The title is “Avoid these 7 study mistakes this fall”, and the fall has already gone, for sure but the post is valid any time you study. I really liked this blog post and I highly recommend it.
Study in a brain-friendly way: The five most common problems when making a long-term plan and solutions
PROBLEM 1: I don’t know how to plan in revision.
By far the most important thing is that you actually plan in time for revision – many students forget about this.
Ideally, you should spread out your revision as much as possible, so you are revising the material more often at the start rather than at the end. Also, you should go over the materials you learned the previous day and you should do it everyday, but it is not necessary to write down that in the long-term plan.
PROBLEM 2: I’m already behind. What should I do?
If you’re already too far behind, it’s sometimes impossible to get everything done.
Sometimes you can still pass your exams if you spend more time studying. This does mean that you’ll have less time for other things in the coming period, such as free time. Are you prepared to do that? And more importantly, is it realistic? If the answer to both questions is yes, make a solid plan and test during the following week whether it’s actually feasible.
Another option is to perform your tasks less perfectly than you normally should do. Are some chapters less important? It’s a question of setting priorities and making choices. If you use this approach, it’s a good idea to test after a week whether you have learnt the material well enough. Sometimes ok is also good enough.
A third option is to postpone examinations or drop courses, if that’s at all possible. If it’s really not going to work, that could be the best decision.
It’s a hard choice, but it’s good to determine that your plan isn’t realistic early on, so that you can adapt it and get back to working efficiently.
PROBLEM 3: I don’t know if my plan is realistic.
This is often difficult to judge. The best thing is to give yourself a week to test it out. Keep track of how much time you spend studying, and check things off your list as you do them. If you do between 80% and 120% of the things you have planned, you’re on the right track. If you get less than 80% done in the first week, it’s probably too much.
PROBLEM 4: We only find out what the assignments are during the actual week we need to hand it in.
This isn’t ideal for creating a plan, but it’s not a deal-breaker. If you know that there will be assignments each week, you can include them in your long-term plan. Once you have done the first assignment, you can estimate how much time you will need to complete the rest. You just have to be sure that the assignments will be evenly spread over the weeks. You can still plan in other activities, such as reading, going to lectures and revision. It’s great if you can get some of the tasks done in advance, so you have some time left if the assignments take longer than expected.
PROBLEM 5: I have to do a written assignment. How should I plan that in?
Written assignments are always difficult to plan. Usually, it’s best to work backwards. When do you have to submit the final assignment? When do you have to submit the first version? And the conclusion or discussion? The other chapters? The first draft? And so you plan your schedule by working backwards.
No idea how much time you will need? Use the number of credits for the assignment as a starting point. Calculate the corresponding number of study hours and divide this by the number of weeks you have for the assignment. Then you have an idea of how many hours per week you will probably need. You can also ask fellow students or your lecturer to share their estimates and experiences.
Study in a brain-friendly way: Tips to enhance growth mindsets
Read about growth mindsets or watch an interview or film about what happens in your brain when you learn.
Remember that the aim of learning is to learn. It doesn’t always have to be fun. Being happy or enjoying what you are learning is certainly an advantage, but it’s not a dealbreaker. There is nothing wrong with a little discomfort while you learn. Don’t be put off if you don’t always enjoy learning; it’s really not important.
Note: making a mistake is a valuable lesson in itself. Most people don’t like making mistakes, but seen as a valuable lesson, mistakes take on a different meaning. You are, after all, learning. And if learning is important to you, mistakes become valuable.
Try to think of something that you are now better at than you were in the past. What was it that you found difficult, but which has now become easier? How did you achieve this? Thinking about this will put you into a growth mindset.
When you hear yourself saying ‘I can’t do this!’…….add ‘yet’
Study in a brain-friendly way: Reading and summarizing research articles
What is the most effective method for studying research articles?
