The BEST way to learn anything: my Learning System for students!

Summary

In this educational video, June, a Dean's List biomed engineering student, introduces a four-stage learning system to enhance academic performance. The stages include priming to understand the topic's big picture, in-class note-taking to facilitate learning, immediate post-class review to solidify understanding, and revision using active recall techniques. June emphasizes the importance of creating meaningful connections with the material for efficient and effective learning, ultimately leading to better grades with less time spent studying.

Takeaways

• 📚 The Learning System is broken down into four stages: priming, in-class notes, post-class immediate review, and revision, aimed at maximizing understanding and retention of information.
• 🧠 Priming involves understanding the big picture of a topic before class to create relevant connections in the brain, improving deep understanding and memory retention.
• 🌟 An analogy for priming is preparing a Lego set by studying the box first, which helps in quickly assembling the pieces with understanding and purpose.
• 📈 The speaker uses the topic of fashion as a relatable example to demonstrate the priming process, emphasizing the importance of categorizing and relating concepts for better understanding.
• 📝 In-class notes should be a facilitation tool for learning, focusing on annotating a pre-made diagram, noting key observations, and formulating active recall questions rather than transcribing every detail.
• ❓ Active recall is a learning strategy that involves forcibly retrieving information without looking at the source material, which is crucial for deeper learning and understanding.
• 🛠 Post-class immediate review involves cleaning up notes and practicing active recall questions to identify strengths and weaknesses for further study.
• 🔍 Revision stage involves creating an optimized diagram for quick reference and understanding, and applying active recall through various techniques such as the blurting method, the Feynman technique, and practice tests.
• 🗓️ The script suggests that the Learning System should be implemented with a revision timetable that includes spaced repetition, optimal breaks, and active recall applications.
• 🎓 The ultimate goal of the Learning System is to achieve better grades while spending less time studying by effectively processing and understanding the material through the four stages.
• 🔑 The speaker hints at a future project that will serve as a tool to facilitate the Learning System, indicating a commitment to helping others implement these learning strategies.

Q & A

What are the four stages of the learning system introduced by June in the video?

The four stages of the learning system are priming, in-class notes, post-class immediate review, and revision.

Why is the priming stage important according to June?

The priming stage is important because it helps to understand the big picture of the topic before going into class, which improves the brain's ability to deeply understand and remember information by creating relevant connections.

What analogy does June use to explain the concept of priming?

June uses the analogy of building a Lego set, where studying the front of the box before starting helps to understand how each piece fits into the overall picture.

How does June suggest organizing information during the priming stage?

June suggests creating a list of key concepts, grouping similar concepts together, and then organizing these groups in a way that is personally relevant to understand how they relate to each other.

What is the purpose of creating a pre-test before class according to June's method?

The purpose of creating a pre-test is to analyze how different concepts come together to solve problems and to prepare for the types of inference-based questions that are common in higher education.

What should be the focus during the in-class notes stage according to June?

The focus during the in-class notes stage should be annotating the pre-created diagram with main points, noting key observations, and creating active recall questions to practice later.

Why is active recall an important part of the learning process as described by June?

Active recall is important because it involves forcibly retrieving information from the brain without looking at the source material, which strengthens memory and understanding of the material.

What is the significance of the post-class immediate review stage in June's learning system?

The post-class immediate review stage is significant for cleaning up active recall questions, refining the diagram, and practicing active recall questions to identify strengths and weaknesses in understanding the material.

How does June recommend organizing the final revision stage to make it more effective?

June recommends creating an optimized diagram (diagram number three) by reorganizing and simplifying previous diagrams, and then applying active recall through methods like the blurting method, the feigning technique, and practice tests.

What is the 'blurting method' that June mentions for active recall practice?

The 'blurting method' involves identifying a source of material, reading or watching it, and then without looking at the source, writing out everything that can be freely recalled on a blank sheet of paper.

What does June suggest about the frequency and duration of the priming stage for each class?

June suggests that the priming stage should be done once every two to three weeks for each class, based on topics rather than on a class basis, as course objectives are usually spread across several classes.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Effective Learning Strategies for Academic Success

The speaker introduces a four-stage learning process designed to maximize academic performance while minimizing study time. The stages include priming, in-class note-taking, immediate post-class review, and revision. The speaker, June, a Dean's List biomed engineering student, shares personal experiences and emphasizes the importance of understanding the 'big picture' before delving into class details. The analogy of building a Lego set is used to illustrate the priming stage, where having an overview of the end goal facilitates the assembly process. The video promises to teach viewers how to study effectively, drawing from June's own academic and entrepreneurial successes.

