Deliberate practice techniques for software developers
What is the most effective way to learn a skill or topic? Scott Young believes that the way to answer that question is to design a learning project, experiment with multiple techniques, and report on the results. For the past thirteen years, he has been doing that on his blog and in his online classes. Later this year, his book Ultralearning will be released, with advice for those of us who want to succeed at similar projects.
In recent weeks, I’ve been considering how we can use the advice in James Clear’s Atomic Habits to develop good study habits for learning technical topics. This week, I’m wrapping up my overview of the book with some final Atomic Habits advice.
ContinueLast week I went over the key ideas in Atomic Habits, James Clear’s book on leveraging small but consistent changes. This week I’ll consider how you can use these ideas to create effective study habits for learning technical subjects like mathematics.
ContinueTo learn effectively, it’s more important to have good study habits than good study skills. Study skills include activities like taking notes, reading with comprehension, and preparing for exams. Study habits cover topics like time management, focus, and prioritization. Skills and habits are both important. But even with the best skills, it’s hard to overcome […]
ContinueLearning math is often about learning specific math topics. But it can also be useful to step back and take a higher-level view of math learning. Keith Devlin, professor of mathematics at Stanford University and creator of the popular Introduction to Mathematical Thinking course on Coursera, says modern students of math have to master two […]
ContinueBack in the day, textbooks and classes were the way to learn math. Today, we have abundant online options. I wrote earlier this year about the benefits of practicing on Khan Academy, even if you’re not in its target audience. A similar online offering is Brilliant, which like Khan Academy has online math problems, but […]
ContinueI’m working this year on a specific area of math, but it can also be helpful to browse around and see what math ideas are out there. Last week, I wrote about the kinds of answers that pop up on Quora’s general math topic. Another math destination is Mathematics Stack Exchange. That site works a […]
ContinueIf you’re studying a high school or undergraduate college math topic and you have a question, the answer is probably somewhere online. Finding it is just a matter of coming up with the right search terms. Or if searching doesn’t work out, you can always ask on Quora. But another way to use Quora is […]
ContinueMath problems on standardized tests have short, simple answers that fit in a multiple-choice format. But college-level math problems require more detailed explanations. In How to Write a Math Solution, Richard Rusczyk and Mathew Crawford of Art of Problem Solving present a detailed checklist for ensuring that your proofs and solutions communicate your thinking as […]
ContinueLast week, I considered what we can learn from the standardized test approach to studying math. This week, I’m continuing that line of thinking with some advice from another PrepScholar article.
Continue