Chunk Quotes

“One of the first steps toward gaining expertise in math and science is to create conceptual chunks—mental leaps that unite separate bits of information through meaning. Once you chunk an idea or concept, you don’t need to remember all the little underlying details; you’ve got the main idea—the chunk—and that’s enough.”
― Barbara Oakley, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

“And at the same time, my love has made my body terrifying. Before I met you, I was not fragile. And now I have turned to paper.”
― Emma Hunsinger

“I think now that’s all I want: for her to say something about me to somebody, or write my name somewhere”
― Emma Hunsinger

“As you can see from the following “top-down, bottom-up” illustration, learning takes place in two ways. There is a bottom-up chunking process where practice and repetition can help you both build and strengthen each chunk, so you can easily gain access to it when needed. And there is a top-down “big picture” process that allows you to see where what you are learning fits in. Both processes are vital in gaining mastery over the material.”
― Barbara Oakley, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

“The number one thing I stress when students come to see me is that there is a direct connection between your hand and your brain, and the act of rewriting and organizing your notes is essential to breaking large amounts of information down into smaller digestible chunks. I have many students who prefer to type their notes in a Word document or on slides, and when these students are struggling, the first thing I recommend is to quit typing and start writing. In every case, they perform better on the next section of material.”
― Barbara Oakley, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

“Plans never survive contact with reality, so you need to chunk the big thing into smaller things; while reminding yourself that these tedious smaller things are the path to the big thing, like piece of the puzzle that has a smaller part of the bigger picture”
― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua