Understanding needs active learner engagement

Understanding a new idea needs you, the learner, to actively engage with it. More than passively seeing or hearing it.

What this looks like depends on the specifics of the idea.

It's necessary to put time aside and spend energy on understanding something. Cal Newport calls this time deep work. Time and space with no distractions, the ability to focus and reflect on a single idea. Use the time to iterate on your thoughts.

References

• Andy Matuschak - Understanding requires effortful engagement
• Book: Cal Newport. Deep Work

Backlinks

• Understanding requires ideas to have context
  • Understanding things within their context is a core idea within Constructivism. Understanding needs active learner engagement. Together, this means that Constructivist teachers adopt a support role.
• Prefer notes that describe a relationship
  • According to educational constructivism, understanding requires ideas to have context. This is so the context forms relationships between things you know already and the new subject. Building notes describing these relationships explicitly will focus the process and engage you with the task - understanding needs active learner engagement.
• Transmissionism
  • Transmissionism is generally believed to be incorrect. Understanding requires ideas to have context, and Understanding needs active learner engagement
• Constructivism
  • An educational philosophy. The idea that a learner 'builds' understanding of a new concept by exploring it, examining it and connecting it to their existing understanding.
• Iterate on complex ideas to find simplicity
  • You can often create something concrete to understand an idea more fully. This is a good start for somewhere to iterate from. By iterating on an idea, you provide two things that are necessary for understanding. Understanding requires ideas to have context and needs active learner engagement.