A Mind For Numbers

Try to touch again on something you’re learning within a day, especially if it’s new and rather challenging.

Intention to learn is helpful only if it leads to the use of good learning strategies.”12

To clarify here—chunking may involve your learning how to use a certain problem-solving technique. Context means learning when to use that technique instead of some other technique.

That said, it’s important to realize that just understanding how a problem was solved does not necessarily create a chunk that you can easily call to mind later. Do not confuse the “aha!” of a breakthrough in understanding with solid expertise!

Do not confuse the “aha!” of a breakthrough in understanding with solid expertise!

one of the first steps toward gaining expertise in math and science is to create conceptual chunks—mental leaps that unite separate bits of information through meaning.

Chunks are pieces of information that are bound together through meaning.

twenty-one minutes

however, it’s best that you first wrestle with the problem yourself before you talk to anyone else, because it can embed the basic concepts deeply enough that you become receptive to the explanation

A good rule of thumb, when you are first learning new concepts, is not to let things go untouched for longer than a day.