Hey,<\/p>\n
A big part of the material in this course is about *avoiding*
\nmemorization. Memorization is inefficient, and in many cases, it
\ncompletely misses the point of what’s being instructed.<\/p>\n
That said, there are no absolutes, and there are times when
\nmemorization is beneficial, or even necessary.<\/p>\n
I want to discuss some possibilities for where memorization can
\nhelp, and then suggesting how to memorize effectively.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
When Should You Memorize?<\/p>\n
As I outline in the guide, the place holistic techniques are
\nweakest is with arbitrary information or skills.<\/p>\n
With arbitrary information, there isn’t a larger structure to the
\nidea that makes it easy to remember. Or, if there is a larger
\nstructure, it is too complex to adequately understand in the
\nconstraints of the course.<\/p>\n
Some examples of arbitrary information are:<\/p>\n
-Legal documents (there isn’t a lot of logic behind how certain
\nprinciples relate to specific article numbers or cases)
\n-Anatomy terminology (even if there are logical roots for the terms
\nthere are too many that need to be remembered)<\/p>\n
With skills, much of success is unconscious learning, which we
\ndescribe with words like experience, mastery or intuition. If there
\nare rules or deeper concepts, they may be too complicated to learn.<\/p>\n
Most subjects involve some level of skill, although it varies. Even
\nwithin a topic there can be a wide range of skill needed.
\nComputation in math is relatively conceptual, once understood it can
\nbe executed. Devising new proofs is mostly skill-based, relying on
\ncreativity and intuition, aided by understanding.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Memorization is most useful with arbitrary information. However
\nthere are a few important rules of thumb for making it more useful.<\/p>\n
Rule #1: Concepts first, memorization later.<\/p>\n
The first rule, which I’ve discussed previously is that concepts
\nshould always come first. The point where memorization should come
\nin should always be when you feel you “get” a subject, but can’t
\nremember the details.<\/p>\n
Going backwards (knowing facts, but not “getting” the subject) is
\na waste of time since memorization is both more difficult at this
\nstage, and also sloppy (you might memorize facts incorrectly).<\/p>\n
Rule #2: Try to make it a skill first, memorize later.<\/p>\n
The more you can “memorize” something in the context of a skill, the
\nbetter.<\/p>\n
For example–if you need to remember formulas for a test. In this
\ncase, it is better that you “memorize” the formulas through practice
\nquestions rather than flashcards which are removed from the context.<\/p>\n
Many elements which appear to need memorization become internalized
\nwith practice. For example, in a computer programming language there
\nmay be specifics with the syntax that are arbitrary. These rarely
\nneed memorizing, however, since they are quickly internalized when
\nactually using the language in practice.<\/p>\n
Rule #3: Memorization aids first, drills later.<\/p>\n
If the facts can’t be internalized through practice, the next step
\nis to work on memorization aids first, and only after that to focus
\non drills.<\/p>\n
Memorization aids include:<\/p>\n
-Chaining
\n-Pegging
\n-Mnemonics
\n-Diagrams
\n-Image association
\n…<\/p>\n
These are not perfect. But with practice they can considerably cut
\ndown on your needed flashcard-style review.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hey, A big part of the material in this course is about *avoiding* memorization. Memorization is inefficient, and in many cases, it completely misses the point of what’s being instructed. That said, there are no absolutes, and there are times when memorization is beneficial, or even necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":520,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}