This Simple Method Helps You Learn More from Podcasts (and Audiobooks!)

There's a lot of great podcasts out there. But what should we do if we want to learn from them? Here's a simple method.

00:00 Some drawbacks of using podcasts to learn
01:49 Step 1 - Activate prior knowledge
02:42 Step 2 - Free recall and fill in the gaps
05:49 Step 3 - Consolidate and extend

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Screenshots of Twilight of the Aesir and Hardcore History come from dancarlin.com.

Jutland and Saxony screenshots come from Wikipedia.

I use Miro for the visualization software clip.

REFERENCES

My comments about what free recall self-tests can do for you are based on the large literature related to the testing effect. At a high-level, frequent tests enhance learning in a variety of ways.

For a thorough discussion of the possible benefits (including anticipatory/motivational aspects and organizational aspects, like I mention in the video), check out:

Roediger III, H. L., Putnam, A. L., & Smith, M. A. (2011). Ten Benefits of Testing and Their Applications to Educational Practice. In Psychology of Learning and Motivation (Vol. 55, pp. 1–36). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-387...

Here is a recent meta-analysis exploring different potential mechanisms and applications of the testing effect(s):

Yang, C., Luo, L., Vadillo, M. A., Yu, R., & Shanks, D. R. (2021). Testing (quizzing) boosts classroom learning: A systematic and meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 147(4), 399–435. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000309