As part of my bootcamp homework, I’m taking a Coursera course called “Learning How to Learn.” Seems strange, as I’ve been taking coursework for my entire adult life. But it’s an interesting course that tell us most traditional methods of learning are not effective. Highlighting? Nope. Funny, I remember going through my Anatomy & Physiology book in nursing school highlighting constantly. The neon orange made the pages positively glow. Everyone in my class did that. Note taking? Nope. Unless you do something with the notes besides just re-reading them, they’re useless.
The one thing it does talk about that I KNOW works is flashcards. If not for flashcards I never would’ve made it through nursing school. Particularly A&P. We had to memorize all the bones in the human body, as well as all the muscles, plus all the veins and arteries. It was also the only way I remembered all the hormones produced by which parts of the body. Not that I remember any of that now, but I was able to pass all of those exams thanks to flashcards.
So now I’m downloading Anki to create virtual flashcards for programming. I’m trying it based on advice from the instructor and other students. But I’m very tempted to go old-school and just use index cards. I’ll have to see what works best.
I also need to set up a schedule. Things are kind of fluid right now since I don’t start my new job for another week. But once I do, time will be tighter, and I will definitely need to carve out a routine. Spaced repetition is supposedly the best way to commit things to memory, so I need to get into good study habits now, so I have these basics memorized for future use.
Robbi Clafton 