How to Turn Information into Intelligence
Barbara Oakley
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This article was about different modes of learning: focus learning, and background learning. Focus learning is what most people think of when they think of learning, or studying: practice the material, do problems, immerse yourself in it. However, the second mode is activated when you walk away from what you're doing, and take your mind off the subject at hand. Your brain is making connections and learning in the background, taking what you've studied and digesting it. Therefore, optimal learning actually happens when you toggle back and forth between the two modes, rather than trying to binge studying, or when you don't put any effort in at all.
I watched this video because the slogan "Hit a Learning Wall? Reboot your Brain" spoke to me as I was looking for a productive study break from Process Dynamics and Controls. Hopefully this video is true, and I'm currently deepening my understanding of transfer functions and deviation variables as I write this post.
That second mode of learning definitely is an interesting one to think about. I usually think about it in terms of the benefits of sleep, or of increasing creativity when I'm trying to think of a solution to a problem. I don't tend to think about it in terms of my ability to perform Laplace transforms or take derivatives, but the video specifically mentioned it in that context, which was a new perspective to me.
Barbara Oakley
Link
This article was about different modes of learning: focus learning, and background learning. Focus learning is what most people think of when they think of learning, or studying: practice the material, do problems, immerse yourself in it. However, the second mode is activated when you walk away from what you're doing, and take your mind off the subject at hand. Your brain is making connections and learning in the background, taking what you've studied and digesting it. Therefore, optimal learning actually happens when you toggle back and forth between the two modes, rather than trying to binge studying, or when you don't put any effort in at all.
I watched this video because the slogan "Hit a Learning Wall? Reboot your Brain" spoke to me as I was looking for a productive study break from Process Dynamics and Controls. Hopefully this video is true, and I'm currently deepening my understanding of transfer functions and deviation variables as I write this post.
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| Some of the material I'm trying to learn with either mode of learning, really (taken from Professor's lecture slides) |
That second mode of learning definitely is an interesting one to think about. I usually think about it in terms of the benefits of sleep, or of increasing creativity when I'm trying to think of a solution to a problem. I don't tend to think about it in terms of my ability to perform Laplace transforms or take derivatives, but the video specifically mentioned it in that context, which was a new perspective to me.
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