You've noble intentions
And yet you struggle
When you're on your own
With no one to impress
You're perhaps unsure
If your actions matter
If you matter
Is there a point?
Then it hits you
That this is precisely
The state of the human
In front of you
And all around you
We're all making things up
As we go along
Struggling nobility
Posturing as popes
Friday, December 18, 2020
The Struggling Nobility
Monday, November 16, 2020
Breaching the wall when stuck in a project
Often we find ourselves stuck in our projects. You put in the time and effort, yet there is no perceptible progress. You've hit a wall and you crouch beside it in defeat. Through experience, each of us comes up with our own tools to breach or circumvent the wall. Here is my getting-unstuck toolkit that seems to work reasonably well in projects ranging from lab research and writing articles/theses to designing and developing prototypes and products, largely in engineering contexts. Some of these tools are just repackaged clichés and others that I can pretend to be a pioneer in until someone corrects my illusion. If you have some tools that you do not see in my kit yet, I would be happy to hear from you.
1. Look at the wall from afar
Constantly looking at the same problem from the same vantage point tends to produce similar thought processes. You can break the thinking loop by changing your perspective which is essentially comprised of two aspects: proximity and angle of approach. By proximity I mean the distance between you and the problem. Are you looking at it at a very microscopic scale, considering only local features? Take a step back, see the bigger picture. Zoom out, observe your subject, and then zoom in again. The key is the time you spend afar. If you do not spend enough time observing from the farther distance, you might find yourself falling back into familiar thinking loops.
2. Change your angle of approach
The other way to change your perspective is to change the angle of approach. If you were previously going head on into the wall, try going at a slant. For example, if you were trying a hands-on experimental approach, may be it is time to look at the theory again, or try a computer simulation instead. If you were tackling a phenomenon in your lab prototype, may be it is worth looking for similar problems in some industrial products. If your approach is too technical, may be it is time to try a more layman approach, agnostic of many of the details.
3. Go around
With all due respect to walls, some of them just do not need breaching. Do you really need to solve that problem? Sometimes, going to the other side is a mere matter of going around the wall, trying a different route, or even locating the door. Ask yourself if you are being that fly banging against the same glass window when the adjacent one is open?
4. Take a break
This one is much too trite, yet seldom not right. You know you are utterly stuck, and it is not the time to push harder. Changing your physiology and your surroundings can change the way you think. Get out of the desk and walk, run, bike, play, shower (colds ones can really kick you out of your brains)—whatever activity suits your taste. During my PhD days, playing cricket a couple of hours a day was my preferred release. I remember Professor Arindam Ghosh, an accomplished condensed matter physicist, being one of the few faculty members at the Indian Institute of Science who would 'play and break the thinking loop.'
5. You are not alone
As much as the wall might seem personal, it is probably not. People have been there before you. So you google your problem and despite your best keyword game and your clicks on the forty-second search page, this devious specific wall has somehow avoided mention in any forum. Thankfully, there are people other than strangers on the internet. Ask someone you know, discuss with a colleague or friend with relevant or related experience. Even if they do not have an direct solution, they might point you towards an alley you did not know about. In the words of Rolf-Dieter Heuer, former director general of CERN, "You just have to look around. Then you will see all the others who have the same difficulties." Sometimes, the very act of trying to articulate your problem triggers a possible solution. As astrophysicist James Guillochon says, "If you are stuck on a problem, write a long email/message to someone who can help (as detailed as possible) but don’t send it. Very often you’ll figure it out in the process of writing that message." A similar method used in the software engineering world is called rubber duck debugging, and we all need our rubber ducks.
6. Ping-pong between walls
It is good to have two (or more) brick walls (e.g. research problems for a graduate student) to bang your head against, so that you can ping-pong between them, all the while making some progress without losing your sanity. The core idea of ping-ponging is to hit different walls which is possible only when there are more than one of them. From this perspective, it is probably not a good idea to have only one problem to hit your head against. Diversity in the nature of problems you handle can help in honing your problem solving skills even while it seems that you are continuously failing at various altars. Author Stephen Birmingham underlines this approach in his practice, "I always work on two things at a time. When one goes flat, I turn to the other."
