Effective Ways to Understand Difficult Topics

When you see this number, what comes to mind? Yes! A day has 24 hours. In spite of its size, the number may seem very small for a student who has multiple tasks to accomplish on any given day. There are tests, projects, assignments, extracurricular activities, family obligations, and other commitments. Besides leading a balanced life, wouldn't it be nice to study smarter (not harder) when they are so time-pressed? Well, it certainly is possible, and that's what this blog is all about. We may all agree that getting straight As is not the core purpose of education. Learning how to learn is an important life skill.

Are there difficult topics, in the first place?

Certain topics appear difficult to some but not to everyone for a variety of reasons. Among them are:

• You heard the topic is difficult and assumed it would be difficult to you too
  
• You are not familiar with the basic concepts
• The course has bulky concepts
• You tried to learn everything on your own without seeking help
• help. As a result, you struggled with the keywords

The following tips have been compiled to help you learn effectively and understand difficult topics with no hassles. They are as follows:

Learn the same material in different ways

to stimulate the brain in different ways. The more areas of the brain stimulated, the better the understanding and retention of the topic. Therefore, whenever a topic is covered, you should study that topic through your notebook, textbook, workbook, online resources, animated videos (if available), or any other reference material available, and finally, teach someone what you have learned. There is no doubt that all of the above cannot be covered in a single session. Different media could be used for each session.

Look at the headings, sub-headings, and illustrations of the topic first

Consider the broad purpose of the topic and visualize the chapter. Putting your brain in this receptive state optimizes learning and gives it a structure to hang concepts on.

Organize information conceptually

Next, you should build chunks of useful and digestible information, which can be retrieved at a later date to help you understand similar concepts or problems. Your brain creates neural pathways that will assist you in understanding the tough concept.

Pause, recall & reflect

After reading through the difficult concept, close the book and recall the underlying ideas in your own words. It may take some time for it to sink into your brain, before moving on to the next concept. The process of recalling and reflecting etches neural patterns deeper into the brain.

Use analogies or comparisons to make the concepts more memorable.

If you frame the concept you have learned as an analogy, you are connecting it to other parts of your brain. By writing down the analogy, you will better be able to comprehend the concept.

Space your studies and your practice

Scientists have established that our brain is similar to a muscle that requires alternating periods of rest and recovery to synthesize new ideas and concepts. Study some of the information every day, rather than trying to cram all the information in a few marathon sessions. As you may be surprised to learn, cramming can help your knowledge stick around for a day and allow you to pass the test. When you move on to the next challenging topic, you may not be able to recall the same concept. Therefore, always space out your study sessions. Additionally, avoid multitasking while learning.

Good habits always come handy

Smart learning is also enhanced by the habits that keep us healthy and charged up. A healthy and balanced diet, regular exercise, drinking enough water (8 glasses a day) and staying hydrated, and getting a good night's sleep for eight hours will ensure that our brain is always ready to tackle tough topics.

Neuroscience-Based Study Tips for hard courses

1. First, look at the chapter's headings, subheadings, and illustrations.

We tend to think that focusing on every detail of a topic is the best way to study when we are struggling with a topic. To understand the topic completely, we need to consider the whole picture.

Students may benefit from taking a moment to visualize the chapter and consider the lesson's overall purpose. Putting your brain into a receptive learning mode gives it a structure to "hang" new concepts from.

You are essentially building neural pathways. Learning how to study means studying better instead of studying harder.

2. Break down information into conceptual chunks.

It is impossible to mentally comprehend everything at once. They should digest small pieces at a time, then move on to the next round.

For instance, in math. By studying these problems, you will understand why each solution works the way it does and what common procedure(s) they share. Thus, you are accumulating knowledge that you can later apply to different types of problems.

Oakley explains that in this study technique, you make new neural patterns and connect them to preexisting patterns that are spread throughout the brain.

3. Pause, recall, and reflect.

Ask your student to repeat what they just learned after reading or solving a problem. Allow them to repeat it to you, and don't move on to the next one just yet. Read it again, not remember it.

Because of this study skill of recalling and reflecting, your brain is deeply etched with new neural patterns. Therefore, it becomes a physical and mental process!

4. Analogies and comparisons help make concepts memorable.

Analogies can be used to learn new concepts. They connect other areas of the brain with one another.

We become even more ingrained in that comparison if we write it out by hand. In other words, when you write by hand, you are actually rewiring your brain. By writing by hand, you are converting what you learn into neural memory structures.

5. Space out homework and studying.

Exercise and rest are necessary for the brain to synthesize new information and ideas. This is especially true when studying difficult subjects. It is better to study a little each day than to cram during a few marathon study sessions. Although you may cram, your knowledge may only last for today's test, but not for tomorrow's hard class. After a difficult subject, make sure your child takes a break and does some physical activities to relieve anxiety. In addition, this fulfills their physical education requirement. They will have fun and their brains will have time to process everything.

Learning how to study difficult subjects.

