Chunk? Chunking? What does it have to do with studying and improving our skills?
Today I'm gonna talk about the concept of chunking, this is, putting together small bits of information somehow related between them, in order to increase our memorising capabilities.
When we are working with information that needs to be memorised, one of the best approaches we can adopt is splitting that information into small bites that we can assimilate in an easy way. Our brain has limited capabilities managing new information, given the limitations of our working memory (this is, temporary memory we use in a specific moment). Therefore, feding it with big blocks of information can lead to blockages and to poor performance. Here is when the concept of chunking becomes handy.
A chunk is a small bit of information that can be connected to things we already know. This makes sense to our brain, that can assimilate that information easily and establish strong neuronal ties. Hence, if a big block of information is divided into related chunks, our brain will be able to, one by one, incorporate those chunks into our long term memory. This process is what we know as chunking.
However, when we are creating chunks, we need to bear certain things in mind. (Please note, the following steps, just as all the info in this post, has been extracted from Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski's MOOC Learning how to learn, available free on Coursera).
First of all, we need to focus our attention on the chunk we are working on. This means fully concentrate on it, avoiding distractions that can make our mind drift.
Second, we need to make sure we understand the basic idea behind the chunk. In order to do this, we need to work ourselves with the idea, gaining expertise. For example, recalling it or explaining it to a third person is a good way to work with the chunk and master it.
Third, we need to gain context; this means to realise when and how we can use this chunk. Playing with it, trying to see how it works in different context, and practicing with it can be very helpful. This leads to getting insight of the big picture context.
In my case, I'm using chunking to improve my understanding of long units of content regarding my next State Exams to become an English teacher. I do it by extracting the basic idea underlying each paragraph or epigraph, and joining it with information from other units or from the same unit. This way, I enlarge the size of the chunk I'm memorising, making sure I understand it and can develop its basic elements during the exam.
I encourage you to try this technique. The more you use it, the easier it becomes!
See you all in my next entry!
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