B4 • THE SILHOUETTE
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
Learning to learn: effective studying Study habits are more than little tricks—it’s about overall approach LINDSAY JOLIVET
will not send information into your long term memory. Simply, Walsh said, “There Exams are approaching and stu- is nothing that you do with your dents are getting ready to buckle body that’s going to make learning down for the last stretch of study- happen. It’s not about what colour ing. However, according to Peter of highlighter you use [or which Walsh, academic skills counsellor note taking method you use].” and coordinator at the Centre for So what does work? Student Development, those who Focus. Which, unfortunately, is began thinking about the last mile more difficult than it seems. Telling while they ran their first lap will be yourself to focus is about as effecmuch better off this time of year. tive as telling yourself to fall asleep, Walsh explained, “Your argued Walsh, “It has the opposite average student in university effect.” Instead, students can help spends somewhere between 35 and themselves concentrate by schedul55 hours directly involved in aca- ing short, intense, study sessions, a demics. So if you strategy nicknamed have a nice even 35 “microstudying.” hours a week con- The most powerful Designed for athsistent, you’re not letes and those with method of trans- little time for their going to spike up to ferring informa- studies, the strate80 unless you really want to fill in the tion into long-term gy involves setting gaps.” He added that a timer for twenthose with regular memory is elabora- ty minutes and hitstudy schedules all tion, which requires ting the books full term who work many engagement and force for that time. more hours durThis allows students manipulation of to designate a short ing exams will have a better result than but productive pematerial. those who cram anyriod to their schoolway, because they alwork. Most students ready have an understanding of the can concentrate for twenty minutes, material. and once that time is up, they should Understanding is the key step away from their books to ento learning, but the process does sure they are ready to focus whennot end there. To fully understand ever they return. course material, students must learn The idea, Walsh exactively. This means no daydream- plained, is “when you’re studying ing about boyfriends or girlfriends, you’re studying and when you’re watching television, or staring at the not studying you get away from the clock while you study. book. You go somewhere else, you More specifically, Walsh take a break, but you get out of the named a number of mistakes stu- environment of learning.” Adjust dents make that lead to passivity. the time according to how focused He noted that students often try to you are feeling. If for some reason learn through absorption by sim- twenty minutes is too long one day, ply sitting in class and listening, or Walsh assured, “Even five minutes “they’ll record their lectures, lis- of intense study is better than sitting ten to them at night, copy out their in front of a book being passive, renotes, they’ll underline or high- reading paragraphs over and over light stuff that’s already boldfaced.” again.” These strategies are passive, and While meditating on one INSIDEOUT EDITOR
JUSTIN BAIRD / THE SILHOUETTE
Pasting a comic book on top of your textbook might be a distraction. Just don’t do it. sentence might get you to Nirvana, he added, it will not help you learn anything. The most powerful method of transferring information into long-term memory is elaboration, which requires engagement and manipulation of material. Choosing an active study strategy, such as the Cornell note taking method, helps makes the most out of the time you spend on schoolwork. This method involves approaching course texts or lecture material as answers to questions, and writing in the questions yourself. While taking notes, leave room in the margin to add in questions that force you to think about the purpose of the information. In reality, academic information always stems from a question that someone once asked and then researched. Walsh explained, “The questions are there but they are often
presented as the answers. So reinserting the questions sometimes is a really powerful act of strategy because it forces you to actually think about the material that you’re learning, not as something to memorize, but as something to understand.” The Cornell method also facilitates self-testing by covering up the notes and answering the questions. Testing yourself increases confidence, makes you think about what the professor will ask, and ensures that you are not relying on a “feeling” of knowing the material. In short, Walsh advised, “Teach yourself, test yourself, be your own prof.” However, time is often a student’s worst enemy, and this might be the biggest problem with exam studying. Walsh described the “cram and crash cycle,” during which students spend painfully long hours forcing information into
their heads, regurgitate it onto their exams, and then crash for a day or two. While this sometimes gets a grade, Walsh said, “This sort of spiky approach to the exam week is very hard on the brain and it’s hard on the student. It’s very—and unnecessarily so—stressful.” This returns to the idea of scheduling study time, which Walsh stressed does not have to ruin anyone’s social life. Develop regular habits, such as studying calculus on Monday morning and history on Tuesday afternoon. And leave blank space. “If you looked at this on an agenda, there is still a lot of freedom in there for you to go out one night or [watch] the latest episode of Gossip Girl. You can do these things.” Schedule your studying so that you can schedule your free time too.