Psychological studies have revealed many previously unknown learning strategies. What we’re about to tell you has been tested in labs and classrooms from middle school to college, and it works. If we could sum up the whole secret in one statement, it would go like this: The key to success is self-testing; that is, quizzing yourself on what you’ve learned by asking yourself questions, recovering the answers, and restudying what you didn’t know. You must keep testing yourself throughout the semester, even after you think you do it, to ensure that what you’ve learned sticks. The discussion below will be based on discovering different ways of learning that can make a better and more effective student.
In all honesty, it ought, of course, not all educational institutions or instructors hold those views. Likely, many educators would flat-out lie if you asked them; some might even take offense. Although you may be unaware of these specific institutional views, they are embedded in our educational system. Unfortunately, education has conditioned you, and you probably share at least some of these beliefs with your classmates. For this reason, you waste more time and effort than necessary on your studies, with no discernible improvement in your learning or marks (Meza et al., p. 1715). This is because these beliefs are mirrored and reinforced in every facet of school life, making it difficult to avoid being influenced. Indeed, these ideas have become so embedded in the American psyche that most people have a hard time acknowledging that they are, in fact, myths.
You must develop a habit of careful note-taking in class. Taking notes requires a certain degree of equilibrium: You want your messages to be thorough and correct, but you don’t want them to be a transcript because it will be challenging to identify the most crucial details. That I was never taught the basics of being a student was a shocking realization. I had no idea how to take notes properly. I remember sitting attentively through lectures while aggressively taking notes. My course notes had become so cluttered that by the time the midterms rolled around, I could not make any sense of them. Think about how what you’re learning in class relates to what you already know while you listen to your teacher. Instead of taking down lengthy passages, a court reporter might jot down the most important phrases and words. Sorting through what you’re hearing and breaking it into its essentials will allow you to get more out of it. Some students may believe they will not need to take notes if their professors allow them to record lectures or provide access to lecture slides online. Conversely, a recording or set of slides cannot think for you, and they need not even take the tests themselves.
After failing his midterms due to negligent note-taking, he devised a new method: “At the end of every class, I would find a tiny nook — sometimes even the nearby stairwell — skim over my scribbled notes, and carefully summarize them in a page or two.” My notes summarized the semester’s worth of material, allowing me to approach the final exam confidently. Further, they showed how the lectures and assigned readings connected and shed light on the professor’s overall perspective. By this point, I was well on my way to becoming an expert distiller of information. More importantly, I discovered that I was developing a passion for education and learning to think critically and question claims without evidence. That experience gave me a glimpse of what it was like to be a student for the first time. Focus on the course material while you go over your notes. Organize and redo your messages if they are covered in scribbles, arrows, asterisks, missing definitions, and incomprehensible sentences.
At some point, many students believe that studying for an exam requires staying up until dawn, guzzling gallons of coffee, and going through their notes and textbook until their eyes bleed. To be sure, the majority of students base their study plans on upcoming deadlines (or overdue). Few students plan their study time and follow through on that plan. Cramming can lead to an inflated impression of knowledge and performance. While it’s true that some of it will stick in your mind for a short time, that time won’t last. That’s because you haven’t yet put in the effort to systematically categorize and link new material to what you already know and build the new neural pathways that will facilitate recall under timed conditions like an exam. Many pupils “blackout” during the exam for this exact reason (Carney et al., p. 5). Those grueling all-nighters aren’t your only option. Instead of trying to cram all of your studying for a test into one horrendous sitting towards the end of the semester, give yourself mini-tests weekly and be sure to include things you already know. The strategies you’ve been using to ace your classes all semester will serve you well on your test tomorrow.
If you examine what amounts to the bedrock of a new outlook, you’ll likely find that these concepts represent how you feel about education and your abilities. You can’t help but succeed in school if you have a positive self-image. Don’t we spend our whole lives trying to prove our self-concepts? If you believe you are incapable of learning, you won’t. If you want to succeed in school, developing a positive perception of yourself is essential. It doesn’t matter how challenging anything is. If you view yourself as someone who can learn, you will. Many children struggle in school because their academic performance heavily influences their sense of self. Intelligent students don’t let their academic success affect how they see themselves. In other words, brilliant students are driven to study independently, regardless of the rewards they could receive from doing so. If you want to quit undermining yourself and your academic success, you need to figure out what motivates you in the first place. To alter your perception of yourself, you’ll need to undertake some introspective soul-searching; nevertheless, I can change your perspective on your educational experience.
Works Cited
Carney, Michelle, et al. “Teachable machine: Approachable Web-based tool for exploring machine learning classification.” Extended abstracts of the 2020 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems. 2020. (p1-8)
https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-69421915-dt-content-rid-530134223_1/xid-530134223_1
Meza, Anthony, et al. “It’s a feeling that one is not worth food”: a qualitative study exploring the psychosocial experience and academic consequences of food insecurity among college students.” Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 119.10 (2019): 1713-1721.
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