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Concept

Metalearning

Metalearning is the research you do before studying a skill: you map what it actually demands, how others learned it and where you will use it, so your practice targets the real thing instead of a course's default path.

Scott H. Young documented his own intensive self-taught projects in Ultralearning. He argues that two decisions shape a learning effort before any studying begins: what exactly you are learning, and where you practise it. Most people skip both. They pick the popular course, follow its order and hope the skill shows up at the end. Metalearning is the first decision done properly. You draw a map that answers three questions. Why do you want the skill? Which concepts, facts and procedures does it contain? Which resources and methods did people who mastered it actually use? The map then leads to the second decision, directness, which means practising in the situation where you will use the skill. Young suggests spending roughly a tenth of your planned time on this research. It feels like a delay. It is usually the cheapest hour of the project, because it saves weeks spent on material you will never use.

A real-life example

Maya, a marketing coordinator, wanted Python to analyse campaign results and nearly signed up for a 60-hour general programming course. First she spent one weekend talking to two analysts at her company and looking at their real scripts. She found she needed data cleaning, a handful of pandas functions and charts, and no algorithms. She skipped the course. She practised on her own campaign spreadsheets and shipped her first report in three weeks.

How to use it

  1. 1Before starting any course, block one session and write down three answers: why you want the skill, what it is made of, and how strong learners acquired it.
  2. 2Talk to two people who use the skill, or study a real exam, job posting or project. Cross out everything in the syllabus that never appears in actual use.
  3. 3Choose the practice format closest to the real situation, then revise your map after two weeks of doing it.