Tags:: Article Learning Technique
Do you remember that one friend that always (I mean, all the time) remember the facts, figures, or obscure information that lies in the corner of some textbook? Because I do. I do notice that there are people who are good at that and aced their test. However, instead of amazed me, it made me questioned myself: is that the end goal of learning? remembering things?
Effective study is a topic I recently got interested in and I found the 7 levels of thinking Bloom's Taxonomy. Turns out, my question has been answered. Remember things only covers the first and second level of thinking. In this brief article, I hope to enlighten you to study the way your professors want you to.
Always remember, remembering is not mastering.
Level 1: Remember
In this level, you can cite factual information like how we learn in elementary school: names, dates, components, etc. I'm not saying this level is useless, but it serves only as the foundation to higher level of learning.
Tip: Use flashcards to help you remember factual information. Make a list or timeline to see the helicopter view before you dive in to each of the items.
Level 2: Understand
To understand is the first step towards mastering a topic. That's why you usually see 'Overview' subchapter in textbooks. It gives you the main idea and lays out the expectation of what you will read.
Tip: Try to discuss the main idea of what you just read to your peer, using the language you both understand. Avoid academic language/explaining in the exact word-by-word.
Level 3: Apply
Through medical school, I experienced the importance of Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Problem forces you to apply what you read in the textbook to real-life scenarios. What I saw people doing wrong is directly trying to solve problems without adequate understanding. It makes them a copycat. You saw what seem works (done by others, of course) and copy their prescriptions. In medical school, this level of thinking is expected when you go through your OSCE examination and clinical rotation.
Tip: seek concrete examples of abstract ideas. For example, you have heard that stroke patients experienced contralateral paralysis. Now you see the patients in stroke unit. See the CT scan, see the therapy, does it match with what you learn from textbooks?
Level 4: Analyze
Analyze means seeing the connection between things. Reveal contributing factors, risk factors, and other factors between facts. As a medical doctor, this level of thinking is crucial as part of our endeavor as a scientist. Let's continue the tip from the previous example:
Tip: Ask the opposite of the norm (different perspective). Is there any case where stroke caused ipsilateral paralysis? When and why?
Level 5: Synthesize
When you synthesize, you gather pure facts that have gone through the first 4 levels of thinking and make your conclusion. Getting to this level should qualify you to make an original content, or publish a scientific article to the prestigious journal you always want to.
Tip: Compare and contrast. What makes this fact similar to what you've seen in other diseases/conditions? Or what makes it different from X diseases?
Level 6: Evaluate
Did you notice that almost everyone in the internet decided that they are capable of evaluating a topic they never understand, apply, analyze, and synthesize in the first place? This evaluation level is the right time to decide whether you agree or disagree with a position. Unless you had gone the first five level, your evaluation would be baseless. You simply adopt a view from someone else's thinking.
Tip: it's okay to say that you don't have any opinion about the topic asked by someone else.
Level 7: Create
This level is the creator level. You make a model, design an experiment, write a story, a book, or anything as the culmination of your thinking. Some people called it a 'brainchild'.
Tip: a simple illustration to demonstrate the hard concept is always fun to listen. Consider this article by Tim Urban (Why Procrastinators Procrastinate — Wait But Why), who beautifully explains procrastination with this simple illustration. His eloquent narrative clearly shown that he has done his research and the six levels of thinking before he created this article.