The Reverse Learning

Technique
GUIDE

The Reverse Learning Technique

Checklist
Step 1: Choose the right problem
! Identify a set of concepts youve been struggling with. Good places to
look are homework problems youre totally lost on, or procedure steps
you have to constantly keep referring back to your notes or textbook. In
our example: centripetal acceleration, energy, force-balance.
! Find an example problem(s), with the full solution available, that
encompasses these concepts well. In our example: a roller-coaster
problem that requires the ability to calculate velocity based on energy
balance, understand centripetal acceleration and its relationship to
gravity.

Step 2: Start asking why and how

! Start at the solution to the problem, and work your way back towards the
question. Slowly and methodically work your way backwards, making
sure you understand each detail and logical step required to get to the
answer.
! Ask things like Why is this the answer?, How did they solve for that?,
Why was this assumption made?, etc. Write down these questions on
the printout of the solution.
! Answer your own questions as you go. Try to figure it out on your own
from the clues give from the problem itself, or what you remember from
class. If youre still at a loss, then its time to venture over to Google.
Write down your answers on the printout as you come across them.

Step 3: Finish strong and review your work

! Keep pushing with the Q&A process until you get back to the problem
statement, making sure you dont leave any gaps in your understanding.
Then take an overall look at the ground youve covered. Which concepts
or what logic didnt you understand before that now makes sense? What
surprised you? What insights can you pull out of your work?
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The Reverse Learning Technique

Example: Roller-Coaster Problem
Suppose you are having trouble with the concept of Centripetal Acceleration.
Youre going through practice problems and plugging in the a=V^2/r equation,
but you dont fully understand whats going on.
You keep flipping back to the textbook and lecture description, but thats not
helping too much.

(Photo: Knights Physics for Scientists and Engineers)

The Reverse Learning Technique

Step 1: Choose the right problem
So following our process above, you select an example problem in which you
need to find the acceleration vector of the roller coaster cart when it has
completed the first quarter of the loop shown below.

Here you have the solution you copied down during class to work off of.

The Reverse Learning Technique

Step 2: Start asking why and how

Now you start working your way up the page from the final answer for the
acceleration vector
Question 1: Why is there an acceleration downwards of 9.81 m/s2?
Answer 1: Well thats gravity. As long as the Earth is down, which in this case
we are assuming it is, there will always be a downwards acceleration acting
on the cart of 9.81 m/s2.

Question 2: Why is there an acceleration to the left of 43.20 m/s2?

This is a bit trickier, so well need to look for some other clues in the solution
and ask ourselves some additional questions before we can get our answer
here.
Whats happening to the cart at that point in time?

The Reverse Learning Technique

And where will it go after that? Up and to the left.
So to keep the cart from flying straight up in the air (like it was shooting off a
ramp), there must be something turning that cart to the left as it rises. Well,
the only thing there is the track.
Ahh the track thats whats moving the cart to the left.
Okay, so how does the track accelerate something even though it doesnt
itself move?
Oh yeaahh, thats the Normal Force (reaction force provided by a solid
object). Thats why he has that marked as FN on the force diagram.

Answer 2: The Normal Force supplied by the track is generating the

acceleration to the left of 43.20 m/s2.
Question 3: So then whats this equation he wrote using FN?

Answer 3: The Oh wait, thats showing ac and v2/r. I remember seeing that in
lecture. Right thats Centripetal Acceleration, from our diagram before.
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The Reverse Learning Technique

And taking that a step further, the answer they get for the x-direction
acceleration (at the end) is the same thing he gets when he calculates
Centripetal Acceleration, which as we just saw, is related to the Normal
Force. So the Normal Force must be causing the Centripetal Acceleration,
which is moving the cart up and to the left!

The Reverse Learning Technique

Step 3: Finish strong and review your work
Look at the ground weve covered with just a few of the most obvious
questions we can ask ourselves about this problem. And theres still 75% of
the work involved in the problem that we havent tried to explain yet.
Now youve related concept #3 (Centripetal Acceleration) the one we care
about in this context to a concept you already have familiarity with, concept
#2 Normal Force.
And you also know that both (1) acceleration due to Gravity and (2)
Centripetal Acceleration can interact at the same time on one object,
independent of one another.
These are the big insights you need to be able to solve tough exam problems.

The Reverse Learning Technique

What now?
Have questions? Feedback?
Want more answers?
Want to tell your prof. to shove-it because you never knew how simple it
could be??
Send me a note at tom@wtfprofessor.com.
Or check out tons more learning strategies, problem-solving tactics, and
practice problem solutions at http://wtfprofessor.com.
And if youve found this guide useful please, share it far and wide, and help
fight back against the needless agony experienced by college students
everywhere.