7. Skip step three
If a task has 10 steps and you are stuck in step-3 for a long time, jump ahead to get started on any of steps 4-10. Many a time, they don't necessarily need the earlier step to be completed and you make some headway while you're still stuck on step-3. Sometimes doing steps 4-10 can facilitate getting unstuck from step-3. Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk seems to endorse this approach: "When I’m blocked, which is not a grave thing for me, I continue writing whatever takes my fancy. I may write from the first to the fifth chapter, then if I’m not enjoying it I skip to number fifteen and continue from there."
8. Small is big
It could be unfair on yourself to directly target a big hurdle when you haven't had experience tackling smaller ones. Mathematician George Polya said it better than I can, "If you can't solve a problem, then there is an easier problem you can solve: find it." Sometimes, there are smaller walls hidden inside the big one. The largest of walls is made up of bricks. Chip away at the smallest scale, one splinter at a time. This is the opposite of zooming out. You have zoomed in so much that you can see individual grains of sand that you are capable of tackling. "Do the good that’s in front of you, even if it feels very small," says American author Sharon Salzberg.
Sometimes it is not that the wall is insurmountable, but that you do not seem to find time enough to address the wall. English author Fay Weldon furnishes the required inspiration here, "I write in short paragraphs because when I began there were always children around, and it was the most I could do to get three lines out between crises." Professor Richard Felder provides further clarification on this idea, "Don't wait for that 'block of time' to get things done. Do the task in short bursts with whatever time slots are available."
9. When stuck in a sinkhole, write
I was once visiting the Dead Sea when the tour guide took us past some large sinkholes and brought up an intriguing story of an Israeli geologist Eli Raz who fell into one of these ditches. While he was stuck there for fourteen hours, waiting for the rescue team, he wrote a diary entry on his observations and experience of being inside a sinkhole. Lesson: When stuck in a sinkhole, write about your experience. Someone will later find solace, if not solutions, in reading it.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
5 Takeaways from a Symposium on Effective Teaching
As a postdoc with keen interest in teaching, I attended the Symposium for Effective Teaching and Learning in the Sciences, 1 September 2016, at University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). The speakers were experienced educators in various sciences -- physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, forensic science, computer science, among others. Added to my inexperience as a teacher, I was perhaps the only engineer in a room of scientists. However, with plans to offer some courses in coming terms, I brushed aside any concerns and went on to glean some handy tips from the seasoned teachers.
1. Apply your research skills to teaching
Keynote speaker, Dr. Simon Bates points out that collaboration and experimentation is something we do as researchers, not so much as educators. That needs to change if you want to become a better educator. You need not create all the course content on your own. There is plenty of good quality, open, free content created by others available on the internet. You can save a lot of hours, for yourself and for your students, by curating and separating the good content from the not-so-good.
Traditionally, teachers have despised gadgets in class. However, experimenting with use of new technology in teaching is worth a try because the next generation is most at ease with tech. E.g. It is possible to get instantaneous feedback from students at mid-course stage, not merely at end-of-course. In one of his courses, Dr. Bates garnered 8000 words of feedback in 3 minutes via smartphones. On similar lines, senior lecturer Kimberley Nugent demonstrated live polling for multiple-choice questions in class using Socrative. Other approaches to explore are - encouraging students to come up with test questions, gamification of learning, various other active learning techniques. But how do we accommodate all these new methods in the limited lecture hours? Therein comes your own judgment on how to ration time. In extenuating circumstances, it may be required to cut some content. As Walter Lewin would say, “What counts is not what you cover, but what you uncover.”
