A
technique for improving the effectiveness of
learning. The essential method is to make a quick attempt at learning a
topic or
skill with very little attention to detail. Next, the topic or skill is studied again, exactly as before, but with a bit more attention to detail. This
process is repeated until all or sufficient detail has been added. A common example is a student reading a
textbook by only
skimming it. After a short rest, the book is read again, with more time to follow through on important or interesting sections/
topics. Finally, the book is read properly, though this is done much faster; the student already has a clear
idea of the
contents.
Layered learning works on the
principle that the
brain works better when given a chance to sort
information in its own fashion before
absorbing it. While this principle has also caused great attention to improving
tables of contents (often resulting in multiple tables for book, chapter and even individual sections) and other in-book
tools, the technique of layered learning can, of course, be applied to nearly any sort of book, with or without a table of contents.