Why Learning Fast Leads to Bad Grades
Summary
TLDRDr. Justin Sun emphasizes the importance of efficient learning over speed in this educational video. He shares his personal journey, from high school to university, and how focusing on speed reading didn't significantly improve his learning outcomes. Sun introduces a two-step framework to enhance learning efficiency and offers a 'Golden Rule' for when to slow down for better understanding. He advises against the use of AI note-taking apps that may lead to superficial learning and encourages viewers to test their retention and understanding through self-created quizzes, ultimately advocating for methodical learning strategies that build deeper knowledge.
Takeaways
- 📚 Focus on efficiency over speed in learning to improve retention and understanding.
- 🔍 Speed reading and other fast-paced learning techniques may not necessarily enhance overall learning speed or comprehension.
- 🧐 Realize that learning is not just about consuming information but processing and retaining it for longer periods.
- 💡 Avoid the misconception that doing the same thing faster will lead to better learning outcomes.
- 🔧 Identify and address the bottlenecks in your learning process rather than just trying to speed up the process.
- 📝 Create self-tests to measure retention and understanding of studied material effectively.
- 🤔 Strategically slow down in areas of learning that require deeper thought and processing to enhance knowledge building.
- 🔄 Experiment with different learning techniques and methods to find what works best for your individual learning style.
- 🚫 Recognize when the need to speed up is a sign that your current methods are inefficient and need adjustment.
- 🛠️ Continuously refine your learning methods based on self-assessment to improve efficiency and understanding.
- 🔑 The 'Golden Rule' suggests that when feeling the need to study faster, it's often a signal to slow down and reassess your learning approach.
Q & A
What is the main difference between learning faster and learning more efficiently according to Dr. Justin Sun?
-Dr. Justin Sun emphasizes that learning faster does not necessarily improve learning speed significantly. Instead, learning more efficiently involves processing information effectively in the brain after it has been consumed, which is more beneficial than simply increasing the speed of reading or consuming information.
Why did Dr. Sun initially focus on speed reading during his university years?
-Dr. Sun initially focused on speed reading because he believed that by doubling his reading speed, he could double his learning speed. He thought that by reading faster, he could consume more information in less time, which he thought would make him 'unstoppable' in his studies.
What was the outcome of Dr. Sun's attempt to triple his reading speed during his first year of university?
-Despite managing to triple his reading speed, Dr. Sun realized that his actual learning speed only increased by about 5%. He found that the high retention and comprehension rates he achieved during speed reading exercises were not realistic in the context of real-world learning, where information needs to be retained and used over longer periods.
What is the 'Golden Rule' that Dr. Sun suggests for when one should not try to learn faster?
-Dr. Sun's 'Golden Rule' is that if you feel the need to study faster to keep up, it almost always means you should actually slow down. This feeling of needing to speed up is a sign that your current methods are not efficient, and you should focus on optimizing your learning process rather than increasing its speed.
What is the two-step framework Dr. Sun proposes to improve learning efficiency?
-The two-step framework involves first measuring your retention and understanding by creating a self-test after studying a topic for a few hours. The second step is to integrate new learning techniques, such as nonlinear note-taking, into your study methods and measure the impact on your retention and understanding after making these changes.
Why is it important to create a self-test after studying a topic according to the script?
-Creating a self-test helps to accurately assess your retention and understanding of the material. It provides an insight into how well your current study methods are working and which areas may need improvement, thus allowing you to optimize your learning process.
What are the three levels of questions Dr. Sun suggests including in a self-test?
-The three levels of questions are: low-level (fact recall, definitions, explaining processes and concepts), mid-level (applying concepts to simple problems or combining two concepts to see how they relate), and high-level (short answer or mini-essay questions that require integrating at least three different concepts and explaining their relationships and impacts).
How does Dr. Sun describe the analogy of a detective when discussing the importance of slowing down in learning?
-Dr. Sun uses the detective analogy to illustrate that, like a detective solving a case, learning requires time and patience to make connections and piece together information. Just as a detective is committed to figuring out the pattern, even when it's not obvious, learners should allow their brains time to think and make meaningful connections, which cannot be rushed.
What is the potential downside of using AI apps to type out lecture notes automatically, as mentioned in the script?
