Spaced Repetition for Learning and Retaining Information

[smishra 0]

Becoming proficient traders will require many of us to learn and master new material. A few months ago  I came across the spaced repetition method. Some of its elements may be intuitively obvious and we have probably used them over the years.  Still it was interesting to see the scientific background, and to see that there are apps that utilize the principle. 

The key fact is that we forget most of what we learn in the first 24 hours, and then, if we don't practice recall, our remaining memories decay exponentially (approximately). This was discovered by Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885 through a series of experiments.

The good news is that memory's rate of decay slows down if we *actively. recall* the item (instead of passively re-reading it). And there is an optimum spacing between recalls to remember the most with minimum recalls. (Sort of like DRAM refresh in computer memory). 

https://ncase.me/remember/ (An engaging gamified explanation)

There are apps that implement this principle. I use Anki. You may already have used similar apps so it may be nothing new, but it was definitely a booster for me.  

"Anki can be used to remember almost anything. That is, Anki makes memory a choice, rather than a haphazard event, to be left to chance."

https://apps.ankiweb.net/ (I used the PC, phone and web version and keep them syncrhonized. Need a free AnkiWeb account. iOS versions require a payment. Other versions are free)

I sent the above to my kids in the hope it helps them. Wish I knew of this when I was in school. 

 

[Another Peter 2]

Learning how to learn is what your first degree is for.

However, when you start adulting and get really busy, have not slept in 10 days and forget where you left the car keys then no digital flash card will save you.

An external human brain is nice.  You can build a life wiki with something like Notion.so

There are other metacognitive strategies but that's enough for one post