Self Study

A traditional classroom setting usually worked pretty well for me. Sit in class, half listening, looking at the board when something was happening, do homework, repeat. Self study, obviously, is different. I'll try to explain some of the things I've come across in my self study habits.

Now, for the most part, self study doesn't actually mean "learning by yourself." Oftentimes it is by the accompaniment of a book or online course. It just so happens that you have no fellow students to talk to, and none or limited access to a teacher for questions.

I rarely ever asked questions in class, and talking to peers was the last thing on my list to do. Why, then, is self study so much harder?

My answer: textbooks aren't made to be used on their own.

How many times have you heard your teacher say "They text book mentions it, but doesn't explain it well." Why do we use textbooks if they are no good at explaining? Ultimately, I think most of us only cracked them open for a cursory review of formulas or quick notes, and then to do the assignments at the end of each chapter. Most of the learning was done in class.

There are 3 different types of learning: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Personally, I'm mostly visual and auditory, though kinesthetic exercise always help solidify things. I found a classroom setting would normally satisfy all styles - as the teacher spoke, using intuitive English to present the argument of the topic, images were drawn on the board to illustrate it, and discovery-aimed homework assignments functioned to deliver the message by allowing the quiet kinesthetic part of my mind to run around a bit.

There is a disconnect in most self study materials when presenting all types of learning. The person giving the podcast is often more accustomed to doing something in person, and therefore doesn't know how to properly explain the concept to illustrate in the listener's head. Oftentimes, I will understand something when the audiocast lecturer just explains what he's drawing so that I can draw it in my head. It's when he says "Let me draw this picture *chalk sounds* this part is this... etc" that I get lost. Perfectly reasonable, on my part. I remedy this by going in search of online lecture notes and pictures. These help some, but they are not precisely aligned with what he is saying, and it is hard to match up "This is the part of the Poisson distribution formula that represents -" when nobody's pointing to it.

Additionally, I'll tune out the speaker when he's going on and on about something that seems to me to be irrelevant. In a classroom setting, this is alright because the picture is still there up on the board for me to understand on my own time. It is not solely dependent on my listening at all times to speech that goes slower than my brain can think.

I'd recommend audiocasts if you don't know where to start. Videocasts are better, arguably best, but not always available. After I listened to a couple of lectures, I started getting lost. I found overview notes for my topic - now, I google each section, get the wikipedia article or lecture notes for it, find some examples, and move on. Sometimes this is easier than others. However, it seems to cover all my learning styles - I'm given directed verbal information about an image through the lecture notes, but also a more elaborate explanation through the audiocast, and a handy summary through my overview notes. The only thing I'm missing are the problems supplied by a text book, but I should also get that sort of thing with the practice tests I plan on taking soon.

You can see how hard and time consuming it is to self study. Imagine what a teacher has to do, gathering these materials and planning out verbal and image guides to your learning! There will never be a substitute for a class that you feel a desire or obligation to pay attention to, but never fear - with MIT OpenCourseWare, with Berkeley's online course audiocasts, with Wikipedia and online lecture notes, you can mix and match your own course. It may look like a plaid shirt with striped pants and mismatched socks, but, hey, at least you're clothed, and there's no underwear on your head.