Appreciation is a very simple but powerful technique for extracting the maximum amount of information from a simple fact.
Starting with a fact, ask the question “So what?” - i.e. What are the implications of that fact? Keep on asking that question until all possible inferences have been drawn. Let’s take, for instance, a military example shown below:
· Fact: It rained heavily last night
· So what?
· The ground will be wet
· So what?
· It will turn into mud quickly
· So what?
· If many troops and vehicles pass over the same ground, movement will be progressively slower and more difficult as the ground gets muddier and more difficult.
· So what?
Ask questions for learning. The important things to learn are usually answers to questions. Questions should lead to emphasis on the what, why, how, when, who and where of study content. Ask the questions as you read or study.
As you answer them, you will help to make sense of the material and remember it more easily because the process will make an impression on you. Those things that make impressions are more meaningful, and therefore more easily remembered. Don't be afraid to write the questions in the margins of textbooks, on lecture notes, or any available spaces. The more these notes are accessible to you, the more you will be able to remember and learn them quickly.
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