Why Learning Fast Leads to Bad Grades

Summary

Dr. 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

00:00

📚 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.

05:01

📝 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.

10:02

🕵️‍♂️ 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.

15:03

🛠️ 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.

Keywords

💡Efficient Learning

Efficient learning refers to the process of acquiring knowledge in a way that maximizes understanding and retention while minimizing the time and effort spent. In the video, Dr. Justin Sun emphasizes the importance of learning efficiently rather than just trying to learn faster. He illustrates this by explaining that simply reading faster does not necessarily translate to better learning, as it can lead to increased consumption of information without the necessary processing and retention.

💡Speed Reading

Speed reading is a technique where a person reads at a much faster pace than the average reader, often with the aim of increasing the amount of information consumed in a given time. In the script, Dr. Sun shares his personal experience with speed reading, where he initially believed that doubling his reading speed would double his learning speed, but later realized that it did not significantly improve his understanding or retention of the material.

💡Retention and Comprehension

Retention refers to the ability to remember information over time, while comprehension is the understanding of the material being learned. The video discusses the misconception that high-speed reading with high retention and comprehension is effective, but Dr. Sun points out that this is often tested in isolation and does not reflect real-world learning where information must be retained and applied over longer periods.

💡Productivity

Productivity in the context of learning refers to the efficiency with which one can process and understand new information. The video script mentions that there is a lot of productivity and studying advice available, but it rarely addresses the difference between learning faster and learning more efficiently, which is a key point that Dr. Sun aims to clarify.

💡Learning Coach

A learning coach is a professional who helps individuals improve their learning strategies and techniques. Dr. Justin Sun introduces himself as a full-time learning coach, indicating that his expertise and the advice he provides in the video are based on his professional experience and understanding of effective learning methods.

💡Nonlinear Note Taking

Nonlinear note taking is a method of recording information that does not follow a strict linear or sequential order, allowing for more flexible organization and better representation of complex concepts and their interrelations. Dr. Sun suggests watching another video of his on nonlinear note taking as a technique to improve learning efficiency, indicating that it is a strategy that can help in processing and understanding information more effectively.

💡Optimum Speed

Optimum speed in learning refers to the pace at which an individual can effectively process and understand new information without increasing errors or misunderstandings. The script discusses the idea that most people study at a speed that is fairly optimum for their current methods, and that increasing this speed without addressing the method itself can lead to decreased efficiency and understanding.

💡Errors and Learning

In the context of the video, errors refer to the mistakes or misunderstandings that can occur during the learning process. Dr. Sun argues that trying to learn faster can increase the number of errors made, which then requires additional time and effort to correct. This highlights the importance of focusing on the quality of learning rather than the speed.

💡Revising Techniques

Revising techniques are methods used to review and reinforce learned material. The video script describes a specific technique where Dr. Sun suggests creating a self-test after studying a topic for a few hours, which can help to accurately gauge one's understanding and retention of the material. This technique is presented as an effective way to improve learning efficiency.

💡Conceptual Understanding

Conceptual understanding is the ability to grasp the underlying principles and relationships between different ideas or pieces of information. In the script, Dr. Sun emphasizes the importance of not just recalling facts but also understanding how concepts are related and how they impact one another, which is crucial for deep learning and long-term retention.

💡Golden Rule

In the context of the video, the 'Golden Rule' is a guiding principle that Dr. Sun offers to his audience. It suggests that if one feels the need to study faster to keep up, it is actually a sign that they should focus on slowing down and improving their learning methods rather than simply trying to speed up the process. This rule encapsulates the main message of the video, which is to prioritize efficiency over speed in learning.

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

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