
The most interesting things I've learnt about learning - lnmx
http://jchyip.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-most-interesting-things-ive-learnt.html?view=classic
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gioele
> You will reach limits in learning when you have a "Swiss cheese" foundation
> full of misconception holes.

On the other hand you will get stuck on your first subject if your force
yourself to learn _everything_.

I think it is important to know the point when the consistency of your
foundation goes from "perilous Swiss cheese" to "rock-solid metal mesh to be
filled in the future".

~~~
mattholtom
I agree with you here, Gioele. The balance between foundation and progress is
an important one to strike.

In theory, a full understanding of the foundations of any subject will, in the
end, lead to a more complete mastery. However, if you do not give a learner
enough "Why am I doing this?" to support their early stumbling steps, you risk
losing them entirely. Imagine if you were forced to read the entire K&R C book
before writing your first program. I know I wouldn't have made it.

When I was a bartending instructor (past life), my boss told me this Yeats
quote (misattributed I think): "Education is not the filling of a pail, but
the lighting of a fire".

~~~
realitygrill
The short version I've heard is: _" The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but
a fire to be kindled."_ -Plutarch

But upon some research, the context of the quote is even more interesting:

 _" The correct analogy for the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but
wood that needs igniting — no more — and then it motivates one towards
originality and instills the desire for truth. Suppose someone were to go and
ask his neighbors for fire and find a substantial blaze there, and just stay
there continually warming himself: that is no different from someone who goes
to someone else to get to some of his rationality, and fails to realize that
he ought to ignite his own flame, his own intellect, but is happy to sit
entranced by the lecture, and the words trigger only associative thinking and
bring, as it were, only a flush to his cheeks and a glow to his limbs; but he
has not dispelled or dispersed, in the warm light of philosophy, the internal
dank gloom of his mind."_

~~~
mattholtom
Very cool. The full context really takes the metaphor further.

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GFischer
The most interesting about this blog post is the references to the U.S.
military's book "Think like a Commander"

Available on the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) (although not on
my firewall :P )

[http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-
bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDo...](http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-
bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA413046)

~~~
JonSkeptic
Thank you for that. It is an excellent read.

~~~
alan_cx
Always worth looking at that the US military do. (I say US because it seems
that a hell of a lot of their instruction manuals are freely available. Shame
I cant say that of the UK)

For me it was engineering. Years ago, I found some documents on metal work
when I was learning to use lathes, milling machines, etc. Best resource
available. It seemed old, but the information was invaluable. The thing that
struck me was that, while it did do a quick over view of the basic
methodologies and concepts, it very quickly focused on getting stuff done. It
read like it was written for instant use. So, say you were a private stuck in
the middle of no where, needed to make a part for, say, a gun and had a metal
work workshop instantly available; this document would have said private
making the part in something like an hour. Further, that part would work
properly over a decent life span.

A basic rule of thumb for me is that what ever new thing I want to learn, I
see if I can find a military instruction document on the subject.

~~~
spenuke
How do you go about looking for such documents? Simple google "military
instruction document"? Is there a term for those things? I know enough about
the military that everything that can be put into an acronym is.

~~~
6d0debc071
Depending on what you want field manuals gives you some nice archives -

[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/f...](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/)

Or DTIC may be worth a search, if you know what you want:

[http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/](http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/)

------
Jimmy
>Mastery is more important than passing grades.

I hear this statement a lot, and I think it's very suspicious. Everyone wants
to believe this, because if they fail a class, they can use "learning is more
important than grades" as an easy excuse to avoid taking responsibility for
their own failings. In reality though, if you've actually mastered what the
class is trying to teach, you should be able to get passing grades.

~~~
aestra
Flip it around. What it is meant to say is just because you got a passing
grade in the class, doesn't necessarily mean you've mastered the material. You
may still have a shaky understanding of it. It is more important to master the
material than just have the goal of "passing."

~~~
hellerbarde
That's exactly it. I've observed that behaviour so often, I stopped counting.
A lot of college/university students under very harsh time constraints learn
the material with a focus on what they believe will get them the desired grade
(be that passing or highest). Meanwhile, they will leave out big chunks of the
necessary foundations, because they won't be tested on their own. And then
they mechanically learn the parts that will get tested, without understanding
the underlying parts. They pass, usually, but that's more a problem of poorly
written tests. (Because if you didn't _understand_ the material, I happen to
think that you should fail a well written test.)

~~~
jsight
I had a professor who unwittingly encouraged this kind of rote study. His
questions were word questions that required you to describe in details certain
concepts from the course material.

All of that is good (in theory), but his grading approach was to mark off a
point or two for minor discrepancies. In theory, this meant that if you had
the concept, without memorization you would get points.

In reality if you didn't include all keywords from the lessons, you would be
docked points. People who memorized extremely well and parroted back his words
almost verbatim would do well. People who worked to understand the material
and write back their understanding often wouldn't.

Sigh. The sad thing was is that from a classroom learning standpoint, he was
one of the best professors there. But I would often end up avoiding his
classes (my memory is often terrible at rote learning).

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zeidrich
Judgment has a negative effect on the efficiency of learning. Being graded
causes stress and stress reduces your ability to learn.

Grading can be a motivator, however, causing you to push yourself to learn
things you might not otherwise be motivated to do.

However, I think that learning without judgment is the most effective way to
learn, when you otherwise have some intrinsic motivation. Likewise, see
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overjustification_effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overjustification_effect)
which is not the same, but another effect that causes an extrinsic factor to
diminish intrinsic motivation.

When I learn for my own benefit, all of my efforts are focused on developing
new skills and new understanding. When I am learning to pass some test, my
efforts are focused instead on not failing.

If these tools are used to guide study to make sure students get the requisite
knowledge then they can be effective. I think they lose effectiveness when
they are instead used to classify and rank students.

I have always scored well on tests, but I've always learned and understood
things more fully doing things that were at my own direction.

------
jdmitch
_Face-to-face instruction should focus on practise and exploration, not on
learning basic facts._

I don't think face-to-face instruction should focus on practise and
exploration any more than it should on learning basic facts. Practise is
controlled repetition, and this is probably the easiest thing for a learner to
undertake on their own. Exploration is likewise a very personal endeavour -
it's always come down to exploring how the concepts are relevant to me, or a
specific context I am interested in.

Face-to-face time ('instruction' is not really the right word for it) should
focus on collaboration more than anything.

~~~
DanBC
Gently worrying if people practicing are repeating the wrong method and thus
having to unlearn stuff when they discover their mistake.

You need a bit of supervised practice to make sure you're using the right
method, then a bit of exploration to make sure you understand the concepts.

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mathattack
I like his distinguishing of mastery of the visible versus mastery of the
invisible. This is very true, and why people who sometimes seem outwardly
competent and good at routine thing struggle with uncertainty and adaptation.
I also like the distinction between drilling and practice. Both are needed,
but simulation doesn't build core skills or help weak areas.

Perhaps the best thing he did was share the link to the Commander's guide.

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eqdw
This is a really cool post, and education is somewhat of a passion of mine.
Does anyone know of any other posts like this?

