Learning Techniques. Take Questions. | Ali Abdaal
Summary
TLDRThe transcript discusses the evolution of note-taking practices during medical school. Initially, students took extensive notes during lectures, but over time, they realized that summarizing information with a book open was not very effective. As they progressed, they moved away from note-taking altogether, recognizing the abundance of resources and revision guides available online. Instead, they adopted a method of writing questions to test their knowledge, which fostered active recall and spaced repetition. This approach was so effective that one student who used it ranked second in their year. The speaker also mentions the importance of chapter notes for better understanding and retention.
Takeaways
- 📚 Taking extensive notes during lectures may not be as effective for learning as previously thought.
- ⏱ Spending hours on note-taking can lead to questioning the value and purpose of such an activity.
- 🔍 Research indicates that summarizing with a book open is not very effective for learning.
- 📉 The evolution of note-taking habits during medical school shifted from copious notes to nearly none as resources became more accessible.
- 🌐 There are abundant online resources and revision guides for medicine that make note-taking less crucial.
- 🤔 Active recall and spaced repetition are suggested as more effective learning strategies than traditional note-taking.
- ✍️ Writing questions instead of notes can facilitate active recall and is a more efficient use of time.
- 🚫 Avoid writing down answers to questions as it is considered a waste of time; instead, rely on online resources to find answers.
- 💡 The process of answering questions from notes or resources helps to reinforce learning and identify gaps in knowledge.
- 📈 A friend's success, ranking second in the year, demonstrated the effectiveness of the question-writing method for learning.
- 📝 Chapter notes can also be a useful tool, as mentioned in one of the videos, to summarize and review material.
Q & A
What was the initial approach to note-taking during the first year of medical school as described in the transcript?
-The initial approach involved attending lectures and taking detailed notes, which was later realized to be time-consuming and not very effective for learning.
What is the issue with spending a lot of time taking notes during lectures?
-The issue is that it may not contribute to effective learning, as research suggests that summarizing with a book open is not very effective.
How did the note-taking habits evolve over time for the speaker and their friends during medical school?
-The habits evolved from taking copious notes to practically not taking any notes at all, as they discovered the abundance of resources and revision guides available for medicine.
What alternative method did the speaker adopt instead of traditional note-taking?
-The speaker adopted active recall and spaced repetition using online resources and notes, focusing on writing questions rather than answers.
Why does writing down questions instead of answers save time and is considered more effective?
-Writing down questions saves time because looking up or finding the answers in existing notes or online resources is easier and more efficient than writing them out. This method also encourages active recall, which is a more effective learning technique.
What is the benefit of using active recall in the learning process?
-Active recall forces the learner to mentally retrieve information, which strengthens memory and understanding, making it a more effective learning technique than passive reading or writing.
What is spaced repetition and how does it help with learning?
-Spaced repetition is a learning technique where material is reviewed over increasing intervals of time, which helps to move information from short-term to long-term memory and improves retention.
How did the speaker's friend, a first-year medical student, apply the method of writing questions for himself?
-The friend wrote down a list of questions for every subject, revising by going through and answering these questions in his head, and then looking up the ones he didn't know.
What was the outcome for the speaker's friend who used the question-writing method during his studies?
-The friend ended up ranking second in the year, which serves as proof that the method can be effective if applied properly.
Why is it suggested that writing out Q&As for an entire field like medicine is unsustainable?
-Writing out Q&As for an entire field is unsustainable due to the vast amount of information and the time it would take to create and review such comprehensive notes.
What does the speaker suggest as an efficient way to review and reinforce learning?
-The speaker suggests reviewing by writing questions and using active recall to answer them, then looking up the answers if needed, as an efficient way to reinforce learning.
How does the use of technology, such as the 'find' function on a computer, facilitate the learning process described in the transcript?
-Technology facilitates the learning process by making it easy to search through electronic notes and online resources to quickly find and review information, reducing the need for manual note-taking.
