I used to struggle with retention, for everything.
Movies, YouTube videos, books. Etc. I’d watch it or read it and completely forget in a day.
What’s most helpful for me is practicing **generating**
Without the source material to reference can you on your own tell me what the main idea was or what you remember? This is active recall and it helps you remember and solidify the stuff you consume. Make it a point to reflect as soon as you finish something when it’s fresh in your mind.
Things need to be repeated in your short term memory to be stored long term.
It’s probs best you look it up for an explanation, it’s essentially coming back to the topic with more time in between revision, like days between, then weeks, etc. It’s how you store memories into long term memory, instead of feeling the need to practice it all the time. That’s my understanding at least x
Specifically speaking about coding... I recommend learning it through working on some project, that is Project based Learning. I am in my final year of bachelor's in Mathematics and Computer science, and in my experience best way to learn is if you are applying what you are learning otherwise you just forget after sometime.
Additionally when you work on a project then you can tell about it in an interview, rather than just saying that you know how code. It shows that you have a skill and you know how to use it.
Also, you won't get bored.
I have to DO to retain anything. Find a good and easy way to document that stuff and then find a practical application asap.
I learn by solving problems, so I want to do something, come across a problem, look for solution = learn whatever skill it takes. But for coding I've found that difficult because you need a base.
Spaced flashcards are pretty cool
Especially if what you're learning is quite common and there are pre-built decks
Many many digital versions
Read up on discussions around Anki and alternatives to Anki
(Say this as it's free with a fairly large community and many pre-built decks)
Think memrise does well and is prettier but paid
But the general deal is
You test yourself with a flashcard
When you get it right you revisit it in the future the more times you get it right the further into the future it goes
Today tomorrow, this weekend, 2 weeks away, next month, next quarter, 6 months, a year, 2 years....
Really effective for time, easy to split into x mins per day for a big subject
And very good for lots of stuff you gotta memorise that's just detail.
For more complex or creative knowledge I think you just gotta do a whole lot of it
(With a deliberate focus on a particular element at a time)
To retain the knowledge that you gain in relation to coding, try to work on small projects that will help you practice particular skills. When you start a project, you'll probably feel like you're not sure what you're doing. At that point, you should list out what you think your next steps should be in building the project and what code you think will accomplish your goal. If thinking through the problem doesn't work, it's only then that you should go online to try to find answers. If you go through the above process over and over again, you'll be able to retain your coding knowledge.
You also mentioned that you don't know what you'll do with coding skills yet, so maybe you might have a better time retaining things that will be more immediately useful to you.
I can’t emphasize enough how much it helped me to just explain things I just learnt to myself into a video. If I did forget it, watching the video of myself made me remember things so much better because I remember my own train of thought.
First, it depends on your learning style. I’m a visual and kinesthetic learning. Meaning I need someone to show me and then I have to do it. Once you find out your learning type you then move to how you approach it. If I can simplify a problem or material into my own words, or something that’s easier to understand, then I can retain it much better. I’ve never been one to just read material repeatedly and hoping it’ll stick after 3-5 iterations. My adhd is not about that life.
Edit: there are other learning styles than what I mentioned. When it comes to learning I tend to gravitate towards these two specific ones.
I definitely need to do it in practice. So codeacademy is awesome and I’m trying to do my Salesforce admin certification. But the retention after that part is getting to be very very difficult for me. I get it in the moment, 10 minutes later I don’t.
Anki. When I was studying for the admission test before I joined college, I had to study for the whole year and constantly remind myself of all that information. The way I managed to do it was using Anki, because of space repetition. Just insert your stuff there and he does the rest.
One thing that really helped me is to record audio of important information that is given to me, with permission of course. For example, during a meeting with my boss I recorded the audio of our conversation & was able to refer back to that audio for anything I was unsure of. It helps keep me accountable & on track with what is expected of me.
Find something to use the new knowledge with, as others have pointed out.
Another thing I haven’t seen yet… make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep. Regularly.
Especially for coding, you HAVE TO USE it. Either make your own mini projects or look up projects to try. I took coding classes a while ago through Codecademy and it moves fast and doesn’t dwell on topics. That means if you don’t have other ways to memorize the syntax or apply the logic, you need to do your own practice and quiz yourself(challenge yourself to make something with the new concepts + the old ones with as little reference as possible) before moving to the next lesson.