FORMULATE THE GOAL
Start by thinking carefully about why you have to read the article. This will help you to determine your approach! What do you need to take out or remember from it? Do you need to read and summarize the entire article or is it sufficient to know the main conclusions?
SELECT PARTS TO READ
An article isn’t a novel: you don’t have to read it from beginning to end. Most articles are structured into sections using clear headings, and you can choose which sections are actually of interest and use to you. And you don’t have to read the sections in order.
A general rule of thumb is:
WHAT TO READ FOR AN EXAM?
Try to find out what the focus of your lecturer is: do you need general understanding of the article’s conclusion (in which case Abstract, Conclusion or Discussion will do), or should you be able to look critically at the methods of the research as well (in which it will be useful to read Methodology chapter)?
If unsure: definitely read the Abstract, followed by the Conclusion and Discussion. When reading the conclusion, it can also help to take a look at the visuals (graphs, tables, charts) in the results section. This will give you the gist of the article. If you don’t know much about the subject yet, consider to read the Introduction as well: this will give you the background information you need.
Reading these sections is usually enough, but there are some exceptions:
Are you expected to learn more about the data analysis or to formulate an opinion on the quality thereof? Then you will also need to read the Results section carefully.
Are you expected to compare how different studies are conducted? Or will you have to formulate an opinion on the quality of the research method used? Then you will also need to read the Methodology section.
WHAT TO READ FOR A THESIS OR WRITING ASSIGNMENT?
Are you reading the articles because you have to write about them? If so, you can also read the sections in the order mentioned above: start with the abstract. If it seems interesting and relevant, move on to the discussion and conclusion. If you’re actually going to use the article, read the whole thing.
If you don’t know much about the subject yet and still need some basic background knowledge, read the introduction and/or theory section. This will give you a more general understanding of the topic. Here, too, the goal can help you decide on your approach: If you’re reading articles to help you decide which research methods or analysis methods to use for your own study, then it goes without saying that you should also read those sections!
MAKE A SUMMARY
You can use the TC method to make a summary. When reading for exam, try to include:
Research question
Answer / key findings
Implications
Limitations
When reading for thesis or paper, also include;
Citation information (author, date, journal, volume, pages, etc.)
What you want to use from the article (findings, quotes, etc.)
References to follow up on
In your summary, only include things you didn’t already know and are relevant to your exam or writing assignment.
Study in a brain-friendly way: What should you do during study breaks?
First, set a timer when you want to start studying again. Then do something that doesn’t require you to think very much. So don’t use your break for difficult matters such as difficult phone calls or emails. Physical activity is a good option because it helps relax your mind. And obviously if you have a 15 minute break, it’s not a good moment to start your favourite new series.
Write down all study appointments. For example: Lectures, work groups, seminars, deadlines for essays and exams.
Write down the already planned and important social appointments. For example: Working hours for a (voluntary) job, sports, important parties, dinner appointments.
Write down necessary time to relax. We recommend keeping at least one day free of study of study tasks, for example in the weekend. Also, take into consideration: Mornings after a late-night activity, and evenings after a long day of work.
Write down self-study time. When will you be able to study? Study appointments + self-study should comprise about a full-time job (40 hours per week). What will you do during this study time? When will you have breaks?
Now write down some buffer time. Life is full of surpries. In all lives unexpected events will occur. So, it’s absolutely necessary to plan in buffer time. In the time you plan in ‘in reserve’ you can complete tasks that have been delayed. If there is no (study) delay, buffer times becomes free time.
Think about the time-slots that are still empty. Are there specific things you would like to do in this time? If not, name them: ‘free time’. Especially if you’re a perfectionistic person, it’s good to also make your ‘free time’ SMART so you know when you are NOT going to worry about your studies.