Learning new concepts can be challenging, but it is an important step in the process. It is helpful to create a plan when you are struggling with a subject. If you understand how the brain works, how to study difficult subjects, and how to learn, you can master a difficult subject faster.

Online schools like Connections Academy give students the flexibility to set their own schedule, learn at their own pace, and schedule their breaks when it is convenient for them and their families.

When their children faced difficult subjects, we asked them why they switched to virtual school.

To learn difficult subjects so that you can write useful content, here are some tips.

A few months ago, I decided I wanted to write developer documentation. There is a high demand for this skill, which makes it a challenging and fascinating field of study.

As I write code samples for a JavaScript SDK, I'm learning more about programming. JavaScript is easy to test, so it's an excellent introduction to programming. Integrated development environments are not needed to write JavaScript code. If you use the JavaScript Console, results will be visible as soon as your browser loads.

I may be able to drown in JavaScript SDK's depth, but I am more comfortable reading and writing simple code snippets to interact with it. I will need to gain developer-level knowledge of JavaScript and other programming languages in order to write tech content.

Whatever your industry, technical complexity is inevitable. Highly technical topics are difficult to explain in an understandable manner. What are your methods? How do you explain challenging topics in an understandable manner?

After an hour of reading a book about "ACME Programming" (or whatever) you will be tired. In the beginning, things seem simple, but then the explanations become unintelligible and ambiguous, so they are rendered useless and ignored.

It is better to approach difficult subjects in a more productive manner rather than approaching them so directly. Below are some suggestions for learning difficult subjects.

1. Start with a real problem before moving to books.

Instead of going about it in reverse order, begin with a relevant context (from work, usually) and then proceed to book learning. Learn all the concepts you need to understand the problem you're trying to solve.

Learn what $.each does and how to use it when you see it used in a code sample and don't understand it. Using the other approach, you may forget all the concepts before you use the jQuery functions in an actual scenario if you start with the functions that begin with A and work toward Z. When they are applied to a real-world problem, abstract concepts are grounded in a real context.

Nevertheless, real problems should be the starting point. Though books can be useful, they tend to stay at a high level and cover only general topics or the exercises are not based on real-world situations. Having read countless chapters in JavaScript books, I thought I understood the concepts, but was completely stumped when I saw real-world examples.

Knowing concepts is different from knowing how they work. It's like the difference between knowing grammar and knowing how to write an essay. Grammar is helpful, but essays require strategy and problem solving. You can't simply follow a template. Begin with concepts and move toward real-world problems. This will undoubtedly mean switching between the two.

2. Learn in short chunks (pomodoros) of time.

When I try to cram in too much new information at once, I tend to overload my brain, so I use the pomodoro method of learning. During this period, set a timer for about 25 minutes and focus on learning a technical concept. Take a break, then go back to learning the concept.

Putting in several pomodoros of time a day will allow you to make significantly more progress than if you tried to devote a whole evening or weekend to learning a topic.

An Italian timer in the form of a tomato is called a pomodoro, which is shaped like a tomato. "Pomodoro" was the term coined by the person who developed this interval method of learning.

Learning in intervals also has other strategic benefits. During those periods when the timer isn't running, you may still be processing and reflecting on the concepts you were learning in the background of your mind. By spacing out the pomodoros, you let the information process and sink in.

3. Remove mental blocks about your intellectual capability.

One of the best articles I've read on learning hard subjects is this Quora article by Marcus Geduld: How to Learn Hard Subjects. He says that people often try to learn something hard but then give up too quickly. We tell a story about ourselves that removes our guilt. We say, I'm just not one of those people. Marcus explains:

You don't get to say "I'm one of those people" until you've tried and failed TEN times. You are allowed to say, "You know, maybe I can learn it, but I'm just not willing to put in that amount of work," or "I don't want to learn it THAT badly." That's fine. But you're not allowed to claim, even if you've tried and failed six times, that you have some sort of learning disability when it comes to the subject. EXPECT to fail nine times.

It's much easier to convince ourselves that we're not cut out for programming or mathematics because we don't have the knack for the subject, or because we just aren't smart enough. But the truth is usually that people who do have the knack or a seemingly innate talent have put in a lot of practice hours in getting to that point (as Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, would say, about 10,000 hours).

I recently had a conversation with a friend who is a programmer at Apple. I mentioned that I like to write in my spare time, and he mentioned that he often writes code in his spare time. He said, I've written a lot of code that no one will ever see, that's just for me because I like doing it.

His statement kind of surprised me. Write programming code for fun, for the enjoyment of it, that no one will ever see, in your spare time? Before I dismiss my ability to learn programming, I'd do well to remember my friend practicing code in his spare time while I'm watching movies or playing basketball.

4. Get engaged by solving problems.

The previous point about finding enjoyment in the activity leads to another technique: get engaged. I was going to write something like, find a way to make X fun. But what does that really mean? How does JavaScript programming become fun? Do I wear a Mickey Mouse hat and pretend I'm a wizard on a web page or something?

