What is Reddit's opinion of Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning?

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>but recently I was doing a course about the way our brains/minds warp information to suit our self-image and one of the ways is that when learning something, particularly when rereading, we can trick ourselves into thinking we've mastered a subject because we recognize information, but we can't actually bring that information to mind as easily without seeing it

I've been reading a book that talks about some of the common cognitive biases we make when learning. What you just described sounds very similar to what the authors in the book call "fluency illusions", which is the tendency to confuse fluency in your reading with actual mastering of the content of what you're reading.

I highly suggest that you read <em>Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning</em>. It has really altered the way I learn languages. I'm software engineer and I've found that the best way to learn new programming languages and technologies is to prepare for a professional level certification in that technology. I had a pretty simple study methodology:

1. Find real-world examples on GIT Hub by developers who are well regarded in the language's community.

2. Go through the "skills measured" section of the exams and identify areas I felt I was weakest in.

3. Use the examples and the exam skills outline and study.

4. Any areas that continued to be difficult for me I would lab repeatedly. I would also go to StackExchange sites and answer questions on the topics.

5. Take practice exams and repeat using the feedback from the practice exams to guide my learning.

I never did that with languages, though. I kind of did it with Irish as I wanted to take the TEG but I was very lazy about it. Make It Stick made me realize that I wasn't being efficient enough in my language learning. I wasn't doing the types of things that helped me learn other skills. What I was missing was that I wasn't generating enough out-put and getting feedback on it but most importantly I was not testing myself enough. By that I mean putting myself in unfamiliar situations and having to use the language accurately to get a specific result.

Yeah definitely. Though, I've read a lot of literature so it may take me some time to show you some exact studies. I think I read about it in John Dunlosky's Research Paper: "Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology" which I will leave a link to here. Also there is a pdf guide written by 4 cognitive scientists, two of them being Henry L. Roedinger and Mark A. McDaniel who wrote the book "Make it Stick" which is a great book on the science of effective learning. Anyway, in the pdf guide there's a section called "Does Retrieval Improve More Than Just Memorization" which explains the benefits of Active Recall.

Here's a little preview of what they say.

>By using retrieval practice as a learning strategy (not an assessment tool!), we exercise and strengthen our memory. Research demonstrates that this improvement in memory and long-term learning is flexible, which:

• Improves students’ complex thinking and application skills

• Improves students’ organization of knowledge

• Improves students’ transfer of knowledge to new concepts

In other words, retrieval practice doesn’t just lead to memorization – it increases understanding.

I think the pdf guide explains Active Recall really well and you can find it here

Also, in the book Make it Stick, it goes into how Active Recall increases understanding.

There's also a paper by Andrew Butler called "Repeated testing produces superior transfer of learning relative to repeated studying." In the study, there were two groups of students who both initially studied expository texts. Then, one group followed that up with practice testing and the other group just restudied it normally. Both groups took a practice test one week later which asked questions that would require an understanding of the material, not just memorization. The group who did Active Recall performed better on facts AND concepts than the group who just restudied it normally.

Finally, there's a video by a YouTuber named Ali Abdaal called "How to learn new content" which is a great video if you just want to know how to use Active Recall to increase comprehension without looking at studies.

I hope this helps and sorry if there are any grammar mistakes.

I used to do the same and I learned loads from watching Dr Alex Young’s videos on YT they are probably the on the better side of YT study I go video and are pretty practical. Also check out the book Make it Stick

This was an excellent book that broke down how to learn various things with various methods. I really enjoyed it.