I have noticed this for awhile, but I have a really wierd way of learning C++... I cant read a tutorial from start to finish, I have to skip around and learn something more advanced to learn something simpler. In fact, when I was just learning, it took me forever to learn something as simple as arrays! I just couldnt understand it... And yet I could easily understand functions and pointers/references and something finally clicked that made me understand... In fact I cant stay teaching myself C++ for longer than a few weeks, in which I learn a TON... But then I lose interest, do other things for about 3 months, and finally I understand something I was previously trying to learn, and I jump back to C++ and learn a lot more... This is probably why people get confused looking at my source codes I ask for help on... I actually just finally understood pointers/references after reading a C++ book while reading about inline functions and somehow I just randomly understood... Anyone else have this problem??

Quote: Original post by MAGIgullorks
I have noticed this for awhile, but I have a really wierd way of learning C++... I cant read a tutorial from start to finish, I have to skip around and learn something more advanced to learn something simpler. In fact, when I was just learning, it took me forever to learn something as simple as arrays! I just couldnt understand it... And yet I could easily understand functions and pointers/references and something finally clicked that made me understand... In fact I cant stay teaching myself C++ for longer than a few weeks, in which I learn a TON... But then I lose interest, do other things for about 3 months, and finally I understand something I was previously trying to learn, and I jump back to C++ and learn a lot more... This is probably why people get confused looking at my source codes I ask for help on... I actually just finally understood pointers/references after reading a C++ book while reading about inline functions and somehow I just randomly understood... Anyone else have this problem??

I'm not so sure you are experiencing a problem so much as you are discovering that the learning process is not as straight forward as reading a tutorial or sitting in on a lecture.

Teaching != Learning.

Teaching is the external activity (or material) that covers a topic in enough detail that it can be learned.

Learning is an entirely internal activity that is done by different people at different speeds and to different levels of understanding. To truly grok a subject you've really got to let it soak in and fully marinate in context of other already understood topics.

As you learn more about related topics you piece similar concepts into your mental model of understanding quicker. Dependency on different concepts acts as a major bottleneck in understanding pretty much anything.

You learn every day until you die, sometimes you need to encounter a seemingly unrelated understanding possibly in another field before something previously "taught" to you will actually be understood properly. I call this the House model, otherwise known as the epiphany. ;)

I wouldn't call it the "House" model (that's a scripted tv show after all) but M2tM makes a good general point. The NYT just published an interesting article on what scientists are learning about learning: Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits.

Quote:
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The findings can help anyone, from a fourth grader doing long division to a retiree taking on a new language. But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on.

For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention. So does studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting, rather than focusing intensely on a single thing.
...
Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time. Musicians have known this for years, and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work. Many athletes, too, routinely mix their workouts with strength, speed and skill drills.
...
These findings extend well beyond math, even to aesthetic intuitive learning. In an experiment published last month in the journal Psychology and Aging, researchers found that college students and adults of retirement age were better able to distinguish the painting styles of 12 unfamiliar artists after viewing mixed collections (assortments, including works from all 12) than after viewing a dozen works from one artist, all together, then moving on to the next painter.
...
When the neural suitcase is packed carefully and gradually, it holds its contents for far, far longer. An hour of study tonight, an hour on the weekend, another session a week from now: such so-called spacing improves later recall, without requiring students to put in more overall study effort or pay more attention, dozens of studies have found.

No one knows for sure why. It may be that the brain, when it revisits material at a later time, has to relearn some of what it has absorbed before adding new stuff — and that that process is itself self-reinforcing.

“The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning,” said Dr. Kornell. “When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it.”

That’s one reason cognitive scientists see testing itself — or practice tests and quizzes — as a powerful tool of learning, rather than merely assessment. The process of retrieving an idea is not like pulling a book from a shelf; it seems to fundamentally alter the way the information is subsequently stored, making it far more accessible in the future.
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Quote: Original post by LessBread
I wouldn't call it the "House" model (that's a scripted tv show after all) but M2tM makes a good general point. The NYT just published an interesting article on what scientists are learning about learning: Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits.

Yeah, just kind of kidding around a bit at the end of the post. Thanks for the props.

Interesting article too!

Quote: Original post by MAGIgullorks
Anyone else have this problem??

Yes, but I prefer to look at it like a blessing. I read up on a subject for a day, and then move on to something different. A lot of times, I'll be reading intently about something completely unrelated to computer science or physics, and then BAM!! a realization about science will come to me out of nowhere.

There's only one explanation: The conscious mind is great, but the subconscious mind is greater. I find that if I stop force feeding my conscious mind about a particular subject, then my subconscious mind can finally take over and do the thinking for me about that particular subject. It also seems that the subconscious mind is a far better multitasker than the conscious mind, because this happens with all types of subjects for me, at apparently random times, in apparently random order.

You're blessed whenever your subconscious mind presents a gift like this, IMHO.

As for the article that LessBread posted, that's quite interesting. I have four regular study spots (two outdoors) that I cycle between, and it does indeed seem to help keep things from becoming boring / easy to forget. I have no explanation for this, other than it might be a subconscious mind thing as well...?

[Edited by - taby on September 7, 2010 11:57:33 PM]