How to Study
A short guide on how to study.
Imagine trying to transcribe the dialog of your favorite
television program as you watched. Not particularly
appetizing is it? You’d “miss” the show while you were
‘watching’ it, right?
So why do you go to class and attempt to word for word
transcribe the Instructor’s lecture?
“Into the Ear, down the arm, out the pen, bypassing the
brain”, is how one Professor described the behaviour of his
students.
To learn requires a “be here now” modus. Once learning a
subject one can review it.
Most students are not “there” when the information is being
dispensed. They are playing the role of stenographers who
have little consciousness of what they are writing down.
Before you can study, you have to learn. Like playing a
game, you learn the rules, (lecture) you train, (study) and
then you play, (test).
Your first action is to learn. Listen. Make a few
scribblings to catch key terms, but listen. Don’t worry about
how sloppy your notes are, you are going to rewrite them
later.
Underline key terms or star them, but listen. Think about
what you are being told. Put question marks to alert to areas
you don’t understand, but listen.
When you go home rewrite your notes as a cohesive unit. Use
your text or the Internet to fill in the blanks. Work
between your sloppy class notes, and the other media and your
memory to create a perfect study document.
After creating this “essay”, read it over insuring clarity,
then move on to homework. Always rewrite your class notes
while your memory is fresh.
When it is time to study you have one document to read, your
notes. Sometimes later reading has elucidated a point, so
you can include it. Perhaps you turn to a text or a web site,
to get a bit more on a specific item, but having listened the
first time you heard about it, having read up on it when you
were rewriting your notes, you will find yourself more
verifying spelling or dates, then the substance of the
lesson.
In this way, studying becomes a simple task of reviewing the
various “essays” you compiled over the course of a term. Easy
to read, comprehensive and most importantly, learned.?
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12 Comments
a fool, posted this comment on Nov 8th, 2007
that’s a great idea, Stefan, I should of thought of that. I suppose
I could write a subsequent article on that topic.
Lucy Lockett, posted this comment on Nov 9th, 2007
Very useful and comprehensive.
Dee Huff, posted this comment on Nov 10th, 2007
I’m just starting to learn Spanish, so I’ll keep your advice in mind when I’m studying.
blacknblue, posted this comment on Nov 10th, 2007
Insightful’ keep up the good work
Rita, posted this comment on Dec 21st, 2007
Maybe if everyone in my school would figure out what you and I already did, we wouldn’t be a failing school!! Great article.
I. Procrastinate, posted this comment on Dec 21st, 2007
dude, thats too much work
Jared Stenzel, posted this comment on Dec 21st, 2007
Great article, I have an article on studying on quazen as well. This is a great article, I like the thought of taken notes after the lecture rather than during.
a fool, posted this comment on Dec 22nd, 2007
blacknblue,— that’s the method I used to gain my degrees. Meaning
I really did learn, not just memorise and regurgitate
Rita, — thanks Rita
I. Procrastinate, — until the electrodes can transfer my knowledge
to your brain, you got a better idea?
Jared Stenzel,— I find that rewriting my notes, with the text
open and available to give me the spelling
or the date, or whatever kind of slipped
during the lecture, using my best handwriting
really does the trick. When I’m taking exams
I can actually visualise the page in my note
book where the data is, and ‘read it’.
By rewriting the notes and reading the text,
you are actually studying. So by the end of
term you don’t have to be cramming.
Alexa Gates, posted this comment on Dec 23rd, 2007
I do all of that except for rewriting my notes. Rewriting them would probably be a good idea, but, I don’t have the time. Another good idea, I use this sometimes, is to bring a recorder into class and record the teacher’s lecture. Just rememer to stay awake yourself!
Chalina, posted this comment on Dec 23rd, 2007
Listen, Understand, Practice.
1)Listen carefully to what teacher said and write down if u need.
2)If your a slow thinker and u can’t understand them, take notes,read and understand them when free time comes.
3) practice, Rewrite notes in a more clearer and more understanding way. thats how i study though it works for me
a fool, posted this comment on Dec 23rd, 2007
Chalina…that’s exactly the condensed version of
what I wrote. You listen, you don’t play the
stenographer, you listen hard. Rewriting the notes
really helps cement the data.
Alexa…when you are about to study that’s when
you do it, far better than wading through a text
where the letters all start to run together.
If you can get away with taping, it’s really
great, because you can actually use them to
study. You can listen to the lectures while
you drive or cook or dress,
——–
Stefan, posted this comment on Nov 8th, 2007
Very nice and certainly useful, but I’d change the title of the article to “How to actually learn at school” or something; instead of “How to study”. Just a suggestion, tough ^^