Validation Resources Blog

Overlearning

Today we are going to examine the concept of Overlearning. Why focus on this in an engineering environment you ask? Change occurs in our field at such a fast past due to the introduction of new regulations, new processes, new machinery, new management, new scientific breakthroughs and technologies etc… it can be difficult at times to ensure that we are learning the right things, at the right time, and in the right way. There is a benefit in taking stock of ourselves and examining how we interact with new information, and uncovering the most effective way of learning it.

So when we’re learning a new idea, for example a new word, or a new concept, or a new problem solving approach, we sometimes tend to practice it over and over again during the same session. In a limited way, this approach is useful and necessary, but to continue “practicing” what you have mastered in the session is called overlearning.

However, Overlearning does have its value. It can produce automatic responses that can be important when you're executing a complicated sequence of actions, such as operating a new machine, a piloting an F16.

This automatic response has been termed “automaticity”. If you fail on tests or at public speaking, overlearning can be especially valuable. Even expert public speakers have been known to practice at least 70 hours, for a typical 20-minute TED Talk.

Automaticity can be helpful in times of nervousness, but you have to be wary of repetitive overlearning during a single session. Research has shown it can be a waste of valuable learning time.

The reality is, once you've gotten the basic idea, continuing to hammer away at it, during the same session, doesn't strengthen the kinds of long term memory connections you want to have strengthened. Worse still, focusing on one technique is a little like learning carpentry by only practicing with a hammer. After a while you think you can fix anything by just bashing at it!

Using a subsequent study session to repeat what you're trying to learn is perfectly fine and often valuable. However, you want to balance your studies by deliberately focusing on what you find more difficult. Focusing on the more difficult material is called deliberate practice. It's often what makes the difference between a good engineer and a great engineer.

Author: James Hanrahan – Managing & IT Consultant, Validation Resources Ltd.