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Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

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Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#111

Post by allenu »

Jabbles wrote: post #33

I have used Anki productively, I think it's a great tool, and should be a component of learning in many fields. But I can't help but think it could be a lot better, a lot more efficient, perhaps even 2x more. Anki allows you to customise many aspects of when cards are shown. But presumably those settings can be tuned for a individual, a subject, or even a card. One person probably doesn't have enough data to know wha…

I agree that there could be so much more to how cards are reviewed. For instance, what if some cards were made dependent on other cards? You could have some cards that have basic vocabulary and then another set of cards that use that vocabulary in sentences.

There's no point in learning the sentences if you haven't sufficiently mastered the vocabulary, so what if the app showed you the sentence cards only if it has determined that you've learned the word cards sufficiently?

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#112

Post by BeetleB »

stjohnswarts wrote: post #103
vslira wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Staring at fact flashcards for hours on end just felt like a waste of time. I think I found your problem. Try this cycle: - Add however many cards you like - Study - Got bored and didn't finish all your cards? Stop and don't add any new card until you can finish quick enough to not get bored - Finishing quickly? Add more cards The exponentially increasing interval is your friend. Before you notice you won't be stud…

I remember seeing people using flash cards in various science and math classes. The only thing that helped me to remember algos and derivations was to use them on some practical problem. I am as much as kinesthetic as visual learner, I think mainly because it keeps my brain from going into zombie repetition land. Don't even try to teach me something by just babbling about it in front of a class room. I need to experi…

A cardinal rule of all SRS advocates: You must understand something before making a flashcard for it. In math, that means solving problems with it, etc.

I learned analysis a long time ago. Forgot most of it, despite applying it a lot.

I learned statistics twice, applied it, and still forgot most of it. The third time round I made flashcards and I haven't forgotten much.

I studied a textbook on floating point arithmetic for work (mathematical - with theorems, etc). Because it was secondary to my main work, I would have gaps - sometimes for months, before I could return to it. Yet whenever I did return to it, I could continue where I left off without reviewing much - because of flash cards.

Memory is useful.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#113

Post by BeetleB »

leppr wrote: post #84
agd wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think to make the most of it you need to engage your imagination. Relating stories and context to the facts transforms it from ‘staring at flashcards for hours’ into more of a game and something to enjoy. And the great thing is, because of the spaced repetition, you don’t need to spend hours on it at a time. You can learn a lot in 5/10 mins a day.

When I was starting Anki, I would spend time really focusing my thinking on the cards while reviewing them (reading sentences aloud multiple times until pronunciation is good, relating concepts to others, ...). I'm now convinced this is a waste of time and Anki is best used rushing through sessions as fast as possible (maximum 20min a day). This takes care of the small, boring but often essential rote memorization pa…

20 min a day is still a lot - unless it's mostly due to adding a lot of cards per day.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#114

Post by BeetleB »

m3kw9 wrote: post #37

Isn't Anki good only for memorization? Spaced repetition doesn't seem to help learning how something relates to another logically like how to determine when to use what programming patterns.

> Spaced repetition doesn't seem to help learning how something relates to another logically like how to determine when to use what programming patterns.

You can make cards for those.

Of course, if you're making cards on those without understanding and internalizing, the cards won't help you.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#115

Post by BeetleB »

Luc wrote: post #60
pritovido wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought I had bad recall, but the fact is that I did not know about the memory. I have trained people in my environment and they have improved enormously. It is a very good idea that you read a book about mnemonics, and all the techniques, things like exaggerating pictures or places in your head, remembering faces, what a neural connection is and so on, and start applying it. My upper limit (in anki) is over 400 ne…

> It is a very good idea that you read a book about mnemonics Do you have any particular books in mind? Thanks!

Books by Harry Lorayne: The Memory Book is one of them. Another is How to Develop a Super Power Memory.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#117

Post by kiba »

patresh wrote: post #85
Jabbles wrote: post #33

I have used Anki productively, I think it's a great tool, and should be a component of learning in many fields. But I can't help but think it could be a lot better, a lot more efficient, perhaps even 2x more. Anki allows you to customise many aspects of when cards are shown. But presumably those settings can be tuned for a individual, a subject, or even a card. One person probably doesn't have enough data to know wha…

I agree with your comment. As a sidenote concerning your last point, Gabriel Wyner's book "Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It" explains in detail how to build an SRS system to learn a language and it strongly advises against using translation tasks in your SRS. Instead of thinking in the target language, your mind will create strong associations with the words in your original language…

Coming up with images for the target language can be a very difficult task, since much of our understanding are verbal only, as opposed to conceptual and images based.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#118

Post by BeetleB »

wendyshu wrote: post #40

What's the point of memorizing a bunch of facts you could easily look up on the web?

It's common for me to read something, and forgot it even existed. I can't look it up unless I know it exists. With flash cards, I am reminded that it exists every once in a while.

As an example, here's a simple card: What is the recommended way to traverse all the files (including subdirectories) in Python?

Answer: scandir and not os.walk

os.walk is my standard goto. Then I learned about scandir, but kept forgetting that there was a better alternative to os.walk. So I made a card for it.

The other answer, of course, is speed. If I'm going to Google "what is the alternative to os.walk?" or something similar every time I need it, it adds a lot of friction and I simply won't bother. And no, I don't do this often enough that looking it up each time will force it to become ingrained.

And frankly, when you do math/physics, you do need a number of concepts in your head. Solving a complex problem requires multiple parts/stages, and solving requires you to have them in your head so you can put them together. My biggest mistake when I was in grad school was thinking I could get by without memorizing. It worked fine for undergrad level math, but it was a real problem when I took higher level courses. The professors were split on whether memorizing is a good idea, but the fact is the professors used this stuff a lot more than I did.

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#119

Post by BeetleB »

fizixer wrote: post #2

> Anki as Learning Superpower If it's a superpower, it's at best a rote learning superpower. Can you use Anki to learn quantum field theory, and solve the lamb shift problem without looking at the existing solutions? Cut out the hyperbole please.

> Can you use Anki to learn quantum field theory,

Can you learn quantum field theory if you have to keep looking up Schrodinger's equations, and all the EM equations?

Re: Anki as Learning Superpower: Computer Science Edition

#120

Post by [deleted] »

tmountain wrote: post #44
farresito wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anki sucks for language learning or general vocabulary adquisition compared to simply reading.

I disagree. Lots of books have quite a few "hapax legomenon", or... words that only appear once. If you're trying to build long-tail vocab, Anki will make sure you get repeated exposure to words that occur infrequently in a particular text. One might argue that these words don't matter as much since they're less common, but once you've mastered all the common vocab in a language, building a broader vocabulary becomes…

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