05:00

👗 The Art of Priming: Fashion as a Learning Analogy

The speaker uses the topic of fashion as a relatable example to demonstrate the priming stage of learning. By consulting YouTube videos and creating a list of key fashion concepts, the speaker categorizes these concepts into groups such as 'colors', 'season', and 'occasions'. This process of chunking information and relating it to personal relevance helps in forming a foundational understanding of the topic. The speaker then suggests creating a visual diagram to represent these relationships, which serves as a reference for integrating new information during class.

10:00

📝 Enhancing In-Class Learning with Preparedness

Building on the priming stage, the speaker explains how in-class note-taking becomes more effective when one has a pre-established understanding of the subject matter. Instead of passively transcribing, the focus shifts to annotating the prepared diagram with key points and observations. The speaker also introduces the concept of active recall during class, which involves formulating questions to reinforce learning. This approach ensures that the learner is actively engaged with the material, leading to deeper comprehension and retention.

15:01

🤓 Post-Class Review: Consolidating Learning with Active Recall

The speaker outlines the immediate post-class review process, which involves refining the in-class diagram and practicing active recall questions. This stage is crucial for identifying strengths and weaknesses in understanding. The speaker emphasizes the importance of spending about 30 minutes before bed to review and self-assess, which significantly enhances the effectiveness of the learning process.

20:02

🎓 The Final Revision: Optimizing and Applying Knowledge

The speaker discusses the final stage of the learning system, which includes creating an optimized diagram and applying active recall techniques. The optimized diagram consolidates and simplifies information from previous stages, making it an invaluable resource for quick understanding. The active recall applications, such as the blurting method, the feigning technique, and practice tests, are introduced as effective methods for reinforcing knowledge and preparing for exams.

25:03

🛠️ Implementing the Learning System for Long-Term Success

The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of implementing the four-stage learning system for long-term academic success. They acknowledge the initial learning curve but assure viewers of the benefits once the system is mastered. The speaker also hints at an upcoming project that will serve as a tool for facilitating this learning system, expressing excitement for its potential to assist the community.

Keywords

💡Priming

Priming in the context of this video refers to the initial stage of learning where the main objective is to understand the big picture of a topic before delving into the details. This process helps in creating relevant connections in the brain, thereby improving the ability to deeply understand and remember new information. An example from the script is using the analogy of building a Lego set, where priming is equivalent to studying the front of the box to understand the overall structure before assembling the pieces.

💡In-class Notes

In-class notes are an essential part of the learning process as described in the video. They should not be a verbatim record of the lecture but rather a facilitator of learning. The script emphasizes that notes should help in annotating and connecting new information to the big picture understanding developed during the priming stage. This approach makes learning more efficient and effective.

💡Post-class Immediate Review

This stage involves a brief revision period right after the class, typically about 30 minutes before going to bed. The purpose is to clean up active recall questions, refine the in-class notes, and practice recalling information without referring to the source material. This practice helps in identifying strengths and weaknesses in understanding the material, setting the foundation for more extensive revision later.

💡Revision

Revision in the video script is the final and extensive stage of learning. It involves creating an optimized diagram (diagram number three) that simplifies and organizes the information learned. The script also mentions using active recall techniques such as the blurting method, the Feynman technique, and practice tests to reinforce learning and prepare for exams. This stage is crucial for consolidating knowledge and ensuring readiness for assessments.

💡Active Recall

Active recall is a learning strategy emphasized throughout the video. It involves forcefully retrieving information from memory without the aid of the source material. The script explains that this method is highly effective in facilitating learning and is a key component of both in-class notes and post-class immediate review. Examples include creating questions for self-testing and using the blurting method to write out everything recalled from a source.

💡Chunking Information

Chunking information is a cognitive process mentioned in the video where complex information is broken down into smaller, manageable chunks. This helps in organizing and remembering information more effectively. The script uses the example of grouping fashion concepts like 'casual', 'formal', 'bold', and 'simple' into categories based on their relevance, making it easier to understand and remember.

💡Hypercorrection Effect

The hypercorrection effect is a psychological phenomenon where making mistakes can actually enhance learning. In the context of the video, this effect is utilized during the priming stage where incorrect answers to initial questions can lead to deeper understanding when the correct information is later encountered in class.

💡Feynman Technique

The Feynman technique is an active recall method mentioned in the video script. It involves explaining a concept in simple terms, as if teaching it to a fifth grader. This technique helps in identifying areas of understanding and misunderstanding, thereby reinforcing learning. The script suggests using this method to teach the topic of fashion to someone with no background knowledge.

💡Blurting Method

The blurting method is an active recall technique described in the video. It involves reading or reviewing a source of information and then writing out everything that can be recalled without looking at the source. This method is used to identify gaps in knowledge and to practice recalling information freely, which is crucial for effective learning.

💡Practice Tests

Practice tests are a form of active recall application mentioned in the video. They help in identifying areas of strength and weakness in preparation for exams. The script emphasizes the importance of using past year exams to practice and to understand the content emphasis and potential trick questions. This method is crucial for narrowing down what needs to be studied for an exam.

Highlights

The best way to learn can be broken down into four simple stages: priming, in-class notes, post-class immediate review, and revision.

Priming involves understanding the big picture of a topic before class to improve memory and comprehension.

An analogy used is building a Lego set, where priming is like studying the front of the box to understand how pieces fit together.

The speaker uses the topic of fashion as an example to demonstrate the priming process.

Key concepts from priming should be grouped and related to personal interests to enhance understanding.

Creating a visual diagram during priming helps in organizing information and preparing for class.

In-class notes should focus on annotating the priming diagram rather than writing extensive notes.

Active recall questions during class help in reinforcing learning and preparing for later review.

Post-class immediate review involves cleaning up active recall questions and organizing the diagram for better understanding.

Revision is the final stage where the focus is on creating an optimized diagram and practicing active recall techniques.

The blurting method is introduced as an active recall technique for freely recalling information without looking at the source material.

The findan technique involves teaching the topic to a fifth grader, which helps in simplifying and understanding the material.

Practice tests are crucial for identifying strengths and weaknesses and should be approached with active recall in mind.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of not just memorizing but deeply understanding and applying the learned material.

The Learning System is designed to help students achieve better grades while studying less time by effectively processing information.

The speaker mentions a future project that will serve as a tool to facilitate this Learning System.

The video concludes with an invitation for feedback and questions, encouraging viewers to engage with the content.

Transcripts

this is undoubtedly the best way to

learn and it can be broken down into

four simple stages number one priming

number two in-class notes number three

post class immediate review and number

four revision if you're able to execute

all four stages as I teach you in this

video you will get the best grades that

you've ever gotten while spending a

fraction of the time my name is June you

if you're new to the channel welcome if

you're returning welcome back I am a

Deans List biomed engineering student

getting both my bachelors and my masters

at the same time with a neuroengineering

concentration I've been very blessed to

have a lot of academic success while

taking such advanced classes and mind

you many of them simultaneously all

throughout this time I've also been able

to start successful businesses still

have a social life go to the gym

consistently been able to spend time

with with my faith and create content

consistently you can do it too if you

wish you're able to study effectively

and efficiently and I'm so sorry that

nobody has taught you up to this point

but don't worry cuz I got you you don't

have to wait any longer to stick around

and enjoy the video stage one priming

the main objective here is to understand

the big picture of the topic before

going into our classes why well it's

because our brain's ability to deeply

understand and then remember a piece of

information is greatly improved when

there are more relevant connections to

it so by going into our classes already

having understood how the major Concepts

fit together in this

topic all the new pieces of detail that

will be taught to us in

class immediately becomes

relevant immediately has meaning because

because it serves a function in that

bigger picture a great analogy that I

love to use is building a Lego set last

weekend I had spent with my girlfriend

doing an orchid flower Lego set and it

was a really good time I think everyone

loves Legos priming is equivalent to me

studying the front of the Box before

ever opening it up as I look at the

front of the box as I look at that

picture I see that the flower head has

has distinct features so does the stem

and so does the soil and so does the pot

so when I open up the box and I'm

greeted by hundreds of pieces no longer

are those pieces irrelevant

meaningless separate from one another no

actually

instead I'm able to immediately

understand how that white circular piece

serves a function in the flower head and

how the green cylindrical piece serves a

function in the stem and how the brown

Square pieces serves a function in the

pot and how all of those pieces relate

to each other in that big picture so I

was going through the

instructions very quickly and I was

skipping a lot of the steps because they

were intuitive to me right I already

understood it in terms of what was its

importance by the time I finished I done

it in about 30 minutes which is a lot

quicker than the time allotted for it

but think about what would have happened

if I completely skipped the front of the

box if I thought that I was too good for

it and I just went straight to the

pieces then all those pieces become

irrelevant right none of those pieces

have meaning to me so then I have to

hyper fixate on each singular step each

singular piece I have to think how is

this important and by the time you look

at it and you understand it and you're

done analyzing it you've probably

already forgotten how the previous

pieces have built what you have gotten

so far and then you have absolutely no

idea how your current piece is relevant

in terms of the following steps so it

becomes much more laborious it becomes a

much more inefficient process so you

want to do priming now I thought it was

important

that I give a more applicable example

here for us to follow together and I

will definitely be doing a video in

which I go over an example from my own

class in neurology but when I was going

through that example I realized that

some of those Concepts may be completely

unfamiliar to the general audience and

because of that I feel that the example

wasn't

necessarily as meaningful to you

so instead what I will be doing is going

through an example of me learning about

the topic of fashion we all love fashion

we all know about it at least a little

bit right so I think that this example

will be more applicable and then a

future video I'll go ahead and do

something more related to my own studies

my brother is actually really amazing

with his Styles he's been way better

than me for our whole lives and I've

learned a lot from him but I'm still

very very new to caring about fashion

and so I called him up and I said I

really need to up my dress game and I

would love it if you could teach me

about fashion he agreed and so for this

upcoming weekend what we'll do is sit

down he said for about an hour and a

half he'll go over everything that I

need to know so as I'm learning this new

topic I can actually Prime for it and

what I'll do is I will identify some

some resources that I can supplement for

this priming stage and so for our

situation our scenario let's do YouTube

videos right and so what I've done is go

through just a few popular YouTube

videos about fashion

and I've noted while I was going in 2x

speed right because I don't necessarily

care about the details here I'm just

noting repeated words point of emphasis

and I'm creating a list of key Concepts

so if you look here these were a few of

those key Concepts this is my list the

term casual the term thickness length

layering formal bold and simple now in

this list as they currently stand

they're still isolated from each other

they don't necessarily have meaning this

is just like seeing those Lego pieces

without ever having looked at the front

of the Box casual is a completely

irrelevant piece thickness is irrelevant

and so forth so what I want to do is go

through the next step of creating groups

and so for me using my own prior

knowledge I'm thinking that I can

compare these key Concepts to each other

and identify some similarities so I see

the terms bold and simple they're

similar right I can categorize them in a

group called colors and the terms

layering length and thickness they're

similar and I can group them under a

term called season and formal and Casual

are similar as they describe occasions

so these are three groups that I've now

created and you start to see that this

has more meaning this is an example of

chunking information down by the way and

as I see it in this group I'll take it A

F step further because still these

groups are isolated from each other so

what I have to next do is ask myself

this really important question of how is

this topic relevant to me well I don't

necessarily care about Runway shows or I

don't even know if that's what they call

fashion shows that's not of my interest

right my personal interest is I just

want to look decently good when I'm

picking out an outfit for my day that's

all so for me it's relevant to create

relationships and organize these groups

in a way in which it helps me pick out a

good outfit right so again with my prior

knowledge and how I apply this to a

situation that's relevant to me I

believe that I will start with the

occasion because that's the first

thought in my head why am I dressing up

in the first place is it because I am

going to school or a business meeting or

hang out with friends and then I think

about season are we currently in the

winner right now I probably don't want

to be going out in shorts and then

lastly colors do I want to be bold with

my color Choice do I want to go with

bright colors or do I want to go a

little bit more monotone that's how I

have crafted the relationships and and

then what I'll do is literally visually

create a diagram for myself and it's so

helpful that I do this because this is

truly the big picture of the topic as

I've understood it up to this point

these are how the major Concepts fit

together in the big picture and this

will set me up for a lot of success

moving on and we'll go into how that

literally does that but this is how I

Envision it right occasion is situated

near the top right because that's the

first thing I believe that's probably

the most important thing for me and then

I go into season and then I go into

colors it's a very very simplified

version of what I believe the topic is

going to further entail but I now

understand how the new details as I go

into class will fit what I'll do next

and this is part two of the priming

stage I will take a very short preest

very short perhaps just five questions

or so and what this is going to help you

do is further analyze how these

different concepts come together to now

solve problems because when you go and

take your exams later on they won't be

regurgitation questions they're not

going to be definition questions as you

get into higher education the type of

testing that you will go through are

ones that have inference-based questions

so they require synthesis of knowledge

they require you to apply and compare

and contrast and analyze and so as you

go ahead and give your first exposure to

this this is your opportunity to give a

genuine attempt it doesn't mean that you

have to get these questions right by any

means it's your attempt to see how these

different concepts come together and

even if you get those questions wrong

you'll make use of the hypercorrection

effect during class but this again is

all these both parts are all aiming to

form a big picture understanding of the

topic before we go into our classes I

have to make a really big point of

emphasis here because I know exactly

what you're thinking to yourself you're

saying June I thought you were going to

teach me how to learn more efficiently

you want me to do this every single time

before my classes that's going to take

me forever that's so

unrealistic and what I have to tell you

is that you're only going through the

priming stage once every two three weeks

for each of your classes why because

you're doing this based on topics you're

not doing this on a class basis a lot of

professors do a really good job of

making this clear but you will have

course objectives that are spread across

several classes it's because each

class's information that is presented to

you is restricted is limited to the

amount of time that's available for that

class so usually the information that

needs to be covered in that curriculum

is a lot more than just just a 60-minute

90-minute class so you'll have it spread

across four or five classes across the

span of 2 3 weeks right if you find

yourself trying to prime before every

single one of your classes that simply

means that you must broaden the scope of

what you are priming for think to

yourself okay what are the upcoming

classes material and how do they all fit

together and I bet if you go ahead and

create more general terms for the next

four or five class and you go to your

your professor and say hey this is how

I've termed how I've described the first

3 weeks of class material and then this

next 3 weeks of material and so forth

they'll help you and tell you if that's

right or wrong but usually you're able

to use your textbooks and they follow a

certain Cadence that it's obvious what

topics are but just remember that so

imagine spending just an hour and a half

of priming on a weekend and setting

yourself up for so so much success in

the next 2 3 weeks it's a no-brainer

it's an absolute must because again

we'll go into how much it's going to

help you in the following stages what

I'll do now is show on the screen a list

of instructions for the priming stage

it's pretty much exactly what I just

showed you for me learning the topic of

fashion but of course there's going to

be some differences pause the screen

snapshot it and try to implement for

your upcoming topic stage two inclass

notes because you've gone through the

prime stage you will have so much

success in this next stage you see you

will be able to actually listen to the

teacher not be nose deep into your notes

I know what You' have been doing up to

this point I know that you are writing

every little thing that the teacher is

saying but you and I both know how

ineffective that's been for you right

because of two main reasons one you

can't write as quickly as your teacher

speaks and two you're not actively

engaging with the material so no

meaningful learning is actually

occurring so it's just a big waste of

time that whole class period becomes a

big waste of time you see so many people

try to write every little thing but they

forget that learning doesn't happen on

that piece of paper so just because you

wrote it all doesn't mean that it

actually processed in your brain instead

your notes should just be a way of

facilitating the process of learning

that's happening in your brain now

because we've gone ahead and created

