C.A. Gray

C.A. Gray is abestselling author of YA trilogies with a focus on blendingscientific concepts like quantum physics and neuroscience.

Heraction-packed stories avoid graphic content but don't shy away from high stakes.

Aside from writing, she practices naturopathic medicineand hosts a podcast.

In her spare time, she enjoys crafting,listening to audio books, and studying the Bible.

Title: Make It Stick: TheScience of Successful Learning 

Author: Peter Brown

ISBN: 978-0674729018

This is a really terrificoverview of some research with which I was unfamiliar.

I  have always rathersuspected that just reading through or listening to material is notvery useful in terms of active learning. I got through med school bya combination of reading and highlighting, but also retyping my notesand then rereading those. Still not the best according to thisresearch. I did, when studying for boards, create intricate flowcharts of various interconnected systems, though. That was apparentlythe most useful, as I was engaging with the information andsynthesizing it in a new way.

I also realized that someof the ways I go about learning now are actually variations on whatthe book recommends. He mentions trying to summarize to yourself keypoints that are being made, restating them in your own words, andquizzing yourself on how certain elements work. I’ve long knownthat I learn best when I teach, and I often will teach by writingblog posts, podcasts, etc) on a subject that I want to understandbetter myself.

I found the concept thatlearning deepens the harder you have to work to retrieve informationvery interesting also– similar to how you build muscle by liftingheavier weights, not weights that are so easy it takes little effort.Along those lines, you learn better if you intersperse learningdifferent but related subjects, rather than drilling the same thingover and over ad nauseum.

A great summary of how tomake sure we spend our time both learning and teaching as effectivelyas possible!