Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Autodidactic learning and strategies for it

aquinas, I think your method is a lot like my DD's-- she drives the rest of us NUTS while that is in-progress-- because she's talking her way to understanding, if that makes any sense at all...

I'd love to know more about your metacognition as you do this:


That is the part of things that I was not very good at until I was into my 30's-- realizing the relationship of subtopics to one another, and knowing that I was building a reasonably balanced and gap-free syllabus for myself, basically.

I'm still not entire sure how I do that step, other than.... erm....

overkill in terms of information-consumption. I know that I've reached that point where every additional random resource that I pick up basically tells me the stuff that I already know inside and out, and tells me nothing that I don't already know for some base number of pages or period of unit time.

Ahh! Aquinas' edits have answered my question, I think--

That's what I have eventually settled upon, too-- I also look at intro course textbooks that seem well-regarded by the experts in the field, and use the scope and sequence generated by the detailed table of contents.

I've always wondered if there isn't another way of doing that, though.


Does anyone else have a "percolation" period?

My DD and I both seem to have this. For both of us, hitting a wall often means-- take a break and come back to this in some period of time. Usually the difficulty resolves itself given enough subconscious time to chew on whatever it is.

When I've tried to explain that to other people, I get some really funny looks, though, so I've wondered if it isn't a mostly HG+ phenomenon. DD is really extreme that way. My dad was rather like that, too, as I recall. He designed, engineered, and built a suspension aqueduct in the middle of nowhere (seriously-- 40 minutes from even county paved roads) when I was about 8yo. Entirely self-taught, and I often remember him ranting about some technical problem, and going to pound away at something ELSE, only to come back beaming after a day or two, or jump up from his chair and announce that he knew what to do about it.

I think of percolation as a means for false and dead-end assumptions to fade from the thought web. Actually, I see two aspects of it, the other is when you have insufficient information and that is addressed by peripheral research.

Btw, HK, I'd swap in "perspective" for "maturity" in your earlier post, because maturity carries so much baggage and is often thrown as a barrier for the progress of gifted learners.

i'm not sure this applies to anyone beyond my peculiar self, but i'm 100% self-taught in my field. everything i've ever learned for work has been on an as-required basis, and when clients are (frequently) perplexed by how i have built a business out of literally nothing, all i've got is this:

how hard can it be?

in my twenties, i did have a hard time picking a field - since everything from medicine to law to science to art was fascinating, but once i got too old to flail around anymore, i just settled into something that stuck. if i had to switch right now and take up something new, i'd be nothing but excited - and if it weren't for the mortgage, i probably would do just that!

i know it's a weird way to live, but i thank my lucky stars every day for this approach, since it's really given me the confidence to push myself to the point of failure: i guess because i feel like i don't have to know everything... yet.

and ha - without it this approach, i'd never have been able to cope with my kid (or even had her, for that matter!)

Good point. I mean it in the authentic sense of the definition, though-- once one reaches a point of sufficient metacognitive skill that the learner is driving the bus, and not the bus driving itself. DD is only starting to mark this transition to deliberate autodidactism.

Could someone please teach me what "autodidactic learning" is?

HK, to answer your question more fully beyond my edits, I think one key thing I do that isn't readily evident in course outlines is I draw feedback arrows from each input topic into other topics. Before I get started, I like to know loosely what causes what to have a "full equilibrium" model of the topic. Once I've wrapped my mind around each section, I'll usually do little thought experiments to stress test my initial hypotheses of how the sub-topics interact.

One diagrammatic tool I've found helpful instead of a simple flow chart is a series of concentric circles, kind of like valence shells, with topic labels next to points on the circles. It makes linking subjects easier and lets me think more generally about how topics interact. I'll usually colour code by concentric circle or by type of arrow.

Re: percolation, I definitely have a habit of tossing loose ends into my subconscious when I hit an impasse. Sometimes an overnight break does the trick, but I have occasionally needed months or years to overcome a hurdle. I recall a particularly vivid dream about grade 11 physics where the solution to a problem I'd been pounding away at appeared in big bubble font. I play Rock Band, the piano, or exercise heavily before exams or when learning something new, as those activities send my mind into the equivalent of neutral.

Like most here, I am sure, I tend to try to learn principles rather than facts so I strive for a solid understanding of the basics with the books intended for the absolute beginner and then the best way for me to put it is that I 'spiral up' from there.

I also tend to use several sources so that I can 'triangulate' onto a concept that I am not getting straight away or if I think that I have it to confirm that understanding.

I am almost deaf so I am NOT an auditory learner; books, the web for 'expert' sources plus forums and hands-on exercises are best for me. Some people hate when the answer keys are wrong - I take perverse delight in rechecking my assumptions, steps and calculations to prove that they are wrong. I find that it affirms my understanding.

Pictures are also great for me - I tend to draw things out too - I find diagrams invaluable (usually). The admonition 'should I draw you a picture?' has always struck me as odd - I find 'pictures' tremendously informative.

I've never succeeded at learning knitting from a person (though never tried as an adult). Also learned very easily from 1-2 short videos and reading.

I did discover much later that I had learned "European" style (picking rather than throwing), this made instructions for advanced cabling a little puzzling to me - tying in with HKs point that "You don't know what you don't know"... Which is something I have said to my husband more than once in the last year about various historical situations in my life - "sigh... I didn't know what I didn't know..."

Thi had usually applied more to social/life issues than academic or work issues though...

Aside:

I'm impressed at everyone's patience at handiwork. Despite my best efforts, I am a hopeless case. I've been known to sew things to the garment I'm wearing and to repeatedly lose rows of knitting.

End aside.

Handiwork is an interesting alternate for me as I've got to dive in blind and mess up before I'm ready to read about it or solicit any instruction. I have a strong need to get solid in at least one completely new craft each year (thus scanner in my name, see Barbara Sher's books for more details on this affliction.)