Learning System

Contents

• Purpose
• System
• Components
  • Capture
    • Build Concept Network
    • Flesh Out Concepts
    • Identify Gaps
  • Find Problem
  • Attempt
  • Success
    • Solidify
  • Failure
    • Research! (Acquire Knowledge)
    • Try! (Acquire Abilities)
    • Practice! (Acquire Skills)
• Appendix
  • Triage and Sort
  • Terminology
• Selected Resources

Purpose

Learning is the process of acquiring competency. This competency may be narrow in scope (answering a question) or broad (developing expertise to solve complex problems). This system provides a generalized approach to personal learning.

The learning process is recursive: problems you identify in the pursuit of competency should be able to be addressed using the same learning process that uncovered the initial problem.

Learning generally derives from two origins: deliberate effort and through experience. This system seeks to accomodate both types of learning by focusing on the shared effort between the two: problem solving.

System

Important: timebox your efforts in each stage. It is better to do 3 limited but complete cycles than 1 comprehensive incomplete cycle.

Components

Capture

Skip any of the following sections as needed to generate a map of learning.

Build Concept Network

• write out everything you know about the subject
• organize information into distinct, structural concepts
• recurse until no more structural concepts
• review completed concept network and make splits, consolidations and adjustments

Flesh Out Concepts

For each concept:

• list activities demonstrating expertise
• identify top thinkers and experts, including the experts they cite
• identify source material authored by top thinkers and experts
• identify other resources that have stood the test of time as described by the community of practitioners
• triage and sort the resources
• find corpus of (preferably worked) problems

Identify Gaps

Write down gaps in your understanding. Where did you go wrong? What is still fuzzy?

Find Problem

Apply “What is the Problem?” to develop problem statement and solution ideas.

Attempt

Attempt to solve the problem on your own, using material you created.

Note: It is tempting to skip this step because you feel so far away from actually understanding the problem, let alone how to solve it. That feeling is OK! Any blockers will be your next cycle’s starting point. But you must still put forth the attempt: attempting to solve the problem exercises critical pathways for learning.

Success

Solidify

Form mental models for the concept and problem. Develop metaphors to communicate and describe. Analyze how multiple concepts fit together in the big picture.

Create shareable learning material through knowledge and reference documents.

Teach. Get up to the whiteboard and teach the concept to an audience. Take notes on gaps for next “Capture” phase.

Failure

Failure to solve a problem means it is time to train.

Research! (Acquire Knowledge)

Knowledge is the theoretical and practical understanding of a subject, which includes facts, information, and skills learned through experience or education.

Steps:

• deliberately read or consume a resource
• observe an example problem
• attempt to solve the example problem
• compare your solution to the example solution
• state what you have learned
• list any skills you have found necessary
• recurse as necessary
• test yourself

Try! (Acquire Abilities)

Abilities are the possession and successful application of the means to do something.

Prep work:

• identify any hard, external requirements necessary for the performance of the activity
• plan how to accomplish or attain these requirements, recursively
• identify what abilities the top thinkers and experts possess to set them apart
• triage and sort the abilities
• for each ability: define the personal efforts necessary for the performance of the ability
• triage and sort the personal efforts

Steps:

• perform the ability
• review and identify strengths and weaknesses
• choose a personal effort to focus on based on your performance
• develop a training program to attain mastery
• exercise and put into practice that program
• test yourself intermittently on the actual effort you wish to accomplish
• repeat for all personal efforts
• repeat for next ability

Practice! (Acquire Skills)

Skills are the methods of applying knowledge. They can be:

• practical, involving manual dexterity and the use of methods, materials, tools and instruments
• cognitive, involving the use of logical, intuitive and creative thinking

They must be from within a well developed field with identifiable subject matter experts.

Prep work:

• identify what the top thinkers and experts do differently from others that could explain superior performance
• identify skills employed in these superior performances
• triage and sort the skills
• create focused, measurable goals based on attaining aspects of these skills
• create challenging practice activities with feedback loops for improvement

Steps:

• choose a skill and hone by performing the practice activities
• evaluate and improve the mental representations used in the employment of the skill
• review performance and use feedback to direct improvement
• repeat

Appendix

Triage and Sort

Provides a methodology for figuring out what order to process inputs

For each item:

• sort by dependency
• estimate utility
• sort by utility, preserving dependency order

Terminology

Selected Resources

• Learning How to Learn | Coursera
• Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by K. Anders Ericsson
• How to Read a Paper by S. Keshav
• Farnam Street Blog