Some dude talks about how to think about things better for half an hour
Entry posted by Qwayway
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Video 1:
A )
- Learning is fast
- Knowledge is composed of isolated facts
- Being good at a subject is a matter of inborn talent
- I'm really good at multi-tasking (I, personally, suck at multitasking)
B )
The one that resonates the most with me, is that I do often think learning is fast. Although, I have come to terms with the fact that it's not as fast as I think it is. In reality, it's more that I wish learning was fast, but I know it really isn't. As for the other three, I know knowledge is an interconnected web of ideas and understanding, I know that strength in a subject can be learned, and I know (very well) that I am quite bad at multi-tasking.
C )
Meta-cognition is one's own measure of how much they think they understand a subject. The accuracy of one's meta-cognition goes hand in hand with how well they truly understand a subject.
Video 2:
A )
The most important thing when studying is what you think about while doing it.
B )
Deep processing and shallow processing are two ways someone can process information. On the shallow side, the person only thinks about / focuses on shallow details and facts - things that pop right out without much actual thinking involved. Meanwhile, during deep processing, the person thinks about / focuses on the meaning behind the information, especially something personal attached to the information.
C )
- Minimizing distractions and maximizing focus: I'll make sure I'm in a quite environment with my phone far out of reach.
- Developing accurate metacognition: I'll routinely reevaluate how well I know the subject material through the use of things like the assignments in class and the web assigns at home.
- Deep, appropriate processing of critical concepts: I'll focus on how each topic is related to my everyday life - it is physics, after all, it's happening all around us.
- Practicing retrieval and application: I'll practice the material we're working on, rather than reading through notes.
Video 3:
A )
- Elaboration: I'll make sure I relate the topics we study to each other, using notes and worksheets to spot the similarities and relations between the different topics.
- Distinctiveness: I'll make sure I still understand the distinct nature of each topic. I'll continue to test my recall of old topics so I know I'm not confusing similar topics, and really do understand the differences.
- Personal: The blog posts will really help with this. I'll make sure I make legitimate blog posts that I really do feel a connection to my personal life with.
- Appropriate to retrieval and application: I'll practice each individual part of the topics we learn, until I understand how each is connected to the others, and how they're all applied mathematically, and in practice.
- Automaticity: I'll continue doing practice on the topic we learn until I'm certain I don't need any notes or help to complete problems.
- Overlearning: I'll challenge myself with harder, more in-depth problems, until I can quickly and easily work through the problems without notes or help. At least, as quick and as easy as I can.
Video 4:
A )
- What are good strategies for learning?
- What types of questions should I ask?
- How do questions impact the retention of knowledge?
- Why should I come up with my own questions?
- What makes a good question good?
- What questions have I already asked without thinking about it?
B )
Video lessons are a lot like lectures, the only difference being the ability to rewind, fast-forward, and skip whole parts. These abilities, though, make shallow-learning even easier and more dangerous. Videos should be watched carefully, while you take notes as described in the video. It will probably be better to take notes on paper, as it will make it less convenient to pause, rewind, fast-forward, or leave the video entirely. Notes that promote deep processing will help to prevent the need to re-watch parts of, or whole, videos. Whatever work is to be done concerning the video, i.e. this blog post, should be done only after fully watching, and taking notes on all parts of the video. This way, the knowledge and understanding is not only in short-term memory, but has been processed deeper.
C )
I will definitely participate in study groups, though I might not stick to a single one (unless we just end up having a 15-person study group, that might be cool). I know my strengths relatively well, and I'm certain I can help to lead my classmates through the work load of this class. I don't want to stick to a single group, because I think I could both help more people if I jump around, and it would give me more experience with helping many different (although all nerdy) people. I also think that participating in different groups can help anyone, since different groups may often have different approaches to the same problem, each of which may be an entirely valid solution. It would be very helpful to experience all those different ways of thinking, for anyone.
Disclaimer: There's entirely a possibility that, if the workload of all of my classes combined pushes me too close to - or beyond - my limit, I become almost completely independent, probably for just a short while. I'll do my best to manage my time wisely, though, so that doesn't happen, and I don't send myself into a spiraling, endless pit of stress and lack of time.
Video 5:
A )
Don't:
- Panic
- Go into denial
- Do nothing
- Wait until the end of the semester to get help
- Skip class to focus on others
- Fall further behind while looking for ways to catch up
- Ignore small assignments
- Give up
B )
Do:
- Examine how you prepared, and be honest with yourself.
- Review the exam, and focus on what you got wrong. Make sure you understand any problems you didn't during the test. Check if you had the necessary information to complete the problems you missed in your notes. If not, reexamine your note-taking.
- Talk with your professor. Take steps early to make sure you know what path you need to take in order to improve your learning.
- Examine your study habits. Make sure your strategies take effort to do.
- Based on all of this, create a plan on how you're going to do better.
C )
- Commit time and effort (is anyone who's taking this class actually expecting to not put in time and effort?)
- Minimize distractions (no cell phones during study time)
- Attend class (except on senior skip day)
- Set realistic goals (you're not gonna go from a 9% to a 90% in one week)
- Don't begin to slide (if you do, seek help)
- Don't give away points (unless you're the teacher, I'll take some free points)
That was a long post. Jeez Louise. Time for a nap. Probably, like, an 8 hour nap.
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