2. Don't settle merely at being a good lecturer
Dr. Rupinder Brar, a TVO Best Lecturer awardee, identifies that a good lecturer isn't necessarily a good educator. Making use of results from educational research and even conducting educational research take a lecturer closer to being a effective educator. There are specific grants available for carrying out such research. E.g. Teaching Innovation Fund at UOIT. Several good lecturing practices, live demonstrations for instance, are great for capturing students' attention. However, engagement happens to be only a necessary, not sufficient, condition for learning. Dr. Joseph MacMillan explains, “In-class demos work if done using predict-observe-discuss (POD) method. Else only entertainment, no learning.”
3. Get off the podium
Dr. Yuri Bolshan asserts it's important to make students solve problems in classroom, individually and in groups. While they're at it, get off the podium, move around in the class, interact with students, help them out. Talk to about 2-5 students per problem. Any more, and you're left with little time to lecture. Counter-intuitively, this method can actually reduce Professor Fear as the students notice you're only trying to help.
4. Try Slack
Dr. Jeremy Bradbury proposes that Slack, a team-messaging app popular in the industry, can be put to good use in classrooms. Compared to conventional learning management systems like Blackboard (Bb), Slack can offer orders of magnitude higher student engagement. E.g. 130 messages on Bb versus 10,000 messages on Slack over a completed course involving 70 students. It is faster than email, and students like it when personal (Facebook, Twitter) and professional (Slack) stuff are kept separate.
5. Create training videos
Master lecturer in mathematics, Ilona Kletskin advocates creating training videos of any procedural stuff such as worked out examples. This also resonates with the engineering ethos to automate the repetitive stuff. I should probably start with some training videos of how to use and configure lab equipment for the grad students in our research group.
Do you use any of these methods in your teaching? May be you have some tried and tested techniques of your own. Please do share. I'm all ears.
1. Apply your research skills to teaching
Keynote speaker, Dr. Simon Bates points out that collaboration and experimentation is something we do as researchers, not so much as educators. That needs to change if you want to become a better educator. You need not create all the course content on your own. There is plenty of good quality, open, free content created by others available on the internet. You can save a lot of hours, for yourself and for your students, by curating and separating the good content from the not-so-good.
Traditionally, teachers have despised gadgets in class. However, experimenting with use of new technology in teaching is worth a try because the next generation is most at ease with tech. E.g. It is possible to get instantaneous feedback from students at mid-course stage, not merely at end-of-course. In one of his courses, Dr. Bates garnered 8000 words of feedback in 3 minutes via smartphones. On similar lines, senior lecturer Kimberley Nugent demonstrated live polling for multiple-choice questions in class using Socrative. Other approaches to explore are - encouraging students to come up with test questions, gamification of learning, various other active learning techniques. But how do we accommodate all these new methods in the limited lecture hours? Therein comes your own judgment on how to ration time. In extenuating circumstances, it may be required to cut some content. As Walter Lewin would say, “What counts is not what you cover, but what you uncover.”
2. Don't settle merely at being a good lecturer
Dr. Rupinder Brar, a TVO Best Lecturer awardee, identifies that a good lecturer isn't necessarily a good educator. Making use of results from educational research and even conducting educational research take a lecturer closer to being a effective educator. There are specific grants available for carrying out such research. E.g. Teaching Innovation Fund at UOIT. Several good lecturing practices, live demonstrations for instance, are great for capturing students' attention. However, engagement happens to be only a necessary, not sufficient, condition for learning. Dr. Joseph MacMillan explains, “In-class demos work if done using predict-observe-discuss (POD) method. Else only entertainment, no learning.”
3. Get off the podium
Dr. Yuri Bolshan asserts it's important to make students solve problems in classroom, individually and in groups. While they're at it, get off the podium, move around in the class, interact with students, help them out. Talk to about 2-5 students per problem. Any more, and you're left with little time to lecture. Counter-intuitively, this method can actually reduce Professor Fear as the students notice you're only trying to help.
