A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)

Using recall—mental retrieval of the key ideas—rather than passive rereading will make your study time more focused and effective.

“Intention to learn is helpful only if it leads to the use of good learning strategies.”

Attempting to recall the material you are trying to learn—retrieval practice—is far more effective than simply rereading the material.

learning takes place in two ways. There is a bottom-up chunking process where practice and repetition can help you both build and strengthen each chunk, so you can easily gain access to it when needed. And there is a top-down “big picture” process that allows you to see where what you are learning fits in.

gaining context so you see not just how, but also when to use this chunk.

understand the basic idea you are trying to chunk,

The first step in chunking, then, is to simply focus your attention on the information you want to chunk.

Chunking the information you deal with helps your brain run more efficiently.

one of the first steps toward gaining expertise in math and science is to create conceptual chunks—mental leaps that unite separate bits of information through meaning.