When you have to deal with definitions, learn them all by heart
Make a summary that you read at least once every day
During the lecture
Arrive early, so you can sit in one of the front rows in the lecture hall
Make notes, using the Topic-Comment Method. It helps processing the information that you acquire, and you also create revision material for your exams
Engage! Teaching is not a one way process, so respond to the lecturer and bring on your own questions
After the lecture
Study in an active manner. Try to study examples, think of counter examples, create and solve your own problems, revise your notes and/or discuss them with classmates
Look online, also look for non-academic sources. So busying yourself with the lecture topic
Psychology divides the learning and memory creation process into three important stages
Encoding - initial learning of information
Storage - retaining of information in long-term memory
Retrieval - access and use of encoded and stored information
Strategies for different stages of the memory process
Encoding - initial exposure to stimulus
▫️ Elaborative encoding
▪️ A mnemonic that relates to-be-remembered information to previously existing memories and knowledge
▪️ If you are unable to answer “How?” or “Why?” then that could be a potential gap in your knowledge
▫️ Semantic encoding
▪️ The process of giving meaning to a piece of information employing techniques such as chunking, mnemonics, and memory palaces
▪️ The meaning of something (a word, phrase, picture, event, whatever) is encoded as opposed to the sound or vision of it
▪️ Semantic encoding results in better long-term retention of information when compared with strategies such as rote memorization
▫️ Dual coding
▪️ This is the idea of using different types of stimuli to help learners encode information in their brains more effectively. For example, visual and verbal
Storage- maintaining information on long-term memory
▫️ Chunking
▫️ Mnemonics
▫️ Sleeping
Retrieval - access and utilization of information that has been encoded and stored
Listen carefully. Even if you feel that you are not an auditory learner, try your best to listen carefully and attentively. For example, a teacher may emphasize important information or add information from his experience that you will not read anywhere
Read curiously. If you try to learn what you are curious about, chances are you will remember what you read much more easily and quickly. So look for interest in everything. You never know what will be helpful to you in the future
Think critically. The sharing of different opinions, theories, or queries can help you develop deeper critical thinking around subjects. Read my post about ‘critical thinking’
Note-taking actively. Think actively, make connections. Don’t just write notes for you to have them. Instead, write notes consciously, adding illustrations, diagrams, and information from different sources
Remember regularly. Review your notes, index cards, mind maps time to time. Make a plan for when to repeat each topic. Practice makes permanent
Reflect personally. You should ensure that you reflect on what you are learning. How does it relate to you? How can it help you in your future profession?
Explain verbally. One of the best ways to establish whether or not you have grasped what you have just studied is to explain it to someone
hey everyone! if you’re just stumbling upon this post and are new here, i’m going into my 3rd year of undergrad in bio for health sci a.k.a pre-med sorta deal! i did this post last year and u guys loved it, i also think its a great ways for us #studyblrs to share more . this is just an update into what courses i’ll be taking this year, life updates, tips i learnt from last year + more!
PICKING COURSES
my courses:
I’m a health sci bio major with a double minor in chem + business! so here is what my full-time year of studies looks like (5 courses per semester)
physiology of neurons & muscles
human development
structural biochem
metabolism & bioenergetics
neurosci
statistics
lab in cell & molecular bio
molecular bio
fundamentals of marketing
managing projects & business plans
for freshman, your courses are pretty set and you likely won’t have much choice around what you actually want to take, so unless you’re an upper-year, you likely won’t see more interesting course titles like what i have above. not much for an update in this section, i planned most of my courses last year, but the most frustrating thing that happened was 9/10 courses i wanted to take were in my fall semester originally, so i have to do A LOT of rearranging, anywho…..
scheduling:
i’ll link last years post here as i went into pretty deep detail of how i schedule my courses and how you can too!
other tips + updates:
it’s always okay to change your programs!! (ie. major, minor, specialist) don’t let the standard of “a 4-year degree” fool you into thinking you can’t take longer. its always a good idea to look ahead and try to plan, but this age of our lives is when we’re changing the most and really finding who we are and what we want to do with the rest of our lives. it’s definitely not something to rush.
if you have to do summer courses, or retake courses, or take an extra semester, don’t beat yourself up. it happens to 99% of people!
take me for example!! i went into school thinking 100% i wanted to go down the med path, now here i am starting my 3rd year and I’m not so sure. I’m more so looking at doing my masters in physical therapy. you change, life changes, and you find what works BEST for you and the path you want for your life.
