Maximizing Your Learning Efforts, Part 3 of 6

One thing I have noticed about many freshmen students is that they do not know exactly what to do when they are studying beyond rereading.  Many students on academic probation will tell me that they plan to"study more" or "study harder," but they don't know any concrete activities to implement.  The following study strategies involve concrete, hands-on activities that will help you retain and understand the material:

• Rewrite your notes.  I know this sounds boring, but it is very effective.  While you are doing this you can reorganize them, add more information and identify anything you do not understand.
• Turn your lecture notes and textbook material into a study guide.  Again, you are reorganizing and rethinking the information.  Types of study guides include study cards, outlines, questions and answers, concept maps, review charts, time lines and Venn Diagrams.
• When reading your textbooks take margin notes (annotation) and/or separate notes.
• Add sound such as reading your notes out loud or singing them to a beat.
• Form a study group and take turns explaining the information to each other.
• Use recitation - restating the information in our own words from memory.  This is a very important strategy as you are practicing what you will be expected to do on the exam.  If you try to do this and cannot, that means you do no know the information well enough.

All of these strategies involve concrete, hands-on interaction with the information.  The strategies are not limited to this list.  Be creative!
The next blog will discuss repetition and why it is also important to learning.
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at wordassociation.com, barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com.  Click on the upper right link.

 

Maximize Your Learning Efforts, Part 2 of 6

One extremely important part of successful learning is your attitude - about the amount of effort and time required and about the material in general.

• When you sit down to study be sure you are mentally planning to learn as opposed to thinking about how soon your can be done.  The same idea goes for reading your assignments - be sure you intend to understand and remember as opposed to counting down the pages!
• If you are taking a class you are not interested in, don't constantly bemoan the fact of how much you do not like it or the professor.  Instead, focus on your goal and see the class as one step closer to reaching it.
• When you are struggling to learn a particular topic (and everyone struggles at some time during their academic career) be sure you see yourself as succeeding and talk to yourself about how your will persevere and succeed.  Of course, your learning actions have to match this positive attitude!
• When taking an exam, don't immediately think about how you will fail.  Focus on how well you prepared, what your know and how you will succeed.
• In general, see yourself as an educated, successful learner and then match your habits to that image.

Our mental self-talk is very powerful and can shape who we are, how we persevere and succeed.  Be positive and focus on what is working and your successes!
Next week Part 3 will look at the importance of using a variety of strategies and what some of those strategies are.
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Maximize Your Learning Efforts - Part 1 or 6

Have you ever felt that you really "studied hard" but did not seem to know the information on the exam?  There are study strategies that are very effective and some that are a waste of your time.  For the next six weeks we will look at how to be the most effective when your are studying and learning.


Part 1 - See the Big Picture


Before you get to the details, you need to understand the overall organization of the material you are trying to learn and understand.  Some ways to do that are:
Textbooks

• Look at the Table of Contents to see what all will be covered and how it will be addressed.
• Look at a sample chapter to see how the author indicates the main and sub points and what extra help they provide.
• If the professor jumps around in the book, take a look at the unassigned chapters prior to what you are to read.  They may have some background knowledge you need.
• Before starting an assignment, look through the entire chapter to see what it is about and how the material is organized.

Lectures

• Read the syllabus to see the overview of the entire course.
• Read any assignments before class.
• Listen to signal words such as THREE points, FIVE causes, on the other hand, but, etc.
• Strive to understand how the current information fits with the previous lecture and professor's overall organization of the course.
• Make sure you can identify the main and sub points in your notes.  Highlight, underline, indent or use what ever strategy you chose, but make your notes clear.

Exams

• Quickly look through the entire exam to see the types of questions and the weight of each.  Don't spend too much time on a questions that is only worth a few points at the expense of a major question.

Next week we will consider the importance of your attitude to your learning success!
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.