The visualisation of knowledge, as its name implies, is a way to concrete knowledge through building, transmitting and presenting the complex knowledge by patterns and images. Besides the transmission of facts and information, knowledge visualisation is also applied to spread knowledge, and help people properly reconstruct, memorise and use them. For example, the mind map in our daily learning is a kind of knowledge visualisation. It presents the knowledge points through pictures, concerting them and thus helping students to memorise.
1938, the famous writer Nabokov began to use cards in his literature career. In an interview, he said, “Now I’ve found that the index cards are definitely the best material for writing. Instead of starting from the beginning and then completing every chapter, I just fill the blank of my writing, like to fill a fairly clear jigsaw in my mind. I pick the jigsaw pieces here and there, to, first, form a part of sky; second, the mountains, water and sceneries; then—I don’t sure, maybe a hunter as drunk as a lord.” It is believed that the Nabokov method is an early application of knowledge visualisation.
So, how to develop a habit of knowledge visualisation in your learning? In this process, there are four stages:
-Conformity: Imitate and practice. It’s a learning process.
-Presentation: Summarise and output your experience, figure out the logic of knowledge, and then present them through knowledge visualisation method, such as a mind map.
-Integration: Integrate the knowledge you learned into a bigger knowledge system.
-Transformation: Convert the knowledge into your ability to solve the real-life problems.
Among the above stages, the drawing of cards and mind maps is a process of knowledge concreting, providing much help to your learning and memorisation.
