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While attempting to make a list programming subjects/topics that were unclear to me, I was unable to come up with anything.

I know I can't be clear on everything. What steps can I take to get an accurate self-assessment of my knowledge and "know what I don't know"?

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I do not understand what your questions is. – Job Feb 24 '11 at 16:17
The answer to your question is that your question is unclear to me. – Adam Crossland Feb 24 '11 at 16:18
You need to make your question clearer. What do you want to know? – glenatron Feb 24 '11 at 16:18
@Margus - If you cannot go back to the material after 24 hours after it first being explained or learning about it, and understand what you read, then you don't understand the topic. – Ramhound Feb 24 '11 at 16:26
How are you supposed to know what you don't know? – Joel Etherton Feb 24 '11 at 16:38
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6 Answers

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I find the best way to find holes in your own knowledge is to try and explain the topic to someone else.

Find a classmate who admits they don't fully understand topic X, and attempt to explain topic X to them.

If you are successful (it clicks for you, it clicks for them), then you probably understand it fine.

If it's a struggle then you probably need to review the material yourself.

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Good answer, but I found writing a wiki more practical. – Margus Feb 26 '11 at 1:14
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Raise your hand and say "I really got lost when you said [insert something he said earlier that you sort of understood]".

I've done this a few times. The professor can see the confused look on everyone's faces. He doesn't know where he lost y'all. Give him a little help. You probably aren't the only one who in the class who is lost.

**I'm just assuming that I understand your question. Please add a little more detail to explain it further.

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question was edited. – Ben Feb 24 '11 at 16:41
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Try from the other direction: What do feel you know well?

Make that list. Write down the topic and a blurb describing what you know about it.

Go and look up what you should know for your class. If you missed something on your list, you are unclear on that topic. If your description about what you know about that topic is incorrect or too vague, you are unclear on that topic too.

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If I understand what your saying (which I may not) I think the best attempts by a teacher to understand something is to show an EXAMPLE of it working in class.

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question was edited. – Ben Feb 24 '11 at 16:40
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I browse the questions on Slashdot, Stack Exchange, Hacker News, and Digg regularly. If you understand all of these topics, congratulation, you understand it all.

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up vote -1 down vote

First things first, that is not truly a random question. Now to tackle your real question here, why don't you make a list of the things you do know and append them to your question. Then give a brief one-two sentence overview of what you actually think those topics are. This will help us evaulate your understanding and give you better feedback. My guess is you do not have a full understanding of pointer recursion as a starting point.

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