this diagram for you you know what

you're going to do you're going to spend

a majority of that time literally

annotating on top of that diagram number

one why do you remember what we said in

the beginning about how our brain's

ability to deeply understand and then

remember a piece of information is

greatly improved when there are relevant

connections to it well that's what we're

doing in real time automatically so as

we're introduced to all these new

details right instead of fixating on

each piece of information instead we

already have the big picture

understanding we understand how that new

piece of information is relevant we

understand the function it serves in the

big picture that diagram number one is

your big picture so you can literally

create additional branches additional

subgroups as you see fit and take in

information this way so this is great

because you're not going to be writing

every little thing that the teacher is

saying you're literally jotting down

main points for you to remember in

relation to that big picture in relation

to other relevant pieces of information

and this is extremely extremely

effective so if I was to show you what

my inclass notes look like this is

diagram number two this is it and it's

beautiful right and so you see in blue

everything that I had done in my diagram

number one you have still the occasion

you still have the season you still have

the colors but as I am in that meeting

with my brother and he's teaching me

about all the details and really making

big points of emphasis I'm adding

additional groups I'm putting them in

certain appc ation that help emphasize

its importance and so as he speaks about

how it's really important to feel good

in what you're wearing because it makes

you feel confident right as he's talking

about my body type and my Silhouette and

my skin tone how that affects how I'm

going to choose an outfit I'm going to

put that in the beginning because I

think that that's probably the most

important he starts to add some more

details about what type of colors there

are right there are certain patterns you

could be monochromatic you can have

certain coordination but I also start to

see that hey maybe these relationships

weren't organized in the right way so

I'm annotating literally on top of this

diagram at the same time there are two

other parts that are happening right so

while I'm annotating the second part is

for me to have just a few key

observations these key observations are

basically really big points of emphasis

that the teacher is saying to you that

you don't necessarily understand how to

fit onto your diagram at that time you

don't want to waste time trying to force

it into your diagram at this point just

put a list of key observations and

you'll get back to it this is just so

that you really don't miss the crucial

Pieces Just because you don't

necessarily know how to it fits then the

third part of your in-class notes are

active recall questions this is a golden

gem this is a must you must do this for

those that are unfamiliar with active

recall perhaps you hadn't seen my

previous content on in Instagram that's

okay there's a lot of resources out

there that talk about active recall the

guy to academic success also talks about

active recall I'll give a very

simplified version of this but this has

been a learning principle a learning

strategy that has been widely studied

the research has shown that it is so

effective in terms of facilitating your

learning so at its basic form without

going into the studies or any of the

details I can totally make another video

about that if you guys want active

recall is forcefully retrieving the

information out of your brain without

the source of the material in front of

you and we will talk about how that's

such an integral part of your revision

and why that is so much more beneficial

in comparison to passive techniques but

here you are setting yourself up so that

you have a list of questions to practice

with later these are questions that

you're making this just basically able

to even happen because you had have this

increased bandwidth since you've done

the priming session right most people

are so nose deep into their notes that

they don't even have time to create

questions that are important for their

review later but because you now have

the time most of your time is just spent

listening to the teacher you're going to

start jotting down some questions and

these are really why and how questions

predominantly why is this piece of

information important how can this

information be applied how can it be

related to things that I've learned

before How can I alter a variable so

that it changes the outcome what's a

real life example of this these are the

types of questions that you're trying to

ask yourself and a lot of times teachers

do a really good job of asking you

questions as they go throughout the

lecture this is another place for you to

just write these down so now in your

inclass notes you would have an

annotated diagram number two you will

have key observations just a few things

jotted down that you couldn't

necessarily fit into your diagram and

then number three you'll have your list

of active recall questions that probably

takes up

10% of your attention while you are

going throughout the process of being in

class and learning the information 90%

of it should be focused on your teacher

it should be focused on giving your

teacher eye contact and being present

and going through these types of

thoughts in your brain I promise you

this is so much more effective than

again trying to write every little thing

down that the teacher says so that wraps

up up stage two I know for a fact that

you have way more responsibilities than

just school and rightfully so you should

have time for your social life your

hobbies your passions and of course your

career development so how do you fit in

all of those things well the guide to

academic success goes over just that it

first starts off with evidence-based

revision techniques so focused on stage

four and the notable mentions of this

video and then it goes with productivity

tips followed by personal advice

directly from me to you so that you're

able to stand out not just inside of the

classroom but also outside of it as well

and then lastly Career Development tips

specifically with resume writing and

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with all that being said let's return