No. Things are fun when they become engaging. And engagement usually takes place when you're solving problems. So whatever you're working with, figure out a problem to solve.

The other day I was riding the train to work, and I was completely engrossed in thought about how to solve a particular problem with the code. I ended up missing my stop -- the first time in nearly 6 months of riding the Caltrain! Problem solving is engrossing and helps you forget that you're even "learning".

5. Learn the basics first, then the advanced.

One more gem from the article by Marcus Geduld I mentioned earlier: learn the basics before trying to master advanced concepts. According to Marcus:

the next thing to ask is whether you've prepared. If one first learns the stuff leading up to Calculus, then anyone can learn Calculus. Most students fail to learn basic arithmetic before they move on to Calculus. "Learning" doesn't just mean "getting it," it means feeling really confident about it. In this case, you won't be able to learn Calculus if you have to constantly check how to add fractions.

It's amazing how many people skip learning scales and jump directly to Chopin etudes, and then declare that they can't play the piano.

The same is true for JavaScript. You are unlikely to understand callbacks and loops if you don't understand variables and functions.

I wrote some code for a simple function the other week, and it felt good. It was reviewed by a developer, who rewrote the code in a more advanced manner. It took a long time for me to understand the advanced code, even though I was explained it.

Since I realized I probably wasn't ready to understand it at my level, I decided (after testing the code to make sure it worked) not to beat myself up for not understanding an advanced concept when I'm still a beginner. After a while, I am sure techniques will become more apparent. Instead of telling myself "I don't have a talent or a knowledge of this subject" I'll say, "I need to master the basics before I can understand more advanced topics."

6. Anticipate gradual change, not overnight brilliance.

The benefits of gradual change are numerous. We are a culture of immediacy, but it may take several months or even years to acquire the knowledge we seek. We can expect a gradual change that will be difficult to detect from day to day but that will start to become more noticeable on a quarterly basis.

What if you learned a programming language in three years? The distance you eventually cover will amaze you if you can implement change little by little.

The tricky part is figuring out how to measure your level of knowledge. What is your level of knowledge? Dieters can measure their progress on a scale. Information, however, cannot be measured.

Information cannot be quantified. That's what makes knowledge so fascinating. Knowing how little we really know might be depressing. When you begin to recognize how little you know, you are probably learning a lot. Thus, when Socrates says, "The beginning of wisdom is knowing you know nothing," you are probably learning a lot.

7. Use questions to go deeper with knowledge.

How did Einstein become so smart? Were there more neural pathways in his brain? Did he neglect his family and friends to focus on his work? Has he challenged assumptions and viewed the world from different perspectives? I don't know. Here's one simple technique for digging deeper with knowledge: asking questions. Albert Einstein certainly did.

In order to gain more knowledge, I think asking questions is the most efficient method. Write down a list of questions about the topic when you want to increase your understanding of it. Answer all the questions after you have ten. Start by asking another 10 questions based on your most significant answer. After that, ask another 10 questions using your most significant new answer as a starting point.

You end up with some really interesting outcomes if you repeat this a dozen times. It's not so much gaining new knowledge as seeing new applications and insights that others don't see (in other words, moving towards brilliance, not just knowledge).

Although I don't often think this rigorously about the topics I blog about, one time during my MFA program, I took a really mundane starting point and tried to see how far I could go with this approach. I wrote an interesting essay (which I'm hesitant to reread - I'd rather just remember it), but a reader said she thought I was either crazy or a genius.

Figuring out the organization and flow of so many ideas is another challenge, but the basic tool to unearth the deeper knowledge is simply the question mark (it kind of looks like a shovel if you flip it the other way around).

Conclusion (or Beginning?)

As technical writers, we specialize in learning complex topics. Then you probably aren't doing technical writing if you aren't learning something challenging. Your users probably aren't getting value from your content if you document obvious things.

When creating information products, the sweet spot is to immerse yourself in difficult topics, to battle with code and other arcane concepts, and to bring clarity out of confusion, while making brilliance out of blah. Despite the fact that you'll need your brain in high gear to be successful at it, you can be much more efficient by adopting the following techniques:

• Start with a real problem before moving to books.
• Learn in short chunks (pomodoros) of time.
• Remove mental blocks about your intellectual capability.
• Get engaged by solving problems.
• Learn the basics first, then the advanced.
• Anticipate gradual change, not overnight brilliance.
• Use questions to go deeper with knowledge.

The struggle to understand a concept actually helps us write better help, because we don't make assumptions that the user might not have. When a developer knows the code so well and can write it in his or her sleep, he or she may skip over critical explanations and details that the user might not be aware of.

You lose your ability to explain a subject to a newbie as soon as you master it. You find it difficult to explain it to yourself until you have mastered the subject. Technical writers are, in some sense, permanently in a state of learning -- not being a master, but not being a beginner either. It can be challenging to find a way to feel comfortable in that space. Learning is the key to overcoming it. By incorporating the techniques I mentioned, learning will become more of a hobby rather than a chore.