-The downside is that while the apps can provide notes quickly, they do not guarantee learning. Having notes does not equate to understanding or retention of the material. The script compares this to a robot going to the gym for you, suggesting that the effort of learning is being outsourced, which can lead to a lack of true learning.
What does Dr. Sun suggest is the key to improving learning efficiency?
-Dr. Sun suggests that the key to improving learning efficiency is to focus on the quality of learning rather than the speed. This involves making strategic changes to study methods, such as integrating new techniques, and understanding when it's beneficial to slow down to allow for deeper processing and better retention of information.
Outlines
📚 The Pitfall of Speed Reading for Learning Efficiency
In the first paragraph, Dr. Justin Sun, a learning coach and former medical doctor, introduces the topic of learning efficiency versus speed. He shares his personal experience with speed reading, explaining how he initially believed that increasing his reading speed would directly improve his learning speed. However, he discovered that while his reading speed tripled, his actual learning efficiency only increased marginally. The key takeaway is that the bottleneck in learning is not the speed of information consumption but the processing of information in the brain. Dr. Sun emphasizes that focusing solely on speed can lead to increased errors and the entrenchment of unhelpful habits, ultimately reducing learning effectiveness.
📝 Measuring Retention and Understanding for Effective Learning
The second paragraph discusses the importance of measuring one's retention and understanding to identify the effectiveness of learning methods. Dr. Sun suggests creating a self-test with 15 questions that cover low-level, mid-level, and high-level understanding after studying a topic for a few hours. This test should be taken a week later without reviewing notes to gauge true retention. The results can indicate the efficiency of the learning methods used and whether they need to be optimized. This self-testing method serves as a powerful revision technique and provides valuable data on learning retention across different levels of complexity.
🕵️♂️ The Detective Analogy for Deep Learning Processing
In the third paragraph, Dr. Sun uses the analogy of a detective to illustrate the importance of taking time to make connections and process difficult topics during learning. He explains that real learning requires patience and the ability to see patterns, which cannot be rushed. The detective analogy highlights the commitment to solving a case, similar to the commitment needed to understand complex concepts. Dr. Sun advises against trying to speed up the learning process, as this can lead to skipping over valuable learning opportunities and result in less efficient learning.
🛠️ Refining Learning Methods for Increased Efficiency
The fourth paragraph focuses on refining learning methods to increase efficiency. Dr. Sun recommends watching other videos on learning techniques, such as nonlinear note-taking, and integrating these methods into one's study routine. By making small changes and testing their impact through self-testing, learners can identify which parts of their methods are effective and which need improvement. The golden rule provided by Dr. Sun is that if one feels the need to study faster, it's actually a sign to slow down and reassess the learning methods. The ultimate goal is to build knowledge more efficiently by getting more value from the time spent studying, rather than simply increasing the speed of information consumption.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Efficient Learning
💡Speed Reading
💡Retention and Comprehension
💡Productivity
💡Learning Coach
💡Nonlinear Note Taking
💡Optimum Speed
💡Errors and Learning
💡Revising Techniques
💡Conceptual Understanding
💡Golden Rule
Highlights
Learn more efficiently instead of trying to learn faster.
Understand the difference between learning faster and learning more efficiently to improve grades.
Dr. Justin Sun, a full-time learning coach and head of learning at IEN Study, provides a two-step framework for efficient learning.
Speed reading techniques can increase reading speed but may not significantly improve overall learning speed.
The bottleneck in learning is often in processing information rather than consuming it quickly.
Efficiency in learning involves effective processing and retaining information over time, not just quick consumption.
Testing your retention and understanding properly with different levels of questions can measure the effectiveness of your learning methods.
Create a personal test with low-level fact recall, mid-level problem-solving, and high-level conceptual questions to assess your learning.
Use test results to identify areas where learning methods can be optimized for better retention and understanding.
Efficiency improves by strategically slowing down to process and understand information thoroughly.
Real efficiency in learning is about knowing when to slow down to understand and retain information better.
Learning should involve making connections and deciding which connections are worth keeping.
Feeling the need to speed up is a sign that current learning methods may need adjustment to avoid errors and inefficiencies.
Continuous adjustments to learning methods can lead to significant improvements in learning efficiency.
Join Dr. Justin Sun's program at IEN Study for a step-by-step approach to learning more efficiently, based on his decade of experience.