Outlines
📚 The Evolution of Note-Taking in Medical School
The speaker reflects on their experience with note-taking during medical school. Initially, they spent considerable time taking detailed notes from lectures, questioning the effectiveness of this approach. Research indicates that summarizing with an open book is not very effective for learning. Over time, the speaker and their peers transitioned from taking copious notes to hardly any, recognizing the abundance of online resources and revision guides. Instead, they adopted active recall and spaced repetition techniques, focusing on writing questions rather than answers to facilitate learning and self-testing. This method proved successful for a friend who ranked second in their year by using it.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Medical School
💡Lectures
💡Note-taking
💡Summarizing
💡Active Recall
💡Spaced Repetition
💡Revision Guides
💡Online Resources
💡Writing Questions
💡Thyroid Cancer
💡Chapter Notes
Highlights
The realization that taking extensive notes during lectures may not be as effective for learning as previously thought.
Research indicates summarizing with a book open is not very effective for learning.
The evolution of note-taking habits from taking copious notes to almost none during medical school.
The abundance of medical resources and revision guides available online that make taking notes less crucial.
Adopting active recall and spaced repetition techniques using online resources instead of traditional note-taking.
Writing questions as a method to facilitate active recall instead of writing answers.
The inefficiency of writing answers down when it's easier to find them in lecture notes or through a quick search.
The strategy of writing questions to oneself as a revision tool, which helps in self-testing and identifying knowledge gaps.
A personal anecdote of a friend who ranked second in the year by using this question-based learning method.
The practicality of using the 'find' function (Ctrl+F) to locate answers in digital notes.
The sustainability issue with writing Q&A for the entire field of medicine and the proposed solution.
The effectiveness of the question-writing method as evidenced by the friend's academic success.
The importance of applying learning methods properly for them to be effective.
The mention of chapter notes as a part of the learning process.
The shift from traditional passive learning to more active and engaging learning strategies.
The psychological aspect of feeling the need to take notes and the transition to more efficient study methods.
The impact of technology on the way we take notes and learn, highlighting the ease of accessing information.
Transcripts
like in the first year of met school
it's like it's like school you know you
go to your lectures and then you take
notes from your lectures and you kind of
do that and then you realize after a
while that hang on I'm spending like two
hours taking notes from this lecture and
what's the point like am I learning
anything by taking these notes uh and
the research says that summarizing stuff
with a book open is not very effective
and then so but it it still feels very
weird to just not take any notes at all
and sort of me and all all of my friends
had this Evolution throughout medical
school where we all started off taking
copious notes and then by the end of it
we practically like didn't take any
notes at all
cuz we knew that there were all sorts of
you know we knew there were all sorts of
resources out there especially for
medicine there's so many revision guides
and things on the internet that taking
notes itself is a somewhat pointless
activity uh so I think that was the
interesting Evolution that happened over
time so instead of taking notes what
what do you do you just do um the active
recall and space repetition on the
resources and the notes you find online
so what it is yeah so one thing I've
started doing that I think is I think is
is is the method that I'll continue
using is to just write questions so
instead of writing notes just like write
questions so you know what are the five
causes of thyroid cancer or something
like that and not even bothering to
write the answer to that because writing
the answer is a waste of time because
whatever and then when I look through my
notes I see the question and I have to
physically force myself to answer the
question and if I can't answer it then
it's I can just Google it or I can just
go back to the notes and with contrl f
CU it's so easy to find answers in
lecture notes these days that I don't
think it's worth the time to try and
actually write the answers down cuz then
you'll end up writing q&as for like the
whole the whole of medicine which is
unsustainable so you just write the
question and that's very interesting huh
I never knew about that yeah so just
writing questions that's good actually
yeah I've I've got a I've I've got a
friend who who did this when he was in
his first year so I I gave a talk about
this very thing in like 2015 because
this was when like I was interested in
the topic uh and a friend of mine who
was a first year medical student came to
that talk and after that talk which was
all about active recall in space
repetition he literally just wrote down
questions so for every subject he had a
list of like a thousand questions just
one line of questions that wrote for
himself uh and he would just kind of go
his revision would be going through and
answering these questions in his head
and then highlighting the ones he didn't
know and looking looking them up and he
ended up ranking second in the year uh
just of learning like not writing any
notes just writing questions for himself
and so I think that is proof that the
method sort of works if you can apply it
properly yeah and also I saw in one of
the videos that you actually also write
a chapter notes um
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