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How to Study for Exams - My NEW Masterclass // Behind the Scenes

2020-03-31 · Vlog or day in the life · Ali, Ali Abdaal (channel) · recording, 9:46 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Learning and studying (also: Productivity and time, Medicine and his doctor years) · mode: Demonstration and walkthrough · tags: His own products discussed, Aimed at students, Evidence-based framing, His medical past, Sponsor segment present

In a behind-the-scenes vlog filmed at the end of February 2020, Ali films about 28 videos of his Skillshare class on how to study for exams in one day, built in three steps (understand, remember, focus), and teaches a kidney physiology supervision at Girton College; the class is now live on Skillshare.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — A day spent creating an online class on how to study for exams

  • ★★ At the end of February 2020 Ali sets out to create the world's best, most in-depth online class on how to study for exams. — 00:00:00 · Skillshare classes

00:00:29 — A slow morning: ring, watch, shower, dishes and coffee

00:00:58 — Planning the class structure in Notion with Angus and filming the understand videos

  • ★★ Angus, one of Ali's new team members, goes over the structure of the study class with him in Notion, the app Ali uses to plan everything. — 00:00:58 · Angus, Notion, Skillshare classes
  • ★★ By 1pm Ali has filmed seven videos of the study class: the three steps of effective studying, understanding anything with the Feynman technique, active recall, whether and how to take notes, and scoping the subject. — 00:01:27 · active recall, scoping the subject, Skillshare classes

00:02:33 — The remember segment, a slice of pizza per video, and the peg system

  • ★★★ Ali's class teaches studying for exams in three steps, understand, remember and focus, with evidence-based tips for memorising, and he stresses that understanding is the most important part. — 00:02:33 · Skillshare classes
  • ★ To keep himself filming the class, Ali allows himself a slice of pizza after every video, which he calls classical Pavlovian conditioning. — 00:03:02
  • ★★ In August 2012, just before his first year of university, Ali decided he wanted to become a memory champion; he still has the document he wrote then on the peg system in Evernote. — 00:03:53 · Evernote
  • ★★ The peg system, a memory technique, converts numbers into words: a one becomes a T or a D, a two an N, a three an M. — 00:03:53
  • ★★★ In his second year of medical school Ali used the peg system to memorise references to papers for his essays, since showing external evidence and wider reading was then the way to get a high mark. — 00:04:23
  • ★★ Ali got a first in his second year of medical school and thinks the references he memorised with the peg system for his essays were part of the reason. (hedged) — 00:04:52

00:05:12 — A kidney physiology supervision at Girton College

  • ★★ At about 5.30pm, between filming sessions, Ali drives to Girton College, Cambridge, buying snacks at a petrol station, and runs a physiology supervision on the kidneys from 6 to 10pm. — 00:05:47 · Girton College
  • ★ In the kidney supervision, in groups of two and three students of about an hour each, Ali covers filtration, reabsorption, acid-base and serum osmolality homeostasis, and plans essays with the class. — 00:05:47

00:06:58 — Cousin Jahanzaib arrives, the last videos and the files sent to Christian

  • ★★ Ali's cousin Jahanzaib, visiting from Pakistan and staying with him in Cambridge for a few days, is working towards coming to the UK as a doctor. — 00:07:04 · Pakistan
  • ★★ Ali finishes filming the study class at around 11.30pm, having done about 28 videos that day. — 00:07:04 · Skillshare classes
  • ★★ Ali copies the class footage from the SD cards to an external hard drive and uploads it to Google Drive overnight so that his editor Christian can get the files in Romania. — 00:07:42 · Christian, Google Drive

00:08:09 — The class is live on Skillshare

  • ★★★ Ali's class on how to study for exams is now live on Skillshare: over 35 videos of evidence-based techniques on everything about studying for exams. — 00:08:09 · Skillshare classes

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Ali's Skillshare class on how to study is 4.5 hours long with 35 videos, and he rates it highly. — creator comment · Skillshare classes
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked for a next course on productivity, the channel says Ali's team is working on one and asks which questions viewers have. — creator comment · Skillshare classes
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked to publish Ali's study tips as a book, the channel says he is working on it. — creator comment
  • ★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked for a video on the peg system for memorisation, the channel says it is covered in Ali's study class on Skillshare. — creator comment · Skillshare classes
  • ★★ Ali finds the Oura Ring nice to have, but it has not significantly changed his behaviour yet. — creator comment
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked for a productive quarantine vlog, the channel says Ali is filming one as it speaks. — creator comment
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked about Ali's smart ring, the channel says a video on it is coming at some point. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: peg system · Skillshare classes

Also: People: Angus · Christian · Jahanzaib · Thomas Frank

Organizations: Girton College · University of Cambridge

Concepts: active recall · Feynman technique · scoping the subject

Places: Pakistan · Romania

Products: AeroPress · Apple Watch Series 4 · Evernote · Google Drive · Notion · Oura Ring · Rode VideoMic Pro Plus

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