4. Try Slack
Dr. Jeremy Bradbury proposes that Slack, a team-messaging app popular in the industry, can be put to good use in classrooms. Compared to conventional learning management systems like Blackboard (Bb), Slack can offer orders of magnitude higher student engagement. E.g. 130 messages on Bb versus 10,000 messages on Slack over a completed course involving 70 students. It is faster than email, and students like it when personal (Facebook, Twitter) and professional (Slack) stuff are kept separate.
5. Create training videos
Master lecturer in mathematics, Ilona Kletskin advocates creating training videos of any procedural stuff such as worked out examples. This also resonates with the engineering ethos to automate the repetitive stuff. I should probably start with some training videos of how to use and configure lab equipment for the grad students in our research group.
Do you use any of these methods in your teaching? May be you have some tried and tested techniques of your own. Please do share. I'm all ears.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Why I constructed a timeline of physicists
Timeline of people who contributed to basic & applied physics: 500 Years of Physics @thephysicsgirl @cartoon_physics pic.twitter.com/v50ikKWiLO
— Lalit Patnaik (@lalitpatnaik) August 25, 2015
In a TED interview, notable inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk was asked about his secret behind being able to address diverse technological problems, from sustainable energy to space exploration. His answer can be paraphrased in two words, "Study physics." That's how important physics is. Even sciences like chemistry and biology, and most of engineering, are higher abstractions of underlying physics. It is the foundation on which all of science and technology, and hence all of society rests.
Isaac
Newton once said, "If I
have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." He wasn't just being humble, he was being frank.
In physics, as it is with all fields of human thought, the birth of
every great idea happened in an environment of ideas that preceded it.
At times, one scientist proposed a revolutionary idea that was
completely at odds with the prevailing thought. At other times, a
particular set of ideas facilitated a natural progression towards
another set of ideas irrespective of the individuals involved so long as
people were working on it.
To get a panoramic picture of
the evolution of ideas in physics, I constructed a visual timeline titled '500 Years of Physics' (see tweet above). I hope teachers,
students and enthusiasts of physics find it useful. Updated PNG and PDF versions of the file are now available and I intend to keep updating and enhancing the list.
The timeline consists of people who
made key contributions in fundamental and applied physics. Each one on the chronological list is associated with certain key ideas, theories,
and/or experiments. Not everyone on the list was a
physicist, but all of them made significant contributions to the collective enterprise called physics. Each horizontal bar starts at the birth year of the corresponding personality, and ends at his/her year of demise. The list
gives an idea of contemporaries and forerunners -- who came before or
after whom, who worked with whom.
Reading physics from a textbook creates an illusion of a level field; everything -- all the laws, the equations, the theories -- comes on a platter. All the struggle behind, the times elapsed and the environment within which the ideas sprang up are hidden from the students. Superimposing other historical timelines on top of this timeline puts those struggles in perspective and will hopefully help reveal some of the stories behind the science. If you love physics, take a printout of the timeline and pin it near your work desk!
Reading physics from a textbook creates an illusion of a level field; everything -- all the laws, the equations, the theories -- comes on a platter. All the struggle behind, the times elapsed and the environment within which the ideas sprang up are hidden from the students. Superimposing other historical timelines on top of this timeline puts those struggles in perspective and will hopefully help reveal some of the stories behind the science. If you love physics, take a printout of the timeline and pin it near your work desk!
Thursday, May 21, 2015
13 Online Shops for Buying Electronic Components in India
Image courtesy: www.techieinfocenter.com
Are you a newbie or student who wants to explore the world of electronics? Are you a hobbyist or maker who loves to tinker with electronics? Are you a practicing electronics engineer or a hands-on researcher? If your answer to any of the above questions is yes, you need to buy different types of electronics components and printed circuit boards for your projects. They may range from the most basic resistors and capacitors to highly specialized integrated circuits, sensors and development boards.
Unless you stay in one of the metro cities of India, you will find it hard to get many of these components. Even if you stay in a metro, some components are hard to find. But thanks to the internet, we have many online shops to buy electronic parts from. I've listed 13 options here. Although I've bought from some of them, I haven't bought from all of them. I've included websites that I know people get stuff from.