Transcripts
stop trying to learn faster instead
learn more efficiently and if you don't
know the difference between those two
things that might be why you are
struggling to get the grades that you
want there is so much productivity and
studying advice out here on YouTube and
I very rarely see anyone talking about
the difference in this video I'm going
to give you a very simple two-step
framework to improve your grades by
becoming a more efficient learner rather
than a faster learner and at the end of
the video I'll give you my Golden Rule
on when you should definitely not try to
get faster if you are new to this
channel welcome I'm Dr Justin Sun I'm a
full-time learning coach in the head of
learning at ien study I'm also a former
medical doctor and for the last decade I
have worked with thousands of Learners
from around the world to help them learn
more efficiently so let's start with why
trying to be a fast learner can actually
make you worse at learning one of the
first things that I started learning
back when I was in high school uh
entering into uni was speed reading and
my thinking was very very simple if I I
can read at like 300 words per minute
right now if I can double that to 600
then I have doubled my learning speed
and so I installed this app uh on
Windows that taught me all these things
like sub vocalization and the grouping
and the skimming and like eye training
drills and after about a month of
training like an hour or so a couple
hours every day I managed to get my
words per minute up to like over a th000
with 90% retention and comprehension and
so I thought damn I'm unstoppable now
now about 2 months later I started my
first year of uni which was the
competitive premade year to enter into
medical school and as many of you know
how that story played out if you've
watched my other videos I had to study a
lot like I was studying my crazy 20
hours a day 7 days a week and so one
thing I realized which is very obvious
to me now is that learning to read
faster didn't really improve my learning
speed by that much by tripling my
reading speed my actual learning speed
probably only increased by like 5% and
that's because even though I technically
had a high retention and comprehension
like over 90% it's not real it was based
on these simple fact recall assessments
that were done like 30 seconds after I'd
finished reading a very isolated passage
of text and none of that is realistic in
reality we're reading large volumes of
information over hours and we need to
use that information Beyond just simple
fact recall and we need to retain it not
just for like 30 seconds but for days or
even weeks and so my bottleneck was not
in how fast I could read and consume
information it was how I was processing
the information in my brain once I had
consumed it all I'd done by increasing
my reading speed was make it so that I
was trying to drink out of a fire hose
and here's why the story is relevant to
you even though reading speed is the
technique that I was working on this
would have been the same for any other
technique fundamentally the the problem
was that I believed that I could get
better by doing the same thing but
faster knowing what I know now about how
Learning Works that is completely flawed
in fact it's actually worse than flawed
it's actually harmful it's harmful
because it takes away your focus on
working on things that would have
actually made a bigger difference it
entrenches existing habits that aren't
really serving you anymore and it
increases the errors that you make and
those errors in your learning you then
have to spend more time to just fix them
later and the problem with just trying
to study faster using the same method
becomes really obvious when you think
about it like this do you actively try
to think more slowly normally like are
you deliberately studying there and
being like today I'm just going to hit a
casual 60% like I know I could think
about this faster I know I could just
process the information better but today
I'm just going to take it easy and only
work at like half my capacity most
people most of the time are thinking at
a speed they that is fairly Optimum for
what they can do with that method
without increasing errors so whether it
is reading or it is the way that we are
writing notes or typing notes or
whatever it is the problem is not how
fast we are doing it it is just how we
are doing it if the machine is broken
when you crank up the machine to make it
faster you're just increasing more
errors that you got to fix later and I
see a really common example of this with
like AI these days where people are like
hey you can use this app to you know it
like types out all of your notes for you
you just take the recording from a
lecture and it just pumps out like
magically these notes you're done your
studying is done you don't have to study
ever again you're going to be amazing
like yeah you've got notes but it
doesn't mean you learned anything and
people like Rave about these apps
they're like oh it saves me so much time
that's the equivalent of like a robot
that says they're going to go work out
for you and now you're like oh I've
saved so much time because I don't have
to waste time at the gym anymore my
robot is lifting the weights for me it's
like congratulations you won the prize
for missing the the point and that is
exactly the type of thinking that I had
when I was going through uni for the
first few years I was just focused on
like speed just being faster just saving
time that's all that mattered which is
why it's no wonder that by the end of
like literally my first month of
University I was already starting to
feel overwhelmed and like the more I
tried the more I was falling behind I
