TITLE: Learning by Copying the Textbook AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: September 05, 2018 3:58 PM DESC: ----- BODY: Or: How to Learn Physics, Professional Golfer Edition Bryson DeChambeau is a professional golfer, in the news recently for consecutive wins in the FedExCup playoff series. But he can also claim an unusual distinction as a student of physics:
In high school, he rewrote his physics textbook.

DeChambeau borrowed the textbook from the library and wrote down everything from the 180-page book into a three-ring binder. He explains: "My parents could have bought one for me, but they had done so much for me in golf that I didn't want to bother them in asking for a $200 book. ... By writing it down myself I was able to understand things on a whole comprehensive level.
I imagine that copying texts word-for-word was a more common learning strategy back when books were harder to come by, and perhaps it will become more common again as textbook prices rise and rise. There is certainly something to be said for it. Writing by hand takes time, and all the while our brains can absorb terms, make connections among concepts, and process the material into long-term memory. Zed Shaw argues for this as a great way to learn computer programming, implementing it as a pedagogical strategy in his "Learn <x> the Hard Way" series of books. (See Learn Python the Hard Way as an example.) I don't think I've ever copied a textbook word-for-word, and I never copied computer programs from "Byte" magazine, but I do have similar experiences in note taking. I took elaborate notes all through high school, college, and grad school. In grad school, I usually rewrote all of my class notes -- by hand; no home PC -- as I reviewed them in the day or two after class. My clean, rewritten notes had other benefits, too. In a graduate graph algorithms course, they drew the attention of a classmate who became one of my best friends and were part of what attracted the attention of the course's professor, who asked me to consider joining his research group. (I was tempted... Graph algorithms was one of my favorite courses and research areas!) I'm not sure many students these days benefit from this low-tech strategy. Most students who take detailed notes in my course seem to type rather than write which, if what I've read is correct, has fewer cognitive advantages. But at least those students are engaging with the material consciously. So few students seem to take detailed notes at all these days, and that's a shame. Without notes, it is harder to review ideas, to remember what they found challenging or puzzling in the moment, and to rehearse what they encounter in class into their long-term memories. Then again, maybe I'm just having a "kids these days" moment. Anyway, I applaud DeChambeau for saving his parents a few dollars and for the achievement of copying an entire physics text. He even realized, perhaps after the fact, that it was an excellent learning strategy. (The above passage is from The 11 Most Unusual Things About Bryson DeChambeau. He sounds like an interesting guy.) -----