1. Free samples
Who does not like freebies? Some companies are generous enough to provide samples of their components either through their websites or if you politely request them stating your purpose and requirement. E.g. TI, Cypress, Allegro. There might be many more. If you're a student, many companies have designated personnel for university relations who can be approached.
The rest of the list is about online destinations where you BUY the components and boards.
[Pay in Indian Rupees]
2. Element14 www.element14.com
Formerly Farnell electronics, Element14 is one of the biggest online stores for electronic components. They charge pretty high particularly for small numbers. However, they are sometimes the only option for hard-to-find components and are highly reliable. You might need to have TIN number to buy from them. I was able to get around that problem when I bought from them a few years back.
3. Kits 'n' Spares www.kitsnspares.com
Kits 'n' Spares is a subsidiary of Element14 catering to non-industrial costumers. They sell a wide variety of Do-It-Yourself electronics projects and hobby kits.
4. Nex Robotics www.nex-robotics.com
Nex Robotix is a spin-off from IIT Bombay that intends to cater to the robotics and embedded systems community. However, many of their products are useful for any electronics enthusiast. I've bought some nice stepper motors and breakout boards from them.
5. Explore Labs www.explorelabs.com
This Jodhpur based startup calls itself "an opensource playground" and stocks a diverse range of DIY electronics kits. They are an authorized distributor for Sparkfun Electronics in India.
6. ProtoCentral www.protocentral.com
This Bangalore based company sells DIY electronics kits and is another authorized distributor for Sparkfun Electronics in India. They ship worldwide.
7. Tenet Technetronics www.tenettech.com
Tenet Technetronics is yet another Bangalore based online store for electronics hobbysists and engineers.
8. NSK Electronics www.nskelectronics.com
NSK is the third Bangalore based entry on the list. Their SP road shop is hugely popular with localites and also has an online store.
9. OnlineTPS www.onlinetps.com
OnlineTPS is a Bhopal based online provider of electronics components and boards.
10. Ventor Technologies www.ventor.co.in
Ventor Technologies is a Kolkata based online shop for electronics components and boards.
11. rhydoLABZ www.rhydolabz.com
This Kochi based online store is known as the Sparkfun of India and ships worldwide.
DangerousPrototypes visited and blogged about ProtoCentral, Tenet Technetronics, NSK Electronics, and rhydoLABZ during their India Global Geek Tour 2012.
[Pay in US Dollars]
If you can afford to pay in dollars for something that isn't available anywhere else, try the following two international biggies.
12. DigiKey www.digikey.com
13. Mouser www.mouser.com
I hope this was useful. Let me know of your personal experiences with them and also if you know of other reliable online stores. I expect the list to grow with time. Happy soldering!
_____________________________________________________________________________
Reader suggestions
14. Aliexpress www.aliexpress.com [Suggested by Syam Krishnan]
While Element14 requires TIN number, Aliexpress is better suited for personal orders. Go to the "Electronic components and supplies" category on their website.
15. Digibay www.digibay.in [Suggested by John F Xavier]
John found some affordable modules at their site.
16. Robokits www.robokits.co.in [Suggested by John F Xavier]
John bought servo and stepper motors from them.
17. DNA Technology www.dnatechindia.com [Suggested by Anonymous]
18. Hacktronics India www.hacktronics.co.in [Suggested by Abhijit Kshirsagar]
19. eNTesla India www.entesla.com [Suggested by Sudish Menon]
_____________________________________________________________________________
Discovered later
20. Project Point www.projectpoint.in
Friday, February 6, 2015
The PhD Experience
Yesterday I gave a talk titled "The PhD Experience: Lessons learnt in five and half years." I narrated my personal experiences, thoughts and the lessons I learnt while pursuing a PhD at the Department of Electronic Systems
Engineering, Indian Institute of Science.
