
-
29 Jul 09
Olivier BrissonEffective learning: Twenty rules of formulating knowledge
learning memory education reference howto tutorial language flashcards
-
18 Jun 09
-
06 May 09
-
02 Apr 09
-
19 Mar 09
-
28 Jan 09
-
13 Jan 09
-
05 Jan 09
-
21 Dec 08
-
Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element -
Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
-
- Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element
- Context cues simplify wording
-
- Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element
- Context cues simplify wording
-
- Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element
- Context cues simplify wording
-
- Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element
- Context cues simplify wording
-
Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element -
Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element -
Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element -
Context cues simplify wording
You can use categories in SuperMemo 2000/2002, provide different branches of knowledge with a different look (different template), use reference labels (Title, Author, Date, etc.) and clearly label subcategories (e.g. with strings such as chem for chemistry, math for mathematics, etc.). This will help you simplify the wording of your items as you will be relieved from the need to specify the context of your question. In the example below, the well-defined prefix bioch: saves you a lot of typing and a lot of reading while still making sure you do not confuse the abbreviation GRE with Graduate Record Examination. Note that in the recommended case, you process the item starting from the label bioch which puts your brain immediately in the right context. While processing the lesser optimum case, you will waste precious milliseconds on flashing the standard meaning of GRE and ... what is worse ... you will light up the wrong areas of your brain that will now perhaps be prone to interference!
Wordy item can cause accidental lapses through interference
Q: What does GRE stand for in biochemistry?
A: glucocorticoid response elementContext-labeled items increase success rate
Q: bioch: GRE
A: glucocorticoid response element
-
-
01 Dec 08
Would you like to comment?
Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.