The Learn-Apply Cycle

Back in high school, the subject that I loved the 2nd most was Physics (you know what the first was 😉). The main reason I liked the subject of Physics was getting to solve “numericals” or problems that required application of concepts and formulas.

The other reason is definitely our Physics teacher, Mr. Suresh G. Kurup, an amazing personality. He taught the subject so passionately and made stuff just click in your brain.

Today Itself

Whenever Suresh Sir (that’s what we call him) taught us a new concept in class, he asked us to solve a few problems related to that concept today itself, or to use a particular formula to solve a few problems. But the main point here is: “today itself”, when the topic is still fresh in mind.

And man it worked! Since then, I have been using this trick everywhere. Learning a new tool or Framework? Apply the learnings that day itself. In fact, this was the reason Frappe Framework Certification trainings now have day-wise assignment handouts, so whatever the students learn on a given live training session, they can apply those concepts on that day itself and not wait for a big single final assignment. I am very confident this made a difference.

The Learn-Apply Cycle

I call the above the learn-apply cycle. I googled “Learn-Apply Cycle” and did not find any particular theory by this name (you will most probably find some related research to this concept), so let me state it as my law for now:

The shorter the Learn-Apply Cycle, the faster and better you grasp the concept.

And in my experience, it also retains those concepts longer in your mind.

In other words, if you learn something and don’t apply it anywhere, you are probably not grasping it that well.

Don’t take my word, just try it out!