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Ineffective learning can damage your mental health.
Its main cause? Probably the illusion of learning. This happens when we think we learned something when we didn't. The consequences? Stress, frustration, depression, and anxiety.
There are 3 common learning methods that cause this.
Avoid them and become an effective learner.
1. Rewatching
This is the most common study method nowadays.
The internet is full of amazing resources. You can learn from the best universities and companies in the world, such as Coursera, EdX, or MIT Open Course Ware.
However, the brutal truth is that tutorials alone will not make you learn something.
Rewatching courses repeatedly fools us into believing we learned something when we didn't. We realize this once we test our knowledge. Or when we do hands-on projects.
Suddenly, the knowledge we thought we had learned is gone.
Take programming as an example.
You can watch long courses to learn Python. You will gain a better understanding of the topic. However, once you start coding exercises or projects you will realize you didn't really learn.
This is the illusion of learning.
What to do instead
- Work on projects.
- Test yourself.
- Do free recall and explain the topic you just learned in your own words.
2. Rereading
One of student's holy grail of study strategies.
I know. This is painful to read. Rereading was my default study strategy. I highlighted the book I needed to study and reread its content over and over again.
I wasted too much energy and time on this.
And I did not test myself. So, when the exam came, I realized I didn't learn the topic. I panicked. Stress and anxiety increased. I barely passed the exam and forgot most of what I studied a few days later.
See? The illusion of learning strikes again.
What to do instead
- Create flashcards and practice retrieval.
- Write notes in your own words explaining the topic you learn.
3. Highlighting
Another super-used study method.
As with rereading, highlighting creates another illusion of learning. The cause is similar to that of the other methods. When highlighting, we gain fluency, understanding, and a false sense of progress.
Combine it with rereading, and you will have a super ineffective strategy.
Sadly, this is what many students do. I did this, too. There's no blame for it. Nobody taught us how to learn effectively or that rereading and highlighting are ineffective.
So now you know.
Avoid rewatching, rereading, and highlighting as your main study strategies.
What to do instead
- Practice interrogative elaboration (ask and answer how and why questions).
- Use analogies and images to facilitate retrieval and remember what you learn easier.
The illusion of learning is a serious study problem.
Here, you learned that rewatching, rereading, and highlighting fool us into believing we learned something when we didn't. This can lead to a low GPA, stress, anxiety, frustration, and depression.
Learning should not be like this.
Replace these techniques with retrieval, interrogative elaboration, concrete examples, and dual coding (study with images), and you will start your learning revolution.
Keep it up, super learner.
Ways I can help you:
- Subscribe to my newsletter The Super Learning Lab.
- And get my free eBook "Rocket Learning: 7 Hacks To Survive University, Ace Exams, And Learn Anything."
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Thanks for reading!
See you,
Axel