The Power of Elaboration

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It's a system that enforces elaboration, because just the practical step of adding new piece information to it requires to have a look at previous pieces of information and thinking about the connection. So you really enforce elaboration, which is one of the best learning techniques ar that's what we know from empiric research. Elaboration is something we need to do, but usually we have to have will power to put elaboration into something we read. Once you start judging reading by what you wrote down and connected it with so really have elaborated on, you realize reading takes a lot of time. And only if you put some effort into it, it's worth the time he put into it

Sönke Ahrens: How to Take Smart Notes Sönke Ahrens is the creator of Take Smart Notes, a project dedicated to helping students, academics and nonfiction writers get more done - ideally with more fun and less effort. He has spent years researching and experimenting with different note-taking systems and his settled on a methodology called Zettlekasten. Sönke is a writer, coach, and academic -- and also the author of the bestselling book, How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking - for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers*. In this conversation, Sönke and I discuss how to move past the practice of simply reading and highlighting by beginning to seek meaning. We explore how you might create a system for doing this and how external scaffolding can help. Plus, we explain what notes might look like and how you can use them for an ongoing conversation with yourself — and perhaps others. Key Points Move past details and look for meaning. As we become familiar with something, we may start believing we understand it. Real thinking requires external scaffolding. It's not so much about saving information, but in making connections between the information. Your notes need not be long or numerous, but should spark (and continue) future conversations with yourself. Resources Mentioned How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking - for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers* by Sönke Ahrens Take Smart Notes Interview Notes Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required). Related Episodes How To Create a Personal Knowledge Management System, with Bonni Stachowiak (episode 129) Help People Learn Through Powerful Teaching, with Pooja Agarwal (episode 421) How to Use Cognitive Psychology to Enhance Learning (Teaching in Higher Ed) How to Enhance Your Credibility (audio course) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.