Incidental learning is learning that occurs unintentionally, from activities where learning is not a conscious goal for the learner. For example, when someone plays a sport just for fun, but ends up improving their skills over time, they’re engaging in incidental learning. Incidental learning can be beneficial in various contexts, so it’s important to …
Intentional learning is learning that occurs as a result of activities where learning is a deliberate—and often primary—goal for the learner. For example, someone who reads research articles in order to understand a scientific phenomenon is engaging in intentional learning. It can be beneficial to understand intentional learning, in order to better understand how …
Inert knowledge is information that a person knows but doesn’t fully understand, which means that they can only recognize, express, or use it in very limited ways. For example, a student has inert knowledge if they memorize a math formula and are able to repeat it, but they don’t understand what it means or …
Reflective learning involves actively monitoring and assessing your knowledge, abilities, and performance during the learning process, in order to improve the process and its associated outcomes. For example, if you’re studying for a test, you can engage in reflective learning by asking yourself how well you understand each of the topics that you’re studying, …
Reflective practice involves actively analyzing your experiences and actions to help yourself improve at the things you do. For example, an athlete can engage in reflective practice by thinking about mistakes that they made during a training session, and figuring out ways to avoid making those mistakes in the future. Reflective practice can be …
Interleaving is a learning technique that involves mixing together different topics or forms of practice, in order to facilitate learning. For example, if a student uses interleaving while preparing for an exam, they can mix up different types of questions, rather than study only one type of question at a time. Interleaving, which is …
When going over study material, there is an important distinction between two approaches, known as knowledge-telling and knowledge-building, that we can use in our own learning or promote in those that we teach: Knowledge-telling is an approach to learning and teaching that involves relatively shallow engagement with the study material, which consists primarily of …
Whether you’re studying for a college course, practicing a new language, or trying to improve at your favorite sport, there are three factors that determine how successful your learning process will be. These factors are your natural abilities, the amount of effort that you put into learning, and how optimized your learning process is. …
The protégé effect is a psychological phenomenon where teaching, pretending to teach, or preparing to teach information to others helps a person learn that information. For example, a student who is studying for an exam could benefit from the protégé effect and improve their understanding of the material, by teaching that material to their peers. …
A common question people ask is whether you should write notes by hand or type them up on a computer. In short, studies generally show that writing notes by hand allows you to remember the material better than typing it. However, when it comes to actually choosing which method you should use, the answer …