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*1407034086*gihyo's version of "How Engineers Learn" is now available.
The special project "How Engineers Learn" published in Gijutsu Hyoron's WEB+DB PRESS Vol. 80 can now be read free of charge on the Web.
I feel it is very important for me to continue the cycle of closely observing how I learn, finding problems that need to be improved, and then improving them. For this reason, I will continue to write about this type of topic on my blog, etc., but when I asked if I could do something about the fact that readers would have difficulty obtaining the magazine article if I referred to it from there, they graciously agreed to publish it on the Web. Thank you, Gijutsu hyoronsha.
You can read it on Gihyo.jp, the website of Gijutsu Hyoronsha: <a href='http://gihyo.jp/lifestyle/feature/01/engineer-studying'>How Engineers Learn - Gain Knowledge Efficiently and Achieve Results: Special Feature gihyo.jp ... Gijutsu-Hyoron-Sha</a>.
Author's blog post at time of publication: <a href='http://d.hatena.ne.jp/nishiohirokazu/20140427/1398524475'>"How Engineers Learn". </a>
Tweet by the author at the time of the web version's release:.
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The first chapter of WEB+DB Press' special project "How Engineers Learn" is now available on the web!
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Chapter 2, "How to Take the First Steps" of WEB+DB Press' special project "How to Learn to be an Engineer" is now available to read on the web!
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Chapter 3 of "How Engineers Learn" is now available. In Chapter 1, we overviewed the three axes and three phases to focus on, and in Chapter 2, we focused on how to take in information into oneself. In Chapter 3, the theme is how to chew the information you have taken in.
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No matter how nutritious a dish is, it will not become flesh and blood if you just stuff it in your mouth. You must put just the right amount in your mouth, chew it well, swallow it, and take time to digest it to absorb it.
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Chapter 4 of "How Engineers Learn" is now available. In Chapter 2, we discussed how to take in information, and in Chapter 3, we discussed how to chew the information we took in. However, just taking in information does not produce value. In Chapter 4, we will consider how to output the information and link it to results.
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There is no way that a magazine feature would be published on the Web and that would be the end of it (teaser).
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*1407035579* Added concrete examples to "Learning from Abstractions".
In <a href='http://gihyo.jp/lifestyle/feature/01/engineer-studying/0003'>Chapter 3</a> of the gihyo version of "How Engineers Learn," we learned about the need for abstraction and how to do it. One of them, "Learning from Abstraction," seems to be difficult to understand due to a lack of examples, so I will try to explain it more clearly by adding concrete examples here.
Learning from abstractions" was a way to read "texts intended to help the reader abstract," and thereby promote abstraction within oneself. So what exactly are "texts intended to help the reader abstract"?
For example, statements such as "X has three elements A, B, and C" fall under this category. Specifically, "There are broad vision axis, deep understanding axis, and application axis in learning methods," etc. There are various elements of specific learning methods, various methods, and each individual case is different. By busting up and showing some of these differences, we help the reader to abstract them.
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People who read such a text are divided into two groups by their reactions. For readers on one side, there will be a reciprocal reaction between this text and the reader's experience.
For example:
- "From my experience, X can indeed be classified into those three categories. I had not been able to verbalize it until now. Well, I'll call it by those names from now on."
- "In all my experience, I was aware of A and B, but not of C. It was a blind spot. I see. From now on, I'll be careful not to overlook C."
- "In my experience, C doesn't matter much."
- "From my own experience, I think it's important to remember that there is this one other thing D that is important."
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In both cases, changes are taking place in the direction of helping people organize their experiences, find structure, and create models through abstraction. A concrete example: a book review blog written by a reader, <a href='http://takuan-osho.hatenablog.com/entry/2014/05/08/book-review-about-webdbpress-vol-80'>WEB+DB PRESS vol. 80's feature "How Engineers Learn," I was curious to read the review, so I bought the corresponding book and read it - Programmer's March Chapter 2</a>," he wrote, "I was somewhat aware that I was neglecting the parts that fall under 2 and 3, but given a clear name and positioning such as the 'abstraction' phase, I was able to see that "the Now that I was given a clear name and positioning for the "Abstraction" phase, it became easier to determine "which phase I am currently learning and which axis of knowledge I am currently lacking? It became easier for me to determine which phase I am currently learning and which axis of knowledge I am currently lacking.
On the other hand, there are readers who do not come up with "their own experiences" when they read these abstract texts.
For example:
- "What makes you say that?"
- "What an abstract and confusing story!"
- "I don't know, but it sounds important, so I'll write it down in my notebook."
The author makes abstractions from his own experience, creates an abstract model, and then writes about it in his text. However, if there is no experience in the reader that fits that model, the reader will not get a "feeling of fit". In this situation, even if they write it down in a notebook, they will soon forget it and will not be able to make good use of it. This is not the reader's fault. It is due to the fact that there is a big mismatch between the author's and the reader's experience.
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The author tries to get as many readers to understand as possible, and to "get down to it" with lots of concrete examples. However, it is impossible to know in advance the experiences that all readers have and give examples that all will understand. Mismatches cannot be eliminated.
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After all, it is "luck" whether one can read books and other materials and learn the abstract models described therein.
Sometimes, "I don't know what I wrote down, but I wrote it down," is fortunately connected to other knowledge and put to good use, and sometimes, unluckily, it is forgotten without being recalled.
Luck cannot be improved by hard work. That is why it is important not only to spend time "learning from abstractions" but also to try other methods such as "making and learning.
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Hatena Diary 2014-08-03
This page is auto-translated from /nishio/Hatena2014-08-03 using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.