Book Summary: Learn Better
Ulrich Boser’s Learn Better delves into what we know about learning and how it’s changed over the years. These days research and studies have proven that there are far more effective ways to learn, instead of the more traditional style of rote learning. Learn Better shows the six steps to faster, more effective and efficient learning that aught to replace the older less effective styles still being used today.
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Quotes:
Tracking outcomes can be embarrassing. Yet, this type of focused awareness boosts outcomes. Increased awareness of our performance makes us better at just about everything.
Learn Better Book Summary Notes:
- The ability to learn used to be considered a fixed quality, either you had it or you didn’t. You were smart or you were not. These days we know that is not true, anyone can learn anything, given enough time and the right resources. One of the most import resources on offer is the blueprint for how someone learns, how do you break apart a topic and digest its contents. By developing your ability to learn better you can develop new skills and knowledge much more quickly and efficiently.
- The first of Ulrich Boser’s six steps is focused around value. What value do you place the skills or knowledge your trying to learn? Is it the high value associated with something you really wish to learn, or a lower value because maybe it was assigned to you as preparation for an upcoming test at school. The higher the value you place on learning something the easier it will be to learn.
- Small, very specific goals are how you make progress towards your goals. Smaller targets make progress far less daunting, especially in the early stages of learning or skill acquisition. One of the best small, specific goals to begin with is to learn the basics of whatever your working towards. Does the activity require specific background knowledge or skills? Make a list of any prior knowledge that may be useful or required, these can also be used as your first set of goals.
- When you begin learning it can be difficult to know where your weak points are. One of the best ways of developing your skills further by pinpointing weakness is by asking other people for feedback. Getting feedback can be especially powerful if the person offering it has already progressed past the point you are with a particular knowledge set or skill. Without focused feedback we can put hours of work into developing a skill or area of knowledge but not make any meaningful progress. Feedback allows us to focus our attention on the pieces we lack or don’t even know we’re missing! This also feeds into the above point of helping you to define more of your small specific goals to work towards.
- Your specific performance at a skill should also be a strong indicator of whether or not your making meaningful progress towards your goals. Keep track of and monitor your own performance. That may mean tracking how quickly and correctly you can recall information or how many successful shots you had at the goal. Track it all! The progression can be helpful for visualising your progress forward.
- Repeated practice of a skill or set of knowledge is strengthen again through context, or understanding how it relates to other info you may already know or be familiar with.
- The final piece of the learning puzzle is the review. Reviews also help you to deal with over confidence as you get better at your chosen skill or area of knowledge. Don’t just review and practice what you know but also keep track of what you still need to know or master.