back to the video stage three post class

immediate review this is a much more

concise revision period versus what

you'll do more extensively later in

stage 4 this is literally just about 30

minutes before you go to bed that night

and what you'll do is clean up your

active recall questions from class this

is your time to slightly clean up the

diagram number two that you've made in

class and maybe start to add some of

those key observations into your

framework now that you have some more

time and space mentally to do it but

majority of this stage is going to be

spent practicing your active recall

questions and you don't even need to

write out the answers I found a lot of

times that this has big waste of time

because if you don't know the answer to

a certain question you can always go

back to your presentations or the

textbook to find a much more thorough

answer with the neighboring information

so that's not a problem so you can do

this verbally right you can go through

your questions and the main objective

here is to identify your strengths and

weaknesses up to this point in time so

the questions you do get right using

active recall Force y retrieving that

information out of your brain you've

made that even a deeper strength for you

you've deepened your understanding and

you've deepened your memory for those

active recall questions that you might

have got wrong great you found areas of

weakness for yourself that you can

practice later in stage 4 but again

because you've gone through the process

of stage one and stage two and you've

really made use of those learning

experiences you'll find that a lot of

those active recall questions you can

get right so it's important that you

spend just about 30 minutes before you

go to bed doing this it will make an

absolute world's Difference by the time

you get into stage four the final stage

stage number four revision it's

interesting because this is probably

where most of your time is currently

spent most of you are probably so

fixated on studying the material after

your classes have ended and you're

cramming a week or two weeks before your

exam and you find that you're not doing

that well on your exams you're finding

that you're wasting a lot of that time

right because we all know that the

efficiency of your studying declines if

you are studying for such extensive

periods of time so that's a very

inefficient way of doing this and this

is actually where you save a bulk of

your time so stage four consists of two

parts and this is doing revision the

right way not using p passive techniques

but really utilizing the powers of

active recall using the powers of

chunking information creating these

relationships the first part is creating

diagram number three this is your

optimized version it's your ability to

reorganize and then simplify what you've

already created in your diagrams one and

two we saw how the one in class got a

little bit messy you probably added some

more information since then but here you

want to make it so that it becomes an

invaluable resource for you how do you

do that you you make it so that you go

back to this diagram and immediately you

understand the knowledge that it's

trying to portray if you have to look at

the diagram and spend 30 40 minutes just

trying to make out the words and trying

to understand why these relationships

are crossing over one another it's not a

good resource anymore so what you want

to do and what I'll show you for this

example of learning the topic of fashion

is start to make use of different

subgroups so for personal I've created

the subgroups of physical of perception

of preference and in them I have all

these different types of detail right so

I have body type skin tone silhouette

and then perception I've confidence and

mood and in preference I have styles and

so now it's organized in a way in which

for me it's easier to understand and

more relevant to me I've made use of

illustrations so as my brother is going

through the different patterns he's

really gone over four essential ones

which were monochromatic which were

plaid which were striped and which were

polka dots and because I'm organizing

this in a way in which I can actually

pick out a good outfit for myself I

thought it made sense for me to draw

them out in the order in which I prefer

right I heavily prefer monochromatic as

you can see in my shirt right now

and then plaid and then stripe and then

polka dots are really not something that

I like and then I go ahead and I start

to bold certain relationships I start to

realize okay my personal choice is

actually very very important as it leads

to the colors

selection and I've reorganized some of

these groups I've created multiple

relationships with two groups right so

I've created a relationship from

occasion to season and then season to

Vacation I've created illustrations here

and so when you look at this for me I

can immediately understand the knowledge

is trying to portray in an instant I

look at this and I'm thinking I I know

exactly what I learned in that meeting

with my brother that's what you're

aiming to do with diagram number three

you're trying to make this a resource

for yourself and it will become really

beneficial as we go into part number two

of this final stage and that is your

active free call applications and the

three that we're going to go in in this

order are one the blurting method two

the findan technique and three practice

test we've just talked about how

important active recall is and now that

I'm speaking about I really do think

that active recall deserves its own

video so I'll be looking to do that but

first you're going to start with

blurting and there's a lot of videos on

YouTube that will teach you how to do

this but in terms of a general

understanding I can give that to you

right now first you identify what your

Source material is going to be so that

could could be your textbook or this

could be a recorded lecture you're going

to pick a part of that source that you

want to learn at the time and then after

reading the textbook or watching the

lecture you're going to put that Source

away you're not going to look at it

you're going to completely remove it

you're going to then grab a blank sheet

of paper and write out everything that

you can freely recall from your Source

you'll find that this is really hard

trying to forcefully retrieve

information out of your brain is going

to require deliberate effort but it's

actually that effort that leads to

meaningful learning so be patient as you

go throughout this process practically

you'll remember certain pieces of

information and inevitably there will be

gaps but the amazing part here is that

because you've gone through the process

of creating these diagrams you have such

a good understanding of how the major

Concepts relate to one another you've

created so many of these linkages as

you've learned the material in the first

place that when you go to fill in the

gaps a lot of those things will

naturally start to make sense and so as

you go throughout this process you'll

find that you'll actually recall a lot

more that if you hadn't created any of

the diagrams if you hadn't gone through

the previous stage

you might have remember maybe 10 15%

your first attempt but actually you'll

find that you have a really good

Baseline here you might after attempt

number one recall

60% after you go through that process

you'll open up your Source again and

make Corrections right you might have

forgotten some things you might have

made certain incorrect statements you'll

fix them and then after you've done that

and gone through the process of

correcting it you'll crumble up attempt

number one that piece of paper and throw

it out cuz you're not going to use it

anymore go take a break go do something

else and then return for attempt number

two you'll find that attempt number two

you'll do a lot better you'll probably

be around 70 75% perhaps and then by the

time you get into your third attempt

perhaps you've recalled everything that

you need to recall maybe you're at close

to 90 95% once you get to that point

you're good I think the blurting method