The key question that I try to address is, "What are the processes and tasks that get the
best out of a researcher?" Considering the researcher as a system, I discuss the inputs (information and experiences), outputs
(hardware, software, knowledge) and processes of this system. The
presentation is targeted primarily at present and prospective graduate
students. However, anybody with an interest in learning and productivity might resonate with aspects of the talk.
The pdf file of my presentation is available here.
P.S. During the talk, I mentioned the importance of developing verb vocabulary.
The Thesis Whisperer has compiled a useful verb cheat sheet that is available here.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Learning How to Learn
This blog post is a course assignment for the Coursera MOOC titled "Learning How to Learn" taught by Prof Barbara Oakley and Prof Terrance Sejnowski, University of California, San Diego. Here I discuss my ideas and experiences with three of the learning techniques mentioned in the course: (1) Switching between focused and diffuse mode of thinking, (2) Memory: spaced repetition and associations, and (3) Interleaving.
1. Focused and diffuse mode of thinking
The pinball analogy described by Prof Barbara Oakley is a very elegant way of conveying how the focused and diffuse mode of thinking work.
Depiction of focused and diffuse mode of thinking in Prof Barbara Oakley's lecture.
[Source: http://projectfidgetyfingers.blogspot.in/2015/01/how-to-be-creative-switching-between.html]
The importance of playing ping-pong between these two modes in cementing the learning cannot be over-emphasized. Several accomplished people have vouched for it. Prof Arindam Ghosh at the Indian Institute of Science is a renowned scientist in the field of low-temperature nano-electronics. I happened to be team mates with him in the institute cricket team and once did an interview of him where he stressed the importance of playing sports. "Sport rejuvenates the mind. In research or, for that matter, any profession that involves a fair deal of thought, it is very easy to get stuck in a thinking loop. Sports helps break that loop so that you can start your thought process afresh, from a new perspective", he avers. You can read the full interview here.
I've come up with my own analogy to illustrate the importance of switching between the focused and diffuse modes. Picture a fly trying to escape out of a car banging against the glass window. The window is half open but the fly is pushing away at the closed part of the window duped by its transparency. Its trying really hard in its focused approach to get out of the car. But no amount of pushing and buzzing against the glass will solve the fly's problem. What it needs to do is to back away from the glass (akin to going into a relaxed diffuse mode) and come back at it a few inches from where it had approached earlier and voila! It's an open window. The problem is solved, the fly is free.
2. Memory: Spaced Repetition and Associations
I tend to browse and read about a diverse range of subjects. In the process of looking up new information all the time, I might not repeat what I already learnt and hence tend to forget many of the things that I learn. On the contrary, when it comes to identifying plants along with their common and scientific names and their key features, I found that I had a very good memory. The key difference that I noticed was that of spaced repetition. Every time I take a walk in the campus to and from my laboratory, I notice these plants and recall their names while observing them. This routine of recall and spaced repetition helped cement the details of these plants in my mind. I now intend to use the same technique in other aspects of my learning.
Another common problem that I had was to frequently forget where I parked my bicycle possibly because I'm absent minded, not paying attention while I'm parking. Lately, I started leveraging my good plant memory for solving this problem. Every time I park my bicycle, I notice the nearest tree. By building this association, the next time I'm looking for the bike I just have to recall the tree and I find my bike!
3. Interleaving
Prof Barbara Oakley stresses the importance of interleaving one's learning using various techniques and from various perspectives. This helps in gaining a better understanding and in better retention of the material. An interleaving technique that I often use and that has helped me in learning various subjects is what I call "Repeated Classification" of the material. I shall illustrate this technique in the following paragraphs.
Number based classification
After having studied a chapter or several chapters of a book on a subject XYZ, I try to cull out all the numbers mentioned in the text and put them together in a list called "XYZ in numbers." E.g. recently I attended a colloquium by Prof Arnab Rai Choudhuri titled "The mysterious magnetic personality of our sun." I distilled out the numbers he presented at various points of the talk as follows.
