Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
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Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#2Really big fan of the design of the header on this blog, cool way to represent tags and article information without it being monotonous.
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#3>I like Mnemosyne (homepage) myself - Free, packaged for Ubuntu Linux
It seems to use a 2 decade old modification of a now 4 decades old algorithm which will be worse and waste more of the user's time than using Anki with FSRS or SuperMemo with SM-18.
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#4Anecdotally I stumbled upon this phenomenon when trying to learn how to play the piano. I noticed that at the end of a session I make so many mistakes and feel like I didn't learn that much, but coming back to it after a day or two I really felt the difference.
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#5One counterintuitive issue with spaced repetition is that the modern algorithms like FSRS are actually almost too good at scheduling. The effect is that each card is almost perfectly scheduled to be very difficult but still doable. Now, it's a bit weird to call it an issue considering it's the whole concept working exactly as designed. But it does cause one follow-up problem.
The problem is that in life, we are accustomed to things becoming easier as we get better at them. So you start drawing faces and it starts out feeling very difficult, but then as you practice more and more, it feels easier and easier. Of course, by the time it's feeling easy, it means that you're no longer actually getting effective practice. But nevertheless, it's the feeling that we are accustomed to. It's how we know we're getting better.
Because spaced repetition is so good at always giving you things that you will find difficult, it doesn't actually feel like you're getting better overall even though you are. The things that you are good at are hidden from you and the things that you are bad at are shown to you. The result is a constant level of difficulty, rather than the traditional decreasing level of difficulty.
I've encountered this problem myself. I built a language learning app for fun, and some of my users feel like they're not learning very much compared to alternatives that don't use spaced repetition. In fact, it's the exact opposite. They learn much more quickly with mine, but they don't have that satisfying feeling of the lessons becoming easy. (Because if I gave them easy challenges, it wouldn't be as productive!)
I'm not sure what the best way to solve this problem is. I would much appreciate any advice.
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#6>I like Mnemosyne (homepage) myself - Free, packaged for Ubuntu Linux It seems to use a 2 decade old modification of a now 4 decades old algorithm which will be worse and waste more of the user's time than using Anki with FSRS or SuperMemo with SM-18.
Do you have recommended apps using those algorithms?
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#7One counterintuitive issue with spaced repetition is that the modern algorithms like FSRS are actually almost too good at scheduling. The effect is that each card is almost perfectly scheduled to be very difficult but still doable. Now, it's a bit weird to call it an issue considering it's the whole concept working exactly as designed. But it does cause one follow-up problem. The problem is that in life, we are accus…
Well the simplest thing would be to have test/benchmarks you do at the start and end of each “chapter” (however you define that).
You fail miserably at the test at the start of each chapter, and crush it at the end.
The difficult part is deciding how the tests are spread out.
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#8One counterintuitive issue with spaced repetition is that the modern algorithms like FSRS are actually almost too good at scheduling. The effect is that each card is almost perfectly scheduled to be very difficult but still doable. Now, it's a bit weird to call it an issue considering it's the whole concept working exactly as designed. But it does cause one follow-up problem. The problem is that in life, we are accus…
> I'm not sure what the best way to solve this problem is. I would much appreciate any advice.
Serious answer: All the dark patterns.
Loot boxes even if they only give users a digital hat, small animated bird (like the green one, but not) doing a silly dance when users get enough correct answers, some weird phrases sprinkled amongst the lessons which make the users laugh.
Just, please let them have an off switch for people like us :)
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#9One counterintuitive issue with spaced repetition is that the modern algorithms like FSRS are actually almost too good at scheduling. The effect is that each card is almost perfectly scheduled to be very difficult but still doable. Now, it's a bit weird to call it an issue considering it's the whole concept working exactly as designed. But it does cause one follow-up problem. The problem is that in life, we are accus…
The solution is to learn content that you actually use with some regularity in your life outside of the testing! If you're doing this for education, the payoff might be the exam; if you're doing it to learn things without some particular end goal, you'll have to make your own way to make it worth it.
The language learning app people could try scheduling monthly video chats with native speakers (swapping turns halfway through so it's mutually beneficial) and notice their proficiency improve.
Re: Spaced repetition for efficient learning (2019)
#10While I’ve been working on my knowledge base meets spaced repetition project, I looked through a bunch of articles, and it’s very easy in fact.
We keep forgetting stuff. But we can remember it more by active recalling. And there is an evidence that you can recall with intervals that grow, to make it optimal. That’s it really. Everything else is tooling on top of that simple fact.