HOW
TO STUDY SMART!
Don't just re-read your notes and readings
1
"One good technique to use instead is to
read once, then quiz yourself, either using questions at the back of a textbook
chapter, or making up your own questions. Retrieving that information is what
actually produces more robust learning and memory.
"And
even when you can't retrieve it — when you get the questions wrong — it gives
you an accurate diagnostic on what you don't know, and this tells you what you
should go back and study. This helps guide your studying more effectively.
"Asking
questions also helps you understand more deeply. Say
you're learning about world history, and how ancient Rome and Greece were
trading partners. Stop and ask yourself why they
became trading partners. Why did
they become shipbuilders, and learn to navigate the seas? It doesn't always
have to be why — you can ask how, or what.
"In asking these
questions, you're trying to explain, and in doing this, you create a better
understanding, which leads to better memory and learning. So instead of just
reading and skimming, stop and ask yourself things to make yourself understand
the material."
2 "Another
strategy is, during a second reading, to
try relating the principles in the text to something you already know about.
Relate new information to prior information for better learning.
"One example is if you were learning about how the neuron transmits
electricity. One of the things we know if that if you have a fatty sheath
surround the neuron, called a myelin sheath, it helps the neuron
transmit electricity more quickly.
3 "A
great strategy is making diagrams, or visual models, or flowcharts. In a
beginning psychology course, you could diagram the flow of classical conditioning. Sure, you
can read about classical conditioning, but to truly understand it and be able
to write down and describe the different aspects of it on a test later on —
condition, stimulus, and so on — it's a good idea to see if you can put it in a
flowchart.
"Anything that creates active learning — generating
understanding on your own — is very effective in retention. It basically means
the learner needs to become more involved and more engaged, and less
passive."
4 Flashcards
are another good way of doing this. And one key to using them is actually
re-testing yourself on the ones you got right.
"A lot of students will answer the question on a flashcard,
and take it out of the deck if they get it right. But it turns out this isn't a
good idea — repeating the act of memory retrieval is important. Studies show
that keeping the correct item in the deck and encountering it again is useful.
You might want to practice the incorrect items a little more, but repeated
exposure to the ones you get right is important too.
"It's not that repetition as a whole is bad. It's that
mindless repetition is bad."
5 "A
lot of students cram — they wait until the last minute, then in one evening,
they repeat the information again and again. But research shows this isn't good
for long term memory. It may allow you to do okay on that test the next day,
but then on the final, you won't retain as much information, and then the next
year, when you need the information for the next level course, it won't be
there.
"This often happens in statistics. Students come back for
the next year, and it seems like they've forgotten everything, because they
crammed for their tests.
"The better idea is to space repetition. Practice a little
bit one day, then put your flashcards away, then take them out the next day,
then two days later. Study after study shows that spacing is really
important."
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