could just never keep up and despite
like studying even more to make up for
that which is ironic I still wasn't
walking into the exam feeling confident
so if that sounds like you then this is
what you should do this is what I wish I
had done a lot earlier actually measure
your retention and understanding
properly do this don't worry so much
about how long it takes to study
something pick something study it for 2
or 3 hours use whatever method you feel
like comfortable with and at the end of
the session create a little test for
yourself 15 questions five of these
questions should be lowlevel Factory
call definitions explaining processes
and Concepts isolated five of these
questions should be midlevel applying it
to a simple problem to solve or
combining two concepts together to see
how they're related to each other like
how does one thing affect this other
thing and five of them should be high
level these are usually going to be like
short answer or like mini essay type
questions where you're taking at least
three different concepts and you're
saying yes they're related to each other
explain why they're how they're related
but also let's talk about the impact or
the significance of that relationship if
you change one thing how does it affect
everything else so now You' got 15 like
test questions that you've made yourself
one week later test your attention and
understanding by doing that test do it
purely based on memory do not review
your notes beforehand since you're
probably not going to have an answer
sheet for this you can check whether
your answers make sense at the end of
the test by looking at your notes
looking things up asking someone asking
a teacher asking a lecture for the high
level questions you're not really going
to know whether it was like a correct
answer or not but you'll generally get a
sense for whether it made sense and
whether it was like a good answer or you
missed a few things as you're exploring
and learning more about the topic now
that in itself is actually a very very
effective and Powerful revision
technique and once you do it you're
probably going to start doing it
regularly like forever because it's just
so good even without the answer sheet
like trying to figure out if you got the
right answer is incredibly beneficial
learning but the added benefit is that
it gives you a accurate representation
of how good your methods really are
you'll be able to see the retention you
have for low level midlevel and higher
level and you'll be able to see your
ability to actually tackle those
different levels of questions generally
speaking if you get over 90% I'd say
that's great that's really really good
80% and over still pretty good 70% and
over it's acceptable less than 70%
probably something in your methods can
be optimized it doesn't mean that
everything that you're doing is bad it
just means that there are some parts of
the way that you're studying that aren't
really serving you anymore for this type
of content for that level of Challenge
and so now we have some real data on how
effective our learning methods actually
are and you might find that it's better
for some subjects and worse for other
subjects but when you continue to do
this you get a really good idea about
whether your methods are actually
serving you or not armed with this data
we can then move on to step two of the
framework so just to reiterate the
problem with step one was thinking that
we can get better just by doing the same
thing but faster and the second problem
is that trying to learn faster often
makes us skip the part of learning that
is the most beneficial while spending
more time on the thing that doesn't help
it reduces the value you're getting for
the time that you're spending it
actually lowers your efficiency and
instead of just explaining it to you
myself here's an email that I recently
got that explains it perfectly I I kid
you not I received this email literally
yesterday morning while I was planning
this video so here it is as you can see
it's a little long uh but if we focus in
on this sentence I think it sums it up
perfectly where it says I realized I was
so fixated on trying to finish all my
content as quickly as possible and I was
avoiding actually processing the parts
of the topic I felt were difficult and
then later on they went on to say they
they triy to push through and they
thought about it patiently like a
detective trying to so overc case
instead of a chore that I had to do and
I really like the way that they put it
fact I might use that analogy in the
future a lot of the time when we're
focused on trying to go faster and I
felt this a lot is that anything that
makes us slow down is perceived as bad
it feels like it's making us less
efficient but actually the the reality
is that real efficiency is about knowing
when it's worth slowing down it's
understanding that sometimes you
actually have to let your brain sit and
think think about it and the reason I
like that detective analogy is because a
detective's job is to solve the case
they're looking at these Clues and
they're trying to piece the puzzle
together and figure it out that's their
job they're not thinking about it like
oh yep I looked at the clues yep I tried
my best I couldn't really figure
anything out couldn't solve the case but
that's that toas picked off the list
oops couldn't catch the criminal bit of
luck next time that's not how they're
doing it probably I hope there's a
commitment to figuring it out they are
determined to see the pattern even when
it's not obvious and that takes time you
can't just rush your brain to see that
pattern just by like forcing it to like
see patterns harder like I'm pretty sure
cases don't get solved like in animes