is a really good starting place for your

active recall it forces you to try and

recall freely as much that you possibly

remember and in doing so you'll have a

really good indication of again what

things you're able to readily often

remember and then some things that you

still need a little bit of work on after

you go through that that process you'll

move into the finement technique as your

second active recall application and

this requires you to teach the topic as

if the person receiving the information

was someone at the level of fifth grader

right but where people make a mistake is

they think that the fing technique is

all about just simplifying the

information and although that's a really

important role just because you

simplified it doesn't guarantee that one

it'll be accurate or two that the person

listening can actually understand it

right and so there's more to it you're

probably going to have to reorganize the

groups and the major Concepts in a way

that will make more sense to someone

that is hearing this for the first time

that might not have any type of

background in this field and your also

probably going to need examples and

analogies and applications or scenarios

to make it more relevant to that fifth

grader so perhaps if I'm teaching the

topic of fashion I'm saying hey you know

that dance that you got upcoming

for the winner you want to pick out a

really good outfit right like this is

how this is how you should do it you can

literally create that explanation and

make it relevant through that

application and you'll find that you

will naturally if you do this verbally

alloud you will hesitate on areas that

you're weak on right or perhaps you can

record yourself or have somebody listen

to you as you do this and they'll give

you the feedback and they'll tell you

actually I didn't understand this part

and perhaps you had an assumption that

it was an obvious more intuitive element

that didn't need any more explanation

but somebody gave you the feedback or

you listened to your recording and

thought actually I could have done a

better job of explaining that that's

another area of

weakness and so again the Baseline of

you starting this because you've gone

through the previous stages will be very

high and just a few iterations of this

you should be really in a good place to

then start the third application which

are practice tests and I think that

practice tests are probably the best

resource that you can use to narrow down

what you need to study for your exam

right because if you can utilize exams

from past years you have a lot of clues

in terms of content emphasis in terms of

perhaps trick questions or things to

look out for and maybe certain things

that you don't necessarily need to study

because it's not on this past Year's

exams but there's a right way to do

these practice exams and again I think

that each of these active recall

applications deserve their own video and

now that I'm going through this maybe I

should do them but I'll tell you what

you shouldn't do and this is what most

people do unfortunately is they'll go

and read the question they'll take a

guess at it and then read the answer

immediately

and then even if it's not necessarily

identical or exactly what they were

going to say they just say things along

the lines of that's good enough or

that's what I meant but the problem is

if your teacher is giving you the past

Year's

exam it's almost for certain that it's

not going to be the exact same question

so if you're not able to understand why

an answer is correct or why the other

answers are incorrect then by the time

that question is reframed on your exam

you're not going to know how to solve

them right so as you approach a question

you should really take the time to

freely recall put your sources away

don't look things up right now you've

done a lot of the learning already so

here you're trying to review and trying

to pull the information out of your

brain and give as exhaustive and answers

possible you're going to circle the ones

that you think are right or write out

the short-ended answers but at the same

time focus on okay these answers are

wrong because X Y and Z right you're

also going to provide those explanations

thoroughly and if you really really do

get stuck then you can go into your

diagram right you can look at your

diagram and see if that can help you

answer the question because that's a

Quee that you've created that's how

you've learned the material and then at

the very end if you really have no idea

how to solve this problem then you can

go ahead and look at your sources to

find um a way to exhaustively answer it

and then you'll remember that answer

you'll notate it some somewhere so that

you'll have it for reference in the

future because obviously that was a

really big area of weakness for you so

those three applications of utilizing

active recall have now made you prepare

and again these are just a few

iterations for each of these three

applications right perhaps you do two

bluring rounds you do two fan technique

rounds and then you go through one

previous year's exam but because you've

already already learned the information

properly the first time around because

you've been able to deeply process

access the information the first time

around through all the linkages that

you've created right through creating

groups and relating those groups in a

way that's relevant to you this is where

you save a lot of your time I promise

you that with that being said that

should wrap up all four stages of the

Learning System but to be honest for me

personally I definitely believe there

should be more attention and time spent

for each of the stages because there's

so many important nuances that I had to

overlook due to the time but really the

purpose of today's video was to Simply

introduce to all of you the four stages

and provide you all enough information

so that one you value each of the stages

and two you can start applying it right

away to your own coursework I promise as

you really grapple with the stages and

you overcome the initial learning curve

the benefits will be more than worth it

you will be getting the best grades

while studying for a fraction of the

time so I urge you to try it out

yourself there's a lot of notable

mentions here too specifically in

regards to a revision timetable you

should be including space repetition in

or leaving along with optimal breaks and

including these three things in your

revision Tim tables are absolutely

essential so this is more of how do you

implement the Learning System across the

span of a term to go into each of those

will also be really extensive so perhaps

we'll just save that for another video

but if you've read the guide to academic

success you know exactly what I'm

talking about it's really unfortunate

that all school does is tell us what to

learn instead of ever teaching us how to

learn it but hopefully I was able to do

that for you in this video or at least

start the journey for you as you craft

your own Learning System if you've

stayed to this part of the video thank

you so much you're definitely an

important part of this community

hopefully you understand understand how

important this Learning System is for me

as I've spent the last several years

trying to teach people how to learn and

really providing hopefully a little bit

of guidance to a lot of my fellow

students and so I've been working on a

project behind the scenes that hopefully

will serve as your everyday tool as it

facilitates this Learning System I'm

really excited about it I'm not ready

just yet to announce it but at the very

least hopefully this video gave you the

information to start it yourself and in

the future if if that's something that

you're interested in I'd be looking

forward to seeing your thoughts on that

as well thank you guys so much please

leave your comments below if you've

learned anything if you want to ask any

questions I'd be happy to respond to

them of course leave a like And

subscribe until next time take care and

as always I'll see you at the

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