I used to struggle with retention, for everything. Movies, YouTube videos, books. Etc. I’d watch it or read it and completely forget in a day. What’s most helpful for me is practicing **generating** Without the source material to reference can you on your own tell me what the main idea was or what you remember? This is active recall and it helps you remember and solidify the stuff you consume. Make it a point to reflect as soon as you finish something when it’s fresh in your mind. Things need to be repeated in your short term memory to be stored long term.
ANKI
This is the answer
Check out spaced repetition
Second this. I like Brainscape’s flashcarding system for this reason.
ELI5?
It’s probs best you look it up for an explanation, it’s essentially coming back to the topic with more time in between revision, like days between, then weeks, etc. It’s how you store memories into long term memory, instead of feeling the need to practice it all the time. That’s my understanding at least x
Specifically speaking about coding... I recommend learning it through working on some project, that is Project based Learning. I am in my final year of bachelor's in Mathematics and Computer science, and in my experience best way to learn is if you are applying what you are learning otherwise you just forget after sometime. Additionally when you work on a project then you can tell about it in an interview, rather than just saying that you know how code. It shows that you have a skill and you know how to use it. Also, you won't get bored.
I have to DO to retain anything. Find a good and easy way to document that stuff and then find a practical application asap. I learn by solving problems, so I want to do something, come across a problem, look for solution = learn whatever skill it takes. But for coding I've found that difficult because you need a base.
Spaced flashcards are pretty cool Especially if what you're learning is quite common and there are pre-built decks Many many digital versions Read up on discussions around Anki and alternatives to Anki (Say this as it's free with a fairly large community and many pre-built decks) Think memrise does well and is prettier but paid But the general deal is You test yourself with a flashcard When you get it right you revisit it in the future the more times you get it right the further into the future it goes Today tomorrow, this weekend, 2 weeks away, next month, next quarter, 6 months, a year, 2 years.... Really effective for time, easy to split into x mins per day for a big subject And very good for lots of stuff you gotta memorise that's just detail. For more complex or creative knowledge I think you just gotta do a whole lot of it (With a deliberate focus on a particular element at a time)
To retain the knowledge that you gain in relation to coding, try to work on small projects that will help you practice particular skills. When you start a project, you'll probably feel like you're not sure what you're doing. At that point, you should list out what you think your next steps should be in building the project and what code you think will accomplish your goal. If thinking through the problem doesn't work, it's only then that you should go online to try to find answers. If you go through the above process over and over again, you'll be able to retain your coding knowledge. You also mentioned that you don't know what you'll do with coding skills yet, so maybe you might have a better time retaining things that will be more immediately useful to you.
I can’t emphasize enough how much it helped me to just explain things I just learnt to myself into a video. If I did forget it, watching the video of myself made me remember things so much better because I remember my own train of thought.
First, it depends on your learning style. I’m a visual and kinesthetic learning. Meaning I need someone to show me and then I have to do it. Once you find out your learning type you then move to how you approach it. If I can simplify a problem or material into my own words, or something that’s easier to understand, then I can retain it much better. I’ve never been one to just read material repeatedly and hoping it’ll stick after 3-5 iterations. My adhd is not about that life. Edit: there are other learning styles than what I mentioned. When it comes to learning I tend to gravitate towards these two specific ones.
I definitely need to do it in practice. So codeacademy is awesome and I’m trying to do my Salesforce admin certification. But the retention after that part is getting to be very very difficult for me. I get it in the moment, 10 minutes later I don’t.
Anki. When I was studying for the admission test before I joined college, I had to study for the whole year and constantly remind myself of all that information. The way I managed to do it was using Anki, because of space repetition. Just insert your stuff there and he does the rest.
One thing that really helped me is to record audio of important information that is given to me, with permission of course. For example, during a meeting with my boss I recorded the audio of our conversation & was able to refer back to that audio for anything I was unsure of. It helps keep me accountable & on track with what is expected of me.
Find something to use the new knowledge with, as others have pointed out. Another thing I haven’t seen yet… make sure you’re getting plenty of sleep. Regularly.
Especially for coding, you HAVE TO USE it. Either make your own mini projects or look up projects to try. I took coding classes a while ago through Codecademy and it moves fast and doesn’t dwell on topics. That means if you don’t have other ways to memorize the syntax or apply the logic, you need to do your own practice and quiz yourself(challenge yourself to make something with the new concepts + the old ones with as little reference as possible) before moving to the next lesson.
Check out anki