5 ms·

Think You Know How To Study? Think Again

72 points by fogus 16y ago

ihodes 16y ago
I think the NYT article (linked to in the NPR one) has a better, less metaphor-rife explanation of the current research. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_...
wisty 16y ago
Well, it looks like some students will be getting a surprise test tomorrow.
twillerelator 16y ago
They assume that the purpose of study is to pass tests.
- Pyrodogg 16y ago
  It's not so much an assumption on their part as a realization thats what we've turned the education system into, at least in America. In primary, secondary and even advanced schooling, there is a heavy focus on the students doing well on the (section/chapter/book) test just so they can drop it all and cram for the next one. Sure, there is some incremental build up of knowledge or they wouldn't be getting anywhere. However, there is little focus on cumulative review and testing.
  - bxr 16y ago
    >thats what we've turned the education system into, at least in America This is in no part helped by NCLB testing. The school stopped normal classes for a week to spend time teaching us how to take tests so that the school could perform well. Who can be surprised that the last thing people are actually learning in schools is how to best prepare for tests?
- binaryfinery 16y ago
  Indeed. This is why I aced at Imperial but sucked at Cambridge. If your goal is to learn proficiency in a skill or a set of knowledge that is presented to you, then test, test, test. But my test-acing skills didn't help when the goal was to go out and find all the information I needed and then draw conclusions.
  - SkyMarshal 16y ago
    A British friend with a PhD from Manchester claims that is why the UK PhD system produces more Nobels per capita than any other - it essentially throws students into the water with little structure and forces them to sink or swim, which better prepares them for real-world research.
    - dhimes 16y ago
      ... and helps keep the denominator of the per capita small.
addoway 16y ago
The unfortunate circumstance is that most students only study to get good grades, but if they studied instead to really learn and grasp the material they would be incorporating those tips throughout the course of the class and retain most if not all the information. Cramming is just to pass a test, not to really learn anything. People often ask, "What is algebra really going to do for me later in life?" Well if you learned it over time and not just crammed for it there are many ways you can use it. Math is a proven and powerful way to develop critical and analytical thinking skills which end up being useful in every area of life, but will not get those skills cramming.
Nemisis7654 16y ago
These are nice tips. I employ some of them at times, such as testing yourself and mixing it up, but the other ones I haven't. I tend to study either in my room at my house or the same desk at the library. Maybe I should try to mix it up sometimes. And the spacing it out thing...ha. I procrastinate waaay to much for that. Maybe I should stop that.
verisimilitude 16y ago
As a professional student, I will save you all some time. The secret of studying is encompassed in three programs: * Anki[1] (spaced repetition[2]) * SelfControl[3] (avoid procrastination, block websites) * Pink Noise[4] (block noise to study anywhere, anytime) [1]: http://ichi2.net/anki/ http://ichi2.net/anki/ [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition [3]: http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ [4]: http://simplynoise.com/ http://simplynoise.com/
- sosuke 16y ago
  I started watching Anki videos and I downloaded the program and installed it before the first video was done. This looks really amazing, thank you!
- philfreo 16y ago
  Would love to get your thoughts on Quizlet http://quizlet.com/ http://quizlet.com/
  - whimsy 16y ago
    No computer science in your default subjects on the right? >=p For shame! Anyway, here's a review from the perspective of someone who currently uses Anki off and on as his study aid du jour. Your samples ("Browse by Subject") look like they're targeted at high-school level education; that was kind of a turn-off. (That is, I was expecting this section to give me an incentive to switch, but I already know this stuff pretty well - I was hoping to see higher level physics and chemistry stuff.) I was worried that I wouldn't be able to insert images, but I found that. Add LaTeX rendering and I would almost be sold. For me, the biggest draw for Anki is that it exploits SRS (Piotr Wozniak's forgetting curve, etc). If Quizlet did that (and showed me how it did it) and maybe e-mailed me when it was time to review cards (or maybe a digest of how many cards I need to study today) that would be enough to get me to switch over, and to recommend it to friends over Anki.
    - philfreo 16y ago
pyre 16y ago
Doing practice quizzes can help you retrieve information on test day. "Tests have a very bad rap as a measurement tool," Carey says. But psychologists have found self-tests slow down the forgetting of material you've studied. "If you study something once, and then you test yourself on it," Carey says, "you do better than if you study it two times over." Makes sense. You get the feedback of feeling good when you get answers right, and you learn from mistakes when you get something wrong (i.e. the memory of thinking about your wrong answer and the right answer 'sticks' better in your mind).

72 points by fogus 16y ago

I think the NYT article (linked to in the NPR one) has a better, less metaphor-rife explanation of the current research. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_...

wisty 16y ago

Well, it looks like some students will be getting a surprise test tomorrow.

twillerelator 16y ago

They assume that the purpose of study is to pass tests.

Pyrodogg 16y ago
It's not so much an assumption on their part as a realization thats what we've turned the education system into, at least in America. In primary, secondary and even advanced schooling, there is a heavy focus on the students doing well on the (section/chapter/book) test just so they can drop it all and cram for the next one. Sure, there is some incremental build up of knowledge or they wouldn't be getting anywhere. However, there is little focus on cumulative review and testing.
- bxr 16y ago
  >thats what we've turned the education system into, at least in America This is in no part helped by NCLB testing. The school stopped normal classes for a week to spend time teaching us how to take tests so that the school could perform well. Who can be surprised that the last thing people are actually learning in schools is how to best prepare for tests?
binaryfinery 16y ago
Indeed. This is why I aced at Imperial but sucked at Cambridge. If your goal is to learn proficiency in a skill or a set of knowledge that is presented to you, then test, test, test. But my test-acing skills didn't help when the goal was to go out and find all the information I needed and then draw conclusions.
- SkyMarshal 16y ago
  A British friend with a PhD from Manchester claims that is why the UK PhD system produces more Nobels per capita than any other - it essentially throws students into the water with little structure and forces them to sink or swim, which better prepares them for real-world research.
  - dhimes 16y ago
    ... and helps keep the denominator of the per capita small.

addoway 16y ago

The unfortunate circumstance is that most students only study to get good grades, but if they studied instead to really learn and grasp the material they would be incorporating those tips throughout the course of the class and retain most if not all the information. Cramming is just to pass a test, not to really learn anything. People often ask, "What is algebra really going to do for me later in life?" Well if you learned it over time and not just crammed for it there are many ways you can use it. Math is a proven and powerful way to develop critical and analytical thinking skills which end up being useful in every area of life, but will not get those skills cramming.

Nemisis7654 16y ago

These are nice tips. I employ some of them at times, such as testing yourself and mixing it up, but the other ones I haven't. I tend to study either in my room at my house or the same desk at the library. Maybe I should try to mix it up sometimes. And the spacing it out thing...ha. I procrastinate waaay to much for that. Maybe I should stop that.

verisimilitude 16y ago

As a professional student, I will save you all some time. The secret of studying is encompassed in three programs: * Anki[1] (spaced repetition[2]) * SelfControl[3] (avoid procrastination, block websites) * Pink Noise[4] (block noise to study anywhere, anytime) [1]: http://ichi2.net/anki/ http://ichi2.net/anki/ [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition [3]: http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ http://visitsteve.com/work/selfcontrol/ [4]: http://simplynoise.com/ http://simplynoise.com/

sosuke 16y ago
I started watching Anki videos and I downloaded the program and installed it before the first video was done. This looks really amazing, thank you!
philfreo 16y ago
Would love to get your thoughts on Quizlet http://quizlet.com/ http://quizlet.com/
- whimsy 16y ago
  No computer science in your default subjects on the right? >=p For shame! Anyway, here's a review from the perspective of someone who currently uses Anki off and on as his study aid du jour. Your samples ("Browse by Subject") look like they're targeted at high-school level education; that was kind of a turn-off. (That is, I was expecting this section to give me an incentive to switch, but I already know this stuff pretty well - I was hoping to see higher level physics and chemistry stuff.) I was worried that I wouldn't be able to insert images, but I found that. Add LaTeX rendering and I would almost be sold. For me, the biggest draw for Anki is that it exploits SRS (Piotr Wozniak's forgetting curve, etc). If Quizlet did that (and showed me how it did it) and maybe e-mailed me when it was time to review cards (or maybe a digest of how many cards I need to study today) that would be enough to get me to switch over, and to recommend it to friends over Anki.
  - philfreo 16y ago

pyre 16y ago

Doing practice quizzes can help you retrieve information on test day. "Tests have a very bad rap as a measurement tool," Carey says. But psychologists have found self-tests slow down the forgetting of material you've studied. "If you study something once, and then you test yourself on it," Carey says, "you do better than if you study it two times over." Makes sense. You get the feedback of feeling good when you get answers right, and you learn from mistakes when you get something wrong (i.e. the memory of thinking about your wrong answer and the right answer 'sticks' better in your mind).