How To Study Effectively
From a very early age, we embark on our educational journeys, lasting the next sixteen to thirty years (for some). Learning all kinds of concepts from A is for Apple to the Laws of Gravitation. However, have we ever stopped and questioned our learning techniques? If you have, mazel tov, you are way ahead of the game; if not, have no fear The Space in Time is here to help. In today's discussion, we will look at the top five tips that will surely help you study more effectively. Without further ado, let us dive right in.
Tip Number One: Stay Organized
This is a highly underrated practice. This is something that will translate into all areas of our lives, whether personal or professional. There are small things we can do in the classroom that can help us stay organized. If you are a heathen like me and take physical notes on paper, labeling and dating will do us wonders. Keeping our notes in a binder will also help. Now, certain apps like Notion are game changers for those who take notes on laptops or tablets. There are tons of apps that you can use such as OneNote, Bear, Evernote, and my favorite Notion. These apps allow you to organize your notes and even offer many tools that the traditional paper and pencil method do not such as autocorrect, the ability to convert to PDF, the ability to edit your notes, as well as share them with a click of a button.
Tip Number Two: Active Recall
Reading is an essential part of studying. Reading textbooks can be dreadful, so many of us end up using highlighters to make things more engaging and fun. However, studies have shown that highlighting text is not that much more useful than merely reading the text. A much better method is "Active recall."
Active recall is the practice of retrieving information from your brain, which can be implemented simply by testing ourselves. Although testing yourself is a great practice, we still need to make notes—apps like Anki, flashcards, etc. are great!
The best practice is using our notes and creating questions to tests ourselves. Not just for revising but also for learning. When reading notes, actively test yourself as you go along. When you finish reading, take a pause, close your notes and ask yourself a few questions such as:
• What did I just read?
• What are the key ideas?
• Can I rephrase this in my own words?
Tip Number Three: Spaced Repetition
Spaced repetition is the act of revising notes after some time has passed, whether that means a week, a month, three months, etc. The goal is to interrupt the 'forgetting curve. After studying a particular topic that you would like to remember, revisit it in a week. There are several ways you can execute this. When reviewing your notes, it is helpful to write down quiz questions along the way. The questions you write down can be used as a mini quiz for studying the topic in the future. This way, we are actively recalling and using spaced repetition. The more we make ourselves retrieve knowledge from our brain, the stronger the information will be encoded into our brain
Tip Number Four: Feynman Technique
This one just so happens to be my favorite. This is a widely known technique called the Feynman Technique - a method coined by, you guessed it, Richard Feynman, a famous teacher and physicist. This technique encloses the ability to explain a concept that we are trying to learn but in the simplest way possible. This will help identify whether you understand the content or just developed a familiarity with it. Richard Feynman even takes it a step forward and says, explain it as if you are teaching a five-year-old. Though that may seem a bit excessive, it may very much help us, if not understand it, identify relations between elementary concepts with more advanced ones such as relating Einstein's Theory of General Relativity with the trampoline and bowling ball analogy.
Tip Number Five: Have Fun
Last but certainly not least, we have tip number five. Have fun. I know that sounds cliche, but there are not any shortcuts to learning new information and making it stick - only effective studying strategies like those discussed will help. Regardless, it is always a good idea to keep things fun. Changing your environment such as taking your work to a cafe or library if you are often studying at home can make things more fun. It may also help to organize a study session with friends. Ending the day off with board games and some pizza will make a difference. This will not only add to the hours spent on studying throughout the day, week, or month but also keep things fun.
Studying can be simplified into two activities: understanding and remembering. With the help of the tips above, studying should now be a skill you can proudly say you have learned. However, like everything else, it is not enough that we learn the material, but apply it as well.
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Video to check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBXnxlLR0PY&t=629s
