Comments on: How to Study

By: angelvalerie

angelvalerie — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:58:09 +0000

I agree that teaching something is often the best way to learn it – especially maths in my experience! Algebra and such seem to suddenly make sense when you are on the explaining side of things :)

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 20 May 2009 01:33:03 +0000

@Mohammad – It’s all about how engaged you are with the text. Highlighting can be fine so long as you don’t highlight every word. Another technique is to write very small summaries next to each paragraph, saying what it’s about.

Whenever you finish a chapter or (if the chapters are long) segment of a chapter, close the book and write down a 1-2 paragraph summary of what you’ve just read. This will really help solidify it in your mind. Also, when you get to the end of the book, you’ll have this lovely recap to jog your memory.

In terms of mind-mapping, think about what the main idea in the chapter was and put that in the middle, then branch out from there into major themes and sub-themes.

Hope this helps!

By: Khürt Williams

Khürt Williams — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:36:24 +0000

I have found that what works best for me is to read the material before a lecture, then listen (note taking distracts me from learning so I don’t do it) and ask questions during the lecture, then re-read the material, do the home work, go do something else.

By: Mohammad

Mohammad — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:24:44 +0000

I’m looking for techniques regarding text mark-up, summarization and memorization. I used to highlight the key words in a text but I’ve heard that drawing a box around the key words in a text is much more effective. In this way they are catched and sticked to the brain better. I’d like to inform myself more on this subject. I’d also like to know how should I link them and make a logical map of it so that I can recall the whole text just by glancing at the map. Does anyone know any resource or website regarding that?

By the way, thanks Mark for your great effort. Useful article, amazing site. Highly appreciated. I’ll recommend it to my friends.

By: Elisa Miguel

Elisa Miguel — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:30:59 +0000

I have always found that taking the information down in different ways is helpful.

I read the book, write the material, type out the material, speak it into a tape recorder, and listen to it. This allows me to take the information in using all of my senses and different parts of the brain.

By: Brian Darvell

Brian Darvell — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:45:49 +0000

I particularly enjoy the ‘write about’ comment. I use both a personal notebook to capture thoughts and ideas and then if I am feeling really interested I will write a post on the computer – perhaps for my blog.

I think one of the biggest things to remember about learning is not to rush it. This is particularly important for younger people since many of us are used to cramming and rushing for exams only to forget about all the material we ‘learned’ within a few hours of writing the test. Take it slow and at your own pace. There’s no use to rushing it anyway since you will never learn all there is to know, no matter how hard you try…

By: Chad Kurzawski » Archives » Tips for Studying

Chad Kurzawski » Archives » Tips for Studying — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:59:43 +0000

[...] a good posting at Productivity 501 on >how to study. Most of the best tips involve active learning…the more you DO, the better chance the [...]