How to Think About Technical Courses
How to Think About Technical Courses
Transcript
I wanna talk a little bit now about how to think about a technical course.
Sure, you can learn all of the things you need to do to do well in a technical course, but an active learner is going to think about what a technical course is trying to accomplish and how best to approach that particular activity. Remember, a technical course has a pretty basic formula. You have a concept that's delivered to you in lecture. You then get problems that ask you to apply that concept in a novel way.
The concept plus the problems asking you to apply the concept equal the technical course. Now sure, there may be one concept or more than one concept. Some concepts are going to be original and some are going to derive from previous concepts, but in every single case, you're going to be explained the concept and then you're going to be given examples of how that concept can be put into practice, put into use or applied. Now in most cases, students are going to learn the concept. They're going to write down the formula. They're going to copy down the equation in their notebook and then they're going to memorize it and they're going to use it to solve assigned problems. But if you want to maximize your success, that's not enough. Instead of just memorizing these things by rote, instead of doing the assigned problems dutifully and moving on, you need to develop what Professor of Computer Science Cal Newport calls insight.
To quote Professor Newport, what do I mean by insight? That click in your brain. The moment when the tumblers of your mental locks align, the door swings open and an intuitive sense of what and why come flooding out. Forget the equations you copied from the blackboard. I'm talking about developing an understanding deep down in your bones.
Memorizing the formulas and doing your homework problems are not going to get you to that deep down in your bones understanding. It's not going to help you understand the what and the why that's going to allow you to truly understand the concept in a meaningful way and so developing insight is the key and doing that is going to allow you to maximize your success in technical courses.
Remember, the formula is fairly straightforward, but the method for achieving that insight, that's what separates students who get straight A's from students who struggle in their technical courses.
Sure, you can learn all of the things you need to do to do well in a technical course, but an active learner is going to think about what a technical course is trying to accomplish and how best to approach that particular activity. Remember, a technical course has a pretty basic formula. You have a concept that's delivered to you in lecture. You then get problems that ask you to apply that concept in a novel way.
The concept plus the problems asking you to apply the concept equal the technical course. Now sure, there may be one concept or more than one concept. Some concepts are going to be original and some are going to derive from previous concepts, but in every single case, you're going to be explained the concept and then you're going to be given examples of how that concept can be put into practice, put into use or applied. Now in most cases, students are going to learn the concept. They're going to write down the formula. They're going to copy down the equation in their notebook and then they're going to memorize it and they're going to use it to solve assigned problems. But if you want to maximize your success, that's not enough. Instead of just memorizing these things by rote, instead of doing the assigned problems dutifully and moving on, you need to develop what Professor of Computer Science Cal Newport calls insight.
To quote Professor Newport, what do I mean by insight? That click in your brain. The moment when the tumblers of your mental locks align, the door swings open and an intuitive sense of what and why come flooding out. Forget the equations you copied from the blackboard. I'm talking about developing an understanding deep down in your bones.
Memorizing the formulas and doing your homework problems are not going to get you to that deep down in your bones understanding. It's not going to help you understand the what and the why that's going to allow you to truly understand the concept in a meaningful way and so developing insight is the key and doing that is going to allow you to maximize your success in technical courses.
Remember, the formula is fairly straightforward, but the method for achieving that insight, that's what separates students who get straight A's from students who struggle in their technical courses.