Module 2 - 1: Chunking - The Essentials

Question 1

Chunks (definition)

intro

Answer 1

Compact packages of information your mind can easily access.

Question 2

Benefits of chunks (intro)

Answer 2

Improve understanding of and creativity with material and do better on tests

Question 3

Illusion of competence

intro

Answer 3

When you’re using ineffective study methods to fool your mind into thinking you’re learning but you’re mostly just wasting your time.

Question 4

Overlearning - basic pro and con

Answer 4

Pro: can solidly ingrain info in your mind but also
Con: like digging deeper ruts, might spin your wheels ineffectively

Question 5

Interleaving

intro

Answer 5

Providing intelligent variety in your studies.

Question 6

Chunking

Answer 6

Uniting bits of information together through meaning.

Question 7

Why Chunk?

Answer 7

The logical whole makes the chunk easier to remember and easier to fit into the larger picture of what you are learning.

Question 8

What is a metaphor for chunking?

Answer 8

If information is like a puzzle, unlearned, unchunked information could be seen as a jumble of pieces. Use the interlocking edges (meaning) to chunk the pieces together into a puzzle, or a meaningful part of the puzzle (e.g. a face).

Question 9

Explain the problem with memorizing a fact without chunking and the metaphor that describes this.

Answer 9

Memorizing a fact without understanding or context doesn’t help you understand what’s really going on or how the concept fits with other concepts you are learning.
This is like a puzzle piece with no interlocking puzzle edges, a circle with no hooks to connect it to other information. Much harder to recall or to understand the significance of.

Question 10

Describe how focusing attention connects parts of the brain, including the metaphor.

Answer 10

Focusing attention is like an octopus slipping its tentacles through the four slots of working memory to connect information to different parts of your brain. This is the beginning of creating a chunk.

Question 11

What can go wrong with the working memory connections to the other parts of the brain?

Answer 11

If you are stressed, angry or afraid the “attentional octopus” begins to lose the ability to make connections.

Question 12

What is the first step towards expertise in academic topics?

Answer 12

Creating conceptual chunks that unite scattered bits of information through meaning.

Question 13

What is a chunk, in terms of the brain structures?

Answer 13

A chunk is a network of neurons that are used to firing together so that you can think or perform smoothly and effectively.

Question 14

How do practice and repetition impact chunking?

Answer 14

Focused practice and repetition create strong memory traces and chunks. Small chunks become stronger and larger, little by little.

Question 15

What are the three steps of chunking information?

Answer 15

Step 1: Focus on the info with undivided attention.
Step 2: Try to understand the basic idea you’re trying to chunk
Step 3: Gain context

Question 16

Why does having the TV on in the background or checking for messages interfere with chunking?

Answer 16

The attention octopus needs to use all your working memory slots to efficiently connect to pre-existing patterns spread throughout your brain. You have only 4 slots so diverting some to other things severely interferes with making new neural patterns.

Question 17

How does synthesizing the gist of an idea happen?

Answer 17

Allow the focused and diffuse modes of thinking to take turns figuring out what’s going on.

Question 18

What does Understanding do and not do?

Answer 18

Understanding is like superglue that holds memory traces together and creates broad encompassing traces that can link to other traces.
Understanding does not necessarily create a chunk. Understanding in class doesn't necessarily mean you can do it on your own later.
You can create a chunk of information without understanding but it's pretty useless because it doesn't fit together with anything else you're learning yet.

Question 19

How do you move from understanding to mastery?

Answer 19

Doing it yourself creates the neural patterns that underlie true mastery.

Question 20

What is top-down and bottom-up learning?

Answer 20

Top-down learning is the big picture. Bottom-up is chunking.

Question 21

How do practice and repetition relate to bottom-up learning?

Answer 21

Practice and repetition build and strengthen each chunk so you can easily access it whenever you need to.

Question 22

Where do top-down and bottom-up learning meet?

Answer 22

Context. This is how you know when to use the chunks you’ve been building.

Question 23

What is a specific example of how you might do Top-down learning on new material?

Answer 23

Doing a two-minute rapid walkthrough of a chapter before studying it. Glancing at pictures, section headings, flow charts, tables and concept maps.

Question 24

Rather than rereading the material, what is a simple way to learn more and at a deeper level?

Answer 24

Practice recall after initially studying the material. Recall can be just looking away from the book and seeing what you can remember. You can also test, formally or informally. Then study and practice recall again.

Question 25

When is rereading somewhat effective?

Answer 25

The only time rereading is effective is if you let time pass between readings so that it becomes an exercise in spaced repetition.

Question 26

Why is concept mapping not the best way to learn new material?

Answer 26

You can build connections between chunks before the chunks are embedded in the brain. This is like trying to learn advanced chess strategy before learning how the pieces move.

Question 27

How does the graphic of the four slots change as you learn through recall and build chunks?

Answer 27

Initially the connections between the slots are tangled lines. As you begin to learn and chunk the concepts the connections seem smoother. Once the entire concept has been chunked together it becomes one smooth strand and takes only one slot of working memory, leaving the remain slots clear for more information and connections. It’s as if this slot is now a hyperlink to a whole webpage of information.

Question 28

What is one of the most common illusions of competence in learning?

Answer 28

Glancing at a solution in a book and thinking you truly know it.
You’ve done nothing to knit the concepts into your own underlying neural circuitry. You must have the information persist in memory if you are to master the material well enough for tests and to think creatively with it.

Question 29

Highlighting and underlining can be effective and mislead you into thinking you know material. If you do mark up text, what is the best process?

Answer 29

1) Look for main ideas before making any marks
2) Keep it to a minimum (1 sentence per paragraph)
3) Words or notes synthesizing key concepts in the margins are a good idea.

Question 30

What is the name of the guy mentioned in the videos as the researcher on recall and illusions of competence?

Answer 30

Jeff Karpicke

Question 31

To make sure you aren’t fooling yourself and are really learning, do this…

Answer 31

Test yourself. This allows you to see if you really grasp the material.

Question 32

What are mistakes good when testing yourself?

Answer 32

Mistakes allow you to make repairs and fix thinking flaws bit by bit.

Question 33

What is a way to learn that fixes the problem of not being able to recall in the testing location?

Answer 33

Practice recalling material outside of your usual place of study to make learning (and retrieval) independent of location. We build subliminal clues in the room and space where we learn material and this can throw you off if you don’t practice in other locations.