Interlude: Learning Levels, Core Principles, and Keywords

Did you know that there are different levels of learning?

I recently learned about four levels of learning that really resonated with me.

The first level is unconscious incompetence. At this level, you are not aware of the gap in your skills or knowledge.

The second level is conscious incompetence. At this level, you are aware that you need to learn new skills or gain new knowledge. This level is where learning really begins.

The third level is conscious competence. At this level, you know how to use your new skills or knowledge, but doing so requires practice, thought, and hard work.

And the fourth level is unconscious competence. At this level, your new skills or knowledge are fully integrated and automatic.

In other words...

unconscious incompetence—you don't know what you don't know.
conscious incompetence—you know what you don't know.
conscious competence—you know what you know.
unconscious competence—you intuitively know what you know.

These levels of learning resonated with me because I've seen my students (and clients) level up their learning and grow from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence. And seeing this growth has been incredibly rewarding.

If you want to level up your learning and master the craft of writing, enroll in my Scientific Writing Masterclass. I'd be delighted to arm you with the principles and systems you need to level up your writing.

And here's the latest round-up...

💌 Round-up
  

📆 Upcoming

Scientific Writing Masterclass – Starts the week of May 29, 2023
The masterclass is back! Learn how to transform your writing into clear, concise, and compelling stories. Space is limited. Registration closes on May 19, 2023, or when the class is full.

👓 Reading

Video abstracts are associated with an increase in research reports citations, views and social attention: a cross-sectional study
"...video abstracts are associated with a worthwhile increase in the number of views of research reports. They are also associated with an increase in citations and social attention, although the association may be small."

Fraud Alert: Scammers Steal Money From the Public Through Fake HHS Websites and Social Media Schemes
"The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) is alerting the public to a fraud scheme that uses social media and fake websites to steal money from individuals by offering fake HHS grants."

🧰 Tools

MeSH Browser
When you choose keywords for your manuscript, do you tend to just pick the most-used words in your paper? If so, you could be missing an important opportunity. By choosing keywords found in the MeSH Browser, you can ensure your paper gets indexed correctly in PubMed, which helps potential readers find your paper more easily.

💬 Quote

"When you first start to study a field, it seems like you have to memorize a zillion things. You don’t. What you need is to identify the core principles – generally three to twelve of them – that govern the field. The million things you thought you had to memorize are simply various combinations of the core principles.” – John T. Reed

(If you want to learn the core principles of scientific writing, we cover them in the Scientific Writing Masterclass.) 

📝 Challenge

Review the keywords you chose for your most recent manuscript. Are they in the MeSH Browser as an exact match or fragment? Could you have chosen better keywords or keyword fragments?

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal