After a long day and many sleepless nights,
we finish our exam, we get in the car and
when we return home, the first question we get from our family is “how was your exam?”
Some might answer the exam went great.
Others might say it didn’t go well
Without doubt, we are all making an effort
to learn so why does this happen?
Why would a group of students say the exam
went well and others say it was terrible?
Why does the information just fly away as
soon as we’re handed our exam paper?
The worst thing is that we pass the test with
the highest scores but the information just evaporates!
We always hear the advice study smart not
hard but how do we apply this piece of advice,
and is it true if we apply this to our life,
our study life will be easier and effortless?
The answer is of course not because effort
and work is required for us to achieve our dreams!
However, the trick is to put your time and
effort in smart plans that are different from
traditional study methods.
Now, you have saved your time and effort and
you got much better results.
Most of us follow a study method we all know
and apply, it may have been successful or
maybe not, and there is a group of people
who searched for better methods and improved them
Before we discuss the best methods, let’s
tell you more about the methods we all use
but based on numerous research (you can read
them in the descriptions box) they are not effective.
First method: Re-reading
Various studies have reported that rereading
is not an effective study method
even though most people use it.
then, What’s the reason?
Simply it’s because of the saying “practice
makes perfect”.
This makes us under the illusion that we studied
the curriculum and revised it but all we did
was repeat the information without checking
to see if we understood it or not.
The evidence for this is that we study 3 or
4 times a day but at the time of the exam
we say “I know this question and I have
read the information but I don’t know the answer?”
To summarize and so we don’t upset our ancestors,
lets adjust the saying to
“practice with understanding makes perfect”
Second method: Highlighting
Exactly what we used to do and it would help
us highlight important words.
Unfortunately, studies have shown that this
too is an ineffective study method.
Think about it, how is this helping us besides
adding more colour to the page
and giving us the impression we studied?
Did we understand the lecture and comprehend
everything?
No... even with everything we said most people
will continue to use this method
but let’s not rely on it too much.
Third method: summaries
Is another thing we all do and each person
has their own method.
Okay, why have studies shown it’s ineffective?
Simply because its application most of the
time is incorrect,
so we go back and copy the texts in the lectures and make it suitable for us.
This isn’t a good summery it’s rearrangement
of the information.
These methods take not just effort but also a very long time
and this is what we mean in the section study hard.
This is what we want to stay away from, because
we study and get tired but we don’t study
smart and this makes us feel we finished the
curriculum and we relax our conscious.
This doesn’t help us at all because these
methods fall under passive learning whereby
we as students receive ready-made information
and try to assimilate it.
So how can we take it in a better way?
The solution is we study smart which is turning
passive learning into active learning
which relies on active recall or active retrieval.
Active recall is rearranging information in
our own way which makes us depend on ourselves
which increases communication between neurons
so we can retrieve information even if we
forget because we converted from short-term
memory to long-term memory.
By using methods based on this principle,
we can overcome many rumors including
“there are people who don’t benefit from studying”
or “some people are naturally smart”
or “some subjects are impossible to get an A+ in”
OK now, Why do some benefit from these methods but others don’t?
This comes down to our different personalities.
Visual learners rely on imaginative approaches
such as linking, drawing and stories which helps them a lot.
Auditory learners listen to lecture recordings
or their classmates’ explanation which help reinforce the information
Some enjoy writing and scribbling so when
they write summaries with their hands they remember the information
and a group of totally different
people work best under pressure
and they wait till the last minute.
Therefore, it’s important we understand
our personalities
because they’re the basis of determining the method that suits us.
Yes, we will try more than once and more than one method and this may take
a lot of time and effort to find the most suitable method.
but, when we find it, we would’ve solved many
of the problems we encounter
like anxiety before an exam, fear of forgetting
and most
importantly, we can retain the information.
You can find on the Internet different websites
From which you can find the most appropriate learning method that suits you
let us now tel boy about our new series
In our new series How to Study..?
Domogh has collected a group of students toshare our different experiences
and the methods that worked for us that helped us with our university journey.
We’ll present the most appropriate study
method for each subject and we’ll explain
the methods in detail which mostly rely on
active learning
like we said so you can apply it in the best way and
not make the mistakes we made.
Based on these mistakes, we asked our colleagues
that are older than us
on their opinion on specific subjects and how their experience was.
It’s not wrong to ask this question.
In our university life, it’s important to
ask about the subjects,
it's difficulty, examinations and the study methods
in order to build a perception and learn from them.
But the problem and error is when we start
to be afraid of the subject and we worry about
it even before we start and we create a barrier
before we get to know it.
so if someone says to you “this is subject is difficult”
or “honestly, I started studying while on vacation”
It doesn’t necessarily mean that their experience will be the same as yours
and their study method that worked for them will work for you.
Make your own personal experience and discover the subject.
Take information from colleagues who are older and listen to advice like:
 
 
 
Don't make the mistake of trying out too
many strategies at a time.
If there are multiple references or materials to
choose from for a particular course/rotation,
choose one and stick to it.
Jumping around between too many things may distract you
The second piece of advice you’ll maybe
hear and follow is the Pomodoro method
which is considered a method of time management
where you sort your study time over different periods with breaks in between them.
This will help you focus and stop getting
distracted.
Start by defining the task you want to accomplish and set the timer for 25-35 minutes
and during that time ignore all distractions and just focus on the task.
After your time ends, take a break that is
20% of your study time
which might be 7-5 minutes and repeat this for 4-5 times.
This method will allow you to accomplish more tasks.
Another tip you may find beneficial is using
methods such as
spaced repetition, retrieval practice and flash cards
which depend on active recall and this is what we aim for
All of the methods we mentioned, along with other methods, will be explained in our upcoming videos
that will help you decide the most
effective method for you based on our experiencesin healthcare specialties
we’ll explain the best and most suitable study method for each subject
especially the subjects that have a bad reputation from students.
Stay tuned for our next episode where we’ll
start with
the first subject that is taught in any healthcare specialty
guess it and write it in a comment below
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