where you know like the detective is
like what's the missing clue like what's
the solution and then someone's like
think about it we're running out of time
think harder and they have this like
flashback Montage of all these things
that they saw over the last few months
like the woman's ring she was wearing it
on her left hand the door it had a
smudge on the left side of the door knob
the gun it was angled 15° clockwise the
pieces they're connecting together oh I
know the solution like I don't think
that that happens you know those scenes
that I'm talking about that's literally
never ever happened to me in my entire
life no in in real life learning
requires making connections and deciding
which connections are worth keeping and
which ones are not as important that all
takes time and just patience and because
that takes time if you try to rush it
you're actually going to miss out on
making those connections that directly
create better memory and understanding
aka the actual learning is being skipped
and what we end up doing is we spend
more time on just consuming information
and maybe documenting information and
less time on actually learning it in the
first place on the other hand if you
know which parts are worth slowing down
for the value you get per hour you spend
increases your efficiency actually
improves by strategically slowing down
you get slower at covering content and
reading words but you get faster at
building knowledge see the difference so
after you did step one here's what you
can do with step two start by watching
another one of my videos and this is not
like just one of those sneaky kind of
like like this video like plug type
things I'm I'm actually serious yeah I
appreciate the extra views but I have a
lot of other videos where I talk about
different techniques and most of the
time I'm creating those videos with an
audience in mind that doesn't have a lot
of like training and and like Advanced
learning strategies like these are
things that I think most people can kind
of pick up and start running with so
watch a a video if you want one to start
with I think the nonlinear note taking
video is probably a good place to start
I'll put a link to that in the
description and try to integrate that
into your method you don't have to like
change everything even if you just take
a few parts of it and then integrate it
and change your method just whatever is
comfortable for you study the same thing
again another two or three hours and do
the same process test yourself and after
you do this a few rounds you'll start
noticing how making small changes in
your methods affects your attention and
your understanding and you'll realize
how by changing how you are going about
learning you can increase your overall
efficiency not by being faster but by
getting more out of the time that you're
putting in which brings me to my Golden
Rule that I promised you at the
beginning if you feel like you need to
study faster to keep up it almost always
means you really need to figure out
where to slow down feeling like you need
to speed up probably means that you are
falling behind it means that what you're
doing now isn't enough in other words
this is a sign that your current methods
are leaking effort and time and
therefore you're not getting enough
value out of the time that you are
currently spending and so it's true it's
not about spending more time if you've
got limited time but the answer isn't
getting faster it's figuring out which
parts are wasting and leaking time
remember doing the same thing but faster
only amplifies your errors which is
actually going to make you more stressed
which may be something that you have
directly felt multiple times where you
felt like what you weren't doing right
now was enough and then you tried to be
faster or you did more of it and you
actually ended up with more problems to
deal with more stress more anxiety more
uncertainty if you feel the need for
speed the answer is to keep making
changes to your methods until that
feeling goes away and this can take a
little bit of time some people might be
hesitant about spending time when they
feel like they're running out of time
but trust me just trying to go faster is
a dead end it's a dead end that I have
gone down many many many times before
and I can tell you there's nothing
waiting there for you like at the end of
that you're going to have to do a U-turn
and get back out again anyway now for me
the way that I learn now I feel mentally
much less rushed than I used to feel
when I was in my like first year of
University and my learning efficiency is
like three four times greater than it
was back then I know what I need to do I
I have a systematic way of building
knowledge and I know exactly what I'm
going to get out of the time that I'm
spending it gives me a lot of confidence
it gives me a lot of control for me it
took me years to get to this point and
but hopefully by sharing some of the
things that I've learned along the way
it's going to take a little less time
for you now if you do want to head start
on this to figure it out a little bit
more easily then you may be interested
in joining my program at I can study.com
which is my over decade of personal and
professional experience helping people
learn more efficiently packed into a
stepbystep program everything that I've
talked about in this video and
everything that I've talked about in
almost every single other one of my
videos has been distilled down into this
step-by-step program so if you
interested you can check that out I'll
leave a link to it in the description
below but otherwise thanks for watching
and I'll see you next
[Music]
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