The sun in numbers:
Surface temperature of sun = 6000K
Temperature at sunspots = 3000-4500K
Temperature of corona discharge = 1,000,000K
Strength of the sun's poloidal magnetic field = 0.3T
Strength of the magnetic field at sunspots = 10T
Time taken by the sun to complete one rotation about its own axis = 27 days
Time period of the sunspot cycles = 11 years
Time period of the polar magnetic field reversals = 22 years
Time based classification: (when)
Another form of classification is based on the historical timeline of events pertaining to a field of study. Systematically listing down the years of occurrence of significant events provides a sense of how a particular field evolved and creates a storyline that makes it easier to grasp the complete picture. Call it the "Timeline of XYZ."
Spatial classification: (where)
Making a list of places and the associated events is another handy way of classifying. Marking the places on map is even better. This can provide insights on how geographically diverse or concentrated the development of a particular field has been. Call it the "XYZ map."
People based classification: (who)
List down the names of all the people associated with the field of study, preferably along with their significant contributions and quotes. Here's a list of the people who appeared in the 'Learning How to Learn' course lectures and interview videos along with a memorable quote or key take-way from each of them:
Dr Barbara Oakley: "Do not just FOLLOW your passions. Instead, BROADEN your passions."
The sun in numbers:
Surface temperature of sun = 6000K
Temperature at sunspots = 3000-4500K
Temperature of corona discharge = 1,000,000K
Strength of the sun's poloidal magnetic field = 0.3T
Strength of the magnetic field at sunspots = 10T
Time taken by the sun to complete one rotation about its own axis = 27 days
Time period of the sunspot cycles = 11 years
Time period of the polar magnetic field reversals = 22 years
Time based classification: (when)
Another form of classification is based on the historical timeline of events pertaining to a field of study. Systematically listing down the years of occurrence of significant events provides a sense of how a particular field evolved and creates a storyline that makes it easier to grasp the complete picture. Call it the "Timeline of XYZ."
Spatial classification: (where)
Making a list of places and the associated events is another handy way of classifying. Marking the places on map is even better. This can provide insights on how geographically diverse or concentrated the development of a particular field has been. Call it the "XYZ map."
People based classification: (who)
List down the names of all the people associated with the field of study, preferably along with their significant contributions and quotes. Here's a list of the people who appeared in the 'Learning How to Learn' course lectures and interview videos along with a memorable quote or key take-way from each of them:
Dr Barbara Oakley: "Do not just FOLLOW your passions. Instead, BROADEN your passions."
Dr Terrance Sejnowski: "Unfortunately, there is no instruction manual for the brain."
Dr Robert Bilder: "Disagreeability can spark creativity."
Daphne Gray-Grant: "Do not edit while writing!"
Benny Lewis: "Why children learn language easily is because they are not afraid of making mistakes."
Dr Norman Fortenberry: "Multi-mode input is critical for learning."
Scott Young: "Learn a language by immersing yourself in it."
Amy Alkon: "Fast reading tip: approach a book like a buffet; do not eat everything!"
Dr Robert Gamache: "Study every subject everyday, even if it is for only 10 min"
Dr Keith Devlin: "Switching from one task to another is when one is most likely to fall into the procrastination trap."
Dr Richard Felder: "Don't wait for that 'block of time' to get things done. Do the task in short bursts with whatever time slots are available."
Dr Rebecca Brent: "Give your subconscious an assignment."
John G Maguire: "The secret to good writing is objects, not ideas."
Kalid Azad: "The ADEPT method of learning: Analogy, Diagram, Example, Plain English, Technical Description."
While we looked at questions like how many, how much, when, where and who, several other ways of classification are possible using 'what' based questions. E.g. classifications based on techniques, methods, objectives, products, types, resources etc. There are no limitations to how many different ways you can classify the material and play with it providing various insightful perspectives. It is down to your own imagination. Happy learning!
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