Distributed Practice Can Save the Day!

One study strategy – Distributed Practice – can make a big difference in your learning and grades by the end of the semester.  Distributed Practice means that you spread out your studying and do a little each day.  PLEASE NOTE – the initial learning of your lecture notes and the initial reading of your textbooks is not part of this!  Once the initial learning has happened, Distributed Practice means that you review the material 20 minutes almost every day.  Here are some ideas:

1. Put the information you need to learn on index cards and carry them with you.  Every day go through the pack, and then do it again tomorrow.

2. Put the information into a review chart and then use recitation (restate in your own words from memory) to quiz yourself from the chart.

3. Over Thanksgiving Break, spend 20 minutes every day reviewing your class notes.

4. For math, put some problems on the front of index cards and the solution on the back.  Then, every day, pick a few cards, do the problems and check yourself.  If you start to remember them, make new ones!

5. Make some practice tests, set them aside, and test yourself a few days later.  If you have friends in the same class you could take each other’s practice tests and then explain why each answer is right or wrong.

This is a great strategy if there is a class that you are completely uninterested in.  Twenty minutes goes by in no time!

Another helpful idea is to set the timer on your phone for twenty minutes.  That way you are not concentrating on the time, but on the material to be learned.

What is important is the constant repetition spaced out over time.    You will be amazed at how much you can remember!

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (of Any Semester) of College, by Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com and amazon.com.

 

Mistakes are Great!

Everyone makes mistakes.   Sometimes in education we think we should be perfect all of the time, but that is not possible if the goal is to learn new things, to grow and to improve.  So why are mistakes so great?

* You find out what you know and what you don’t know.

* You find out that what you thought you knew was incorrect and then you have a chance to learn it correctly.

* Mistakes give you a chance to reflect on how you prepared or studied and to make improvements.

* You get to evaluate what you have been doing and make positive changes.   This can involve sports, working in organizations, etc.

* Looking back, you may find that a mistake sent you in an entirely new and better direction.  

When you make a mistake, change how you talk to yourself.  Don’t put yourself down or think negatively about yourself.  Instead turn it around and see what you can learn!  That makes all the difference in the world about how you see yourself and about your motivation and forward progress!

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (of Any Semester) of College, by Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com and amazon.com.

End-of-semester Crunch

Believe it or not, the end of the semester is approaching.   At my institution we have four weeks of classes left followed by a week of final exams.  In the middle of that time is a week for Thanksgiving Break.    A lot of things are due and a lot of activities are scheduled.  Here are some ideas for handling the end -of-semester overload and stress:

• Look at the time as a whole – map out the final weeks, see what you have due and when.  When are your finals?  How much time do you have off for Thanksgiving?

• Work ahead and have projects done a day or two early.  Problems always happen – you run out of printer ink or money for the copy machine for example!

• Is there a final that is critical to a higher grade in that class or a class that has been challenging all semester?  If so, make a study guide and review that information for about 15 – 20 minutes every day above and beyond your regular studying.

• Make sure you know if each final is cumulative or covers the last unit of the semester.

• Start to prepare for exams now.  Don’t wait for the professor to tell you what will be on the exam.  Study everything.

• Plan some off time to handle the end-of-semester stress.  Plan a movie date or dinner with friends.  Also, look forward to the time off over Thanksgiving and between semesters.   You can work hard for a few weeks if you know some relaxing time will follow!

This is a busy and fun time of the year.  You can enjoy it and still end the semester well with a good time management plan.

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (of Any Semester) of College, by Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

 

Dealing with Distrations

There really is not a lot to say about distractions except that you have to remove yourself from them.  Learning takes extended concentration.   You cannot learn if you are constantly checking your email, going on Twitter, playing a game on the computer, etc.  You have to pay attention to what you are doing – one thing at a time. 

Sometimes this is as easy as disabling Facebook for an hour, turning off your phone, going to the Library away from your friends, or turning off the television.  (I know this sounds extreme – but you really can do this!!)  You are not isolating yourself for the rest of your life, just for a short period of time.  If someone expects to be in constant contact with you via texting or Twitter, tell them you are studying for a specific length of time and then reconnect with them when you are done.

Other times the distractions are more intrinsic – inside your own mind.  These types of distractions could include family or financial worries, grade concerns, contentious relationships with friends or significant others or other problems.   These are a bit harder to deal with, but it can be done. 

• One idea is to physically write down what you are worried about the then physically set the list aside and study.  This physical act helps you set the worries aside and learn. 
• Another idea, strange as it seems, is to designate specific times when you will actively worry about the problem and then visualize yourself moving forward from the worry.  
• It might also help to think of a plan of action – when and how will you deal with this worry. 
• Finally, consider going to the Health Center at your school and talking with someone impartial – not connected with your concern.  It is a big help just to verbalize what you are worrying about and put it in perspective.

The good news is that if you eliminate distractions and pay attention to your studies, you will be more successful and more efficient – you will be done sooner!

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (of Any Semester) of College, by Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

How Do You Find the Big Picture and Supporting Details?

I am grading essay exams this weekend, and some of my students did a good job of finding the important details but missed the big picture – the main point of the article and how the information was organized to support that point.  Here are some ideas to “see the big picture.”

1. Preview what you are reading first to get the overview.

2. Read an article twice – first rather quickly to see the big picture and then again to fit in the details.

3. Read with two purposes – see overall topic and organization and the supporting details.

4. If it is a very dense textbook chapter without a lot of help (headings, learning objectives, etc.), skim first, and then read more closely.

5. Ask yourself: “What is the issue?  What is the topic?”

6. If it is a fiction book, read the back cover and any other information provided.  As you are reading keep an open mind regarding what the book is about.  Sometimes in fiction it takes a while for the author to reveal the main story.

This is an important reading and thinking skill.  For many experienced readers it happens automatically.  Be aware of your comprehension process and reading strategies and actively look for “the big picture.”

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

Think of Learning as a Process

What you do before and after a learning experience makes a difference in how effective you are. 

Before you are preparing your mind to take in the information. 

After you are helping the information become secured in your memory.

 Here are some ideas:

Reading textbooks

Before

Preview the information by leafing through looking for the organization, bold print, etc.
Read the Learning Objectives
Read the Conclusion at the end

After

Read the Learning Objectives and supply the information
Go back through the chapter and read your margin notes, highlighting or heading and bold print
Take any quiz available and review ones you miss
Make a study guide from the information

Taking lecture notes

Before

Read corresponding textbook chapter
Print out and read the power points or lecture notes professor has posted on-line
Review previous notes

After

Reread notes, make corrections and fill in missing information
Use recitation (restate in your own words from memory) to see how much of the information you can remember
Turn notes into a study guide

Active Learning

Learning must be active – you need to be actively involved and thinking about the information you are trying to learn.  Here are some ideas:

Manipulate the information – rewrite the information into a different format such as a review chart, concept map, study cards, outline, etc.

Connect the information with what you already know from your background, another class, you career goal, whatever connection you can make

Recite – read over a section, close your book, and restate the information in your own words

Teach - Form a study group and teach each other

Review – once you have learned the information, review it every day for a short period of time spaced out over a week or more

Test – make a practice test, put it aside and then test yourself in a few days.  Or use any quiz or “Terms to Know” available in your textbook or on line.

 You get the idea – anything more than just passively “rereading” or “reviewing.”   The more actively you are involved with the information the better you will understand and retain it!