I want to put forth a concept of “topic literacy.”
Topic literacy roughly means that you have both the concepts and the individual facts memorized for a certain subject at a certain skill level. That subject can be small or large. The threshold is that you don’t have to refer to a reference text to accurately answer within-subject questions at the skill level specified.
This matters, because when studying a topic, you always have to decide whether you’ve learned it well enough to progress to new subject matter. This offers a clean “yes/no” answer to that essential question at what I think is a good tradeoff between difficulty and adequacy.
I’m currently taking an o-chem class, and we’re studying IR spectra. For this, it’s necessary to be able to interpret spectral diagrams in terms of shape, intensity, and wavenumber; to predict signals that a given molecule will produce; and to explain the underlying mechanisms that produce these signals for a given molecule.
Most students will simply be answering the required homework problems, with heavy reference to notes and the textbook. In particular, they’ll be referring to a key chart that lists the signals for 16 crucial bond types, to 6 subtypes of conjugated vs. unconjugated bonds, and referring back for reminders on the equations and mechanisms underpinning these patterns.
Memorizing that information only took me about an extra half hour, and dramatically increased my confidence in answering questions. It made it tractable for me to rapidly go through and answer every single study question in the chapter. This was the key step to transitioning from “topic familiar” to “topic literate.”
If I had to bin levels of understanding of an academic subject, I might do it like this:
“Topic ignorant.” You’ve never before encountered a formal treatment of the topic.
“Topic familiar.” You understand the concepts well enough to use them, but require review of facts and concepts in most cases.
“Topic literate.” You have memorized concepts and facts enough to be able to answer most questions that will be posed to you (at the skill level in question) quickly and confidently, without reference to the textbook.
I want to put forth a concept of “topic literacy.”
Topic literacy roughly means that you have both the concepts and the individual facts memorized for a certain subject at a certain skill level. That subject can be small or large. The threshold is that you don’t have to refer to a reference text to accurately answer within-subject questions at the skill level specified.
This matters, because when studying a topic, you always have to decide whether you’ve learned it well enough to progress to new subject matter. This offers a clean “yes/no” answer to that essential question at what I think is a good tradeoff between difficulty and adequacy.
I’m currently taking an o-chem class, and we’re studying IR spectra. For this, it’s necessary to be able to interpret spectral diagrams in terms of shape, intensity, and wavenumber; to predict signals that a given molecule will produce; and to explain the underlying mechanisms that produce these signals for a given molecule.
Most students will simply be answering the required homework problems, with heavy reference to notes and the textbook. In particular, they’ll be referring to a key chart that lists the signals for 16 crucial bond types, to 6 subtypes of conjugated vs. unconjugated bonds, and referring back for reminders on the equations and mechanisms underpinning these patterns.
Memorizing that information only took me about an extra half hour, and dramatically increased my confidence in answering questions. It made it tractable for me to rapidly go through and answer every single study question in the chapter. This was the key step to transitioning from “topic familiar” to “topic literate.”
If I had to bin levels of understanding of an academic subject, I might do it like this:
“Topic ignorant.” You’ve never before encountered a formal treatment of the topic.
“Topic familiar.” You understand the concepts well enough to use them, but require review of facts and concepts in most cases.
“Topic literate.” You have memorized concepts and facts enough to be able to answer most questions that will be posed to you (at the skill level in question) quickly and confidently, without reference to the textbook.
Go for “topic literate” before moving on.