Iterative Learning
Learning is not about sitting down and studying once. Learning is not about understanding it perfectly immediately. Learning is about constant iteration. You build up your understanding step by step correcting your mistakes and misunderstandings along the way.
Iterative learning is powerful because learning itself is recursive and excursive. Recursive meaning: you have to rethink, re-understanding and re-practice to find gaps and questions in your understanding and correct them. Excursive because your learning journey is not the same as someone else’s. You have another set of preknowledge which helps or even hinders your understanding of new concepts.
Thus, the main idea of LeLe is to combine iterative learning and mind mapping into iterative mind mapping. This combined approach also connects all three phases of learning — priming, studying and practising — together.
how to iterate
You start simple with an empty canvas. Iterate from rough concepts to detailed insights, from the big picture to fine details. Map out your understanding as you learn. Each iteration can add another level of detail and complexity to your understanding and mind map.
Practically this means, start iterating by priming first — skim the material and express your thoughts on your mind map. Make a list of key concepts and insights while you skim. After that, use the list and create a simple mind map. The mind map should reflect how the concepts might be connected and related to each other. Follow the 4C rules while mapping.
After priming, start studying. Gaps, questions and misunderstandings will bubble up. Use them as guidance and go into more detail. Adjust and add to your mind map as you study.
If the time is right, practice. Either by applying or by actively recalling what you learnt until now. Through practice, you will not only improve but you will also again discover more questions and gaps in your understanding.
From here iterate. Prime, study, practice. Iterate on your mind map. Go into more detail with each step. But try to build up each branch of your map equally. Don’t overfocus on one branch. Otherwise, it will be too detailed compared to others and important relationships might get lost.
If you have details that you can’t ignore, put them aside or create separate notes for them. These separate notes can then be linked to as references from your mind map.
Simplified, the iteration looks like this:
- skim, read, watch at 2x speed
- create a list
- map out the list and your understanding
- connect, chunk, contrast
- refine, simplify, group
- practice and discover questions and misunderstandings
Keep in mind, your mind map is what you think. It will not be perfect or even correct at first. But it’s just the starting point. Each iteration will refine your mind map; refine your understanding.
Hopefully, this iterative approach helps you mind map and learn.
