Learning Scientist Answers Questions from Reddit

Got questions about learning? I got answers.
In this video, I take six questions about learning from Reddit and do my best to answer them.
00:00 How do you learn from lectures?
03:45 Is it possible for young people to learn complex skills on their own?
06:53 Is reading books for 30 minutes a day enough to learn anything?
09:06 Is watching videos a legitimate way to learn something?
13:43 Which apps or games can help improve cognitive function?
16:26 Does the brain of a 14-year-old learn faster?
For an interesting comparison of brain training to video games, check out: • The best brain trainin... . There’s references in the description for further reading.
For videos on learning complex skills, take a look at: • What People Get Wrong ... and • Practice More Efficien...
The testing effect (retrieval practice) is largely why I recommend the kind of review that I do. Check out this video for more on that: • Tests Are Magic | The ... . Plenty of good references in the link to that video.
Sign up to my email newsletter, Avoiding Folly, here: www.benjaminkeep.com/
For the research on the relative ineffectiveness of lectures, see: Freeman, S., Eddy, S. L., McDonough, M., Smith, M. K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., & Wenderoth, M. P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 111(23), 8410-8415. (currently at www.pnas.org/content/111/23/8...)
This isn’t the best reference on cognitive differences among different age groups, but it’s a good read: Brashier, N. M., & Schacter, D. L. (2020). Aging in an era of fake news. Current directions in psychological science, 29(3), 316-323. (currently at journals.sagepub.com/doi/full...)
Image of the horse brain by katja Pixabay. Thanks, katja!

[@jackiepousson8497]

I prefer reading material over video or audio because I can more rapidly assess the quality and organization before I commit much time to it. I can also navigate in all directions, "zoom" in to review detail etc. I do agree that some topics can be well presented in multiple formats simultaneously, but I tend to use those when I am already familiar with the quality of the material. Your content is one of these.

[@ShubhTheOcean]

i prefer reading because a book won't move forward until i move forward.

[@patho977]

Excellent advice, thanks! BTW you watch really interesting content, I hope some day you make a list of your favorite podcast or youtube channels. I started listening to a history podcast you recently recommended in another video.

[@senjutsu3400]

On the question of age, you mentioned abstract thinking. How can the studies control for the major generational changes in culture, tradition and especially education? Are there any long term studies done with the same people? That would be interesting.

[@aggeyboii1753]

Love it! Pls keep up the great content Dr. Keep

[@jeevacation]

Good video. You should make another one of this type.

[@nicholscrawfordtaylor5966]

I’m curious how you would recommend giving a lecture or how to use lecture time and structure a class to improve learning.

[@thisisavinash]

Your video is great, man youre way of explanation is sooo cool! I have tried applying free recall but I am currently using flashcards mostly but the remnote app does not allow me to see cards in order and simply rereading the material feels like too passive of studying. Free recalling helps a lot but i always miss the details, how to deal with this problem. Thnaks. Loved the video :)

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

1:00 SO THAT'S WHY IN MAKE IT STICK THEY SAY ANSWER QUESTIONS BEFORE LECTURE!!!!! I think this is better as well organized grow up or teen than a kid on their own. The more i watch your videos the more i notice how great communication is important cause, oh boy, how i would get in trouble trying to do or convince people to do things differently!!!!

[@marig7554]

This channel is gold. Any study tips more specific to neurodiveregent people? Or people with learning disabilities?

[@benjaminkeep]

This is something I'd like to explore further, but TBH I don't know enough of the literature to speak to those topics right now.

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

1:28 This gives me ptsd cause my middle school portuguese teacher OBLIGATED us to that and i wrote so much and this fucked up my hand so bad that TO THIS DAY!!!! More than 11yrs after i graduated, my middle finger still get swole and purple if i write a lot, and i barely wrote after classes.

[@troxexlot18]

4:36 Answer is actually yes, Many many exceptions of self-taught geniuses

[@alexandersen4888]

Clip with knives had me rolling😂

[@susanne2259]

Hey, what do you think of mindmaps?

[@unknown-10k]

Is there a learning science ? Is there a performance science ?

[@benjaminkeep]

Well, depending on how you want to define it, yes. The "learning sciences" as a (somewhat) well-defined discipline has been around since the 90s. Sometimes it's also called the "science of learning". But, basically it brings together people from several different disciplines (psychology, anthropology, history, etc.) who are interested in learning. There have been degree programs in "learning sciences" for a couple of decades now. And there are journals (e.g., "The Journal of Learning Sciences") and conferences. But the earliest research on learning was in the late 1800s and early 1900s. People who call themselves learning scientists usually trace the roots of the discipline to then. The learning sciences generally includes people interested in performance (expertise researchers and sports trainers) and other discipline-specific work in learning (scientists, mathematicians, historians, computer scientists interested in figuring out how best to teach their discipline). All that being said, it's not as tight-knit a community as, say, physics or something.

[@augustoparaiso7349]

Apparently u can still learn after you're dead, according to those who came back after death. But the only knowledge attained is equivalent to a third base coach's input. Either; KEEP GOIN!! or STAY STAY STAY! You can also windmill one arm or put both hands up, but that's still instructions! That's a "learn after death experience", isn't it? 😅

[@thiagolegion]

Piola

[@grudley]

What subreddit? Which post?

[@benjaminkeep]

It's a fair question - but this video was from a while ago I can't locate my notes from it. Sorry. I went on Reddit to see some of the more common questions that people asked, but it was across several different subreddits.

[@tarunarachmad3976]

9:16

[@technoworlddd]

I like the video and i will like it

[@abjee1602]

I really liked this video and I also liked it

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

4:39 I mean, i dont know... **shrug**, have you heard of Mr. KZbin? African Track and Field athlete who broke records and competed at continental level learning through yt. Things are different now, i shouldnt be as smart as i am given where i was born and yet i know a shocking amount of stuff that surprises even myself at times, and if my life wasnt as chaotic and downright irresponsable i could be at genius level... just saying 👀, joking not joking. And im totally self taught! HECK, i say that i had to UNLEARN what was taught to me and go through a more scientific and progressive process to FINALLY grow. And even before that internet boom da vinci and elon musk are self taught. You can ask stuff like what do you know? What tools you already have? Whats accessible to you? Like Senku said "i'll use my ingenuity to use EVERYTHING the universe has to offer!"

[@banieldoozer6357]

well, this was idiotic