Boost Your Brain: Strategies for Effective and Persistent Learning

The field of software testing is vast and complex. 
There is so much to learn, with new tools, techniques and approaches emerging literally every day. It's so challenging to keep up with the pace of our industry! On top of that, most of us lead very busy lives with extensive responsibilities towards work and family, thus the time we can afford to spend on learning is limited. 

And when we sit down and dedicate some of those precious hours to learning, we often find that it doesn't stick. The book we read last week is just a flimsy shadow in our memory today. We struggle to remember what was the author even talking about.

Are we broken? Are we *gasp* incapable of learning?

No! But the way we've been taught to learn is broken. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. It's time to actually learn to learn! More complex and durable learning comes from self-testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another. 

I will talk in detail about these strategies and techniques that will make your learning much more powerful and effective so that you make the best use of your learning time. I'll show you the tools I've found useful for myself and share examples of how I'm using them to help me gain new knowledge and skills every day.