1. CHUNKS Chunks are mental links that connect scattered bits of information through meaning. 2. CHUNKS Chunks are mental links that connect scattered bits of information through use or through meaning. Putting chunks together help you problem solving and big picture mastering of a complex subject by allowing you to use them as building blocks of an ever increasing body of knowledge 3. CHUNKS Chunks are mental links that connect scattered bits of information through use or through meaning. Putting chunks together help you problem solving and big picture mastering of a complex subject by allowing you to use them as building blocks of an ever increasing body of knowledge And help you to learn and solve increasingly complex problems by taking fewer slots of your working memory, as the result of coming together 4. CHUNKS Chunks are mental links that connect scattered bits of information through use or through meaning. Putting chunks together help you problem solving and big picture mastering of a complex subject by allowing you to use them as building blocks of an ever increasing body of knowledge And help you to learn and solve increasingly complex problems by taking fewer slots of your working memory, as the result of coming together And help you to learn and solve increasingly complex problems by taking fewer slots of your working memory, as the result of coming together 5. A simple example When you focus on new material, you use your working memory. Your working memory has four slots for storing information, as illustrated below 6. A simple example You learn what a point is It takes a slot in your working memory 7. A simple example You learn what a line is You learn what a point is You learn what a line is 8. A simple example You learn what a line is You learn what a point is You learn what a line is You learn what an angle is 9. A simple example You learn what a line is You learn what a point is You learn what a line is You learn what an angle is You learn what an triangle is... Formed by all the previous concepts together... 10. A simple example After chunking these concepts, helped through practice, you don't need to think of a point a line or an angle, to be able to use the notion of a triangle. The triangle, for the sake of this example, represents the chunked concepts. So you can use this chunk to solve more and more complex problems. 11. A simple example Your newly compacted chunk takes only one slot and free the rest of the slots to work out more complex problems 12. Focus, Repetition and your mental zombies If you're driving a car for the first time, most of your actions are part of your focused mode. Focussed mode Diffused mode. - Drive away! - Start moving your left foot back - Put your car in first gear - Push your left foot on the clutch - Turn on the car - Push your right foot on the accelerator slowly Diffused mode. 13. Focus, Repetition and your mental zombies As you repeat the process, bits of the actions move from your working memory, and your zombies take over, helping the whole procedure be a bit more ffortless each time, as your long term memory and your mentalpatterns become more easily accessible Focussed mode Diffused mode. - Drive away! - Start moving your left foot back - Put your car in first gear - Push your left foot on the clutch - Turn on the car - Push your right foot on the accelerator slowly 14. Focus, Repetition and your mental zombies Focussed mode Diffused mode. - Drive away! - Start moving your left foot back - Put your car in first gear - Push your left foot on the clutch - Turn on the car - Push your right foot on the accelerator slowly Finally! Most of your actions don't have to take all your working memory slots! Diffused mode. 15. All the stuff in between Repetition is key, it makes your mental patterns be stronger. Switching between focus mode, when learning new material, and diffuse mode, to let your brain be free to process the acquired knowledge in the background enhances the strength. Test yourself and review the material, the worst surprise happens when you are at the test and realise you don't actually know how to solve the problem in front of you. Effective repetition requires further control over procrastination. Keeping yourself motivated by focussing on process (e.g I'll work on this for x time) rather than product (I should be able to drive in x time), by giving yourself rewards and spacing out repetition. The Pomodoro technique offers a great routine to be able to keep focus, and take breaks. Going over new material for 15 minutes over a few days is more effective than cramming everything over the space of 2 hours. Sleep! Gives your neurons space to form new synapses. Excercise has been proven to help your brain, allows it to switch modes 16. Sources Oakley, Barbara, A Mind for numbers, how to excel at Math and Science, Penguin, 2014 Colin Gerber "Memory Consolidation and Productivity Can Both Be Improved by Taking Break," Quora, November, 2014. John Dunlosky, "Strengthening the Student Toolbox: Study Strategies to Boost Learning," American Educator, Fall, 2013 (http://newsite.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/dunlosky.pdf) Pam Harrison, (September 8, 2014), "Sleep on It: Sleep Consolidates Memory of New Motor Task," Medscape. All illustrations created by the author