Memorisation and Deep Learning

I rarely take the time to reflect formally, despite thinking it's an important tool to make progress in any endeavour, whether or not it is work-related. I'm hoping this blog will build my reflective habit and also help in monitoring my progress in other beneficial daily habits, such as meditation and exercise. Each post may discuss new insights into the prior week's topic. Each post will end with the outcomes of the previous week's goals, what I would like to change and planned next steps.

Topic of the Week

I was already familiar with the concept of deep learning prior to this week's lecture on the topic in EL6052: E-Learning Theories and Practices. A question that occurred to me was whether superficial learning is a prerequisite for deep learning.

My previous studies required memorisation of an enormous amount of content, which was time-consuming and difficult. I struggled to separate the forest from the trees, and the trees were infinite. I often felt like I scraped by in exams and was never confident in my knowledge-base. This limited my effectiveness in my prior career, though my job performance was at least adequate, supported by performance reviews and inhibited by imposter syndrome.

Among memorisation techniques, active recall and spaced repetition have significant scientific backing. Active recall uses the fact that the attempt to remember information enhances subsequent learning even if the attempt is unsuccessful (Kornell et al. 2009). Spaced repetition responds to the forgetting curve, first described by Ebbinghaus (1885), which describes how facts disappear from our memory quickly but retention last longer each time they are actively recalled.

The Forgetting Curve (Stahl et al. 2010)

Last semester I made lots of flashcards about the lecture content using a flashcard app called Anki. It's a well-known tool that automates spaced repetition and one can design the flashcards to support active recall. I didn't use the flashcards much, and while I am familiar with the content we covered last semester, I wouldn't be able to cite many of the details from memory. And yet I performed well in the assignments.

Spaced Repetition (Wozniak, cited in Wolf 2008)

While it is important to be able to apply knowledge, isn't the first step to have the knowledge in the first place? Is mastery of a skill or topic possible without first obtaining a baseline core of knowledge? What is the scope of this knowledge core? How detailed is it?

Or, is it sufficient to know how to access the information, and instead, focus on developing the tools to apply it effectively? If that's the case, what amount of internalised knowledge is acceptable or aspirational?

To summarise: To what degree is the need for significant memorised knowledge lessened by metacognitive, information-finding and problem-solving skills in technical writing and instructional design?

These thoughts are possibly a reappearance of imposter syndrome, the feeling of not knowing enough, or being competent enough, with an ever-extending goal. This requires more reflection and potentially delving back into some of the learning theories from last semester.

What I would like to change

• Poor organisation and insight into the scope of an assignment leading to the need for an extension.

• Having an incomplete grasp of the scope of the content we will cover this semester.

• No schedule for completing assignments.

• Poor lifestyle habits, including sleep, fitness and diet.

Next Steps

• Create an assignment schedule.

• Develop broad appreciation of this semester's content.

  • Consider using mind maps or another visual tool.

• Work on lifestyle habits.

• Continue to investigate the interactions of memorisation, learning depth, and competence.

References

Anki (2017) Anki - Powerful, intelligent flash cards, available: https://apps.ankiweb.net/ [accessed 08 Feb 2022].

Ebbinghaus, H. (1885) Über das gedächtnis: untersuchungen zur experimentellen psychologie. Duncker & Humblot.

Kornell, N., Hays, M.J. and Bjork, R.A. (2009) 'Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning', Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35(4), p.989, available: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015729.

Stahl, S.M., Davis, R.L., Kim, D.H., Lowe, N.G., Carlson, R.E., Fountain, K. and Grady, M.M. (2010) Play it again: the master psychopharmacology program as an example of interval learning in bite-sized portions' CNS spectrums, 15(8), pp.491-504, available: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852900000444.

Wolf, G. (2008) The Memory Master-Researcher Piotr Wozniak has created a foolproof plan to help you remember everything you'll ever learn. Just surrender to the algorithm, Wired, available: https://www.wired.com/2008/04/ff-wozniak/ [accessed 08 Feb 2022].