ALSO your path doesn’t have to be linear, or the typical; if you want to go to med/law/other post grad school, but your grades or extra curricular didn’t necessarily cut it, that’s okay! maybe you’ll work somewhere for a year or two and go back to school and get in. basically what I’m trying to say is if there is a career path that you love, don’t give up, and don’t think you have to get there the same way as someone else did.
currently, my fall courses are all completely online (minus 1 in-person tutorial) i hope most of you will be in-person, unlike me. but i’ll continue to post both online and in-person study tips as the year progresses.!
LIFE BESIDES SCHOOL
this summer i was lucky enough to work as an online PT, and this will probably continue part time into the school year. besides my other social accounts kinda blowing up, working on Syrse Dawn, I’ve been crazy busy with everything. I’m a little worried about balancing everything come the school szn, but as usual, i always prioritize my school work
we love academic validation haha….no but seriously, i love learning and school, and doing well has always been important to me, so while my work is important, mental health and school come first.
right now some passion projects and summer bucket list things I’ve been working on are finishing a current novel I’m writing (haven’t finished writing one since 2015), reading 1 more book, filling a sketchbook, going for a sunrise swim and honestly just spending as much time with my friends as fam as possible!
• • • • • •
like last year, i’d love to create a chain of studyblrs doing an update like this, sharing their courses for the year, how they organize them, updates + more! so if you get tagged, add to this chain + tag 5 more studyblr accounts!!
Taken from Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld, daughter of the Tiger Mother
Preliminary Steps
1. Choose classes that interest you. That way studying doesn’t feel like slave labor. If you don’t want to learn, then I can’t help you. 2. Make some friends. See steps 12, 13, 23, 24.
General Principles
3. Study less, but study better. 4. Avoid Autopilot Brain at all costs. 5. Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 6. Write it down. 7. Suck it up, buckle down, get it done.
Plan of Attack Phase I: Class
8. Show up. Everything will make a lot more sense that way, and you will save yourself a lot of time in the long run. 9. Take notes by hand. I don’t know the science behind it, but doing anything by hand is a way of carving it into your memory. Also, if you get bored you will doodle, which is still a thousand times better than ending up on stumbleupon or something.
Phase II: Study Time
10.Get out of the library. The sheer fact of being in a library doesn’t fill you with knowledge. Eight hours of Facebooking in the library is still eight hours of Facebooking. Also, people who bring food and blankets to the library and just stay there during finals week start to smell weird. Go home and bathe. You can quiz yourself while you wash your hair. 11.Do a little every day, but don’t let it be your whole day. “This afternoon, I will read a chapter of something and do half a problem set. Then, I will watch an episode of South Park and go to the gym” ALWAYS BEATS “Starting right now, I am going to read as much as I possibly can…oh wow, now it’s midnight, I’m on page five, and my room reeks of ramen and dysfunction.” 12.Give yourself incentive. There’s nothing worse than a gaping abyss of study time. If you know you’re going out in six hours, you’re more likely to get something done. 13. Allow friends to confiscate your phone when they catch you playing Angry Birds. Oh and if you think you need a break, you probably don’t.
Phase III: Assignments
14.Stop highlighting. Underlining is supposed to keep you focused, but it’s actually a one-way ticket to Autopilot Brain. You zone out, look down, and suddenly you have five pages of neon green that you don’t remember reading. Write notes in the margins instead. 15. Do all your own work. You get nothing out of copying a problem set. It’s also shady. 16. Read as much as you can. No way around it. Stop trying to cheat with Sparknotes. 17.Be a smart reader, not a robot (lol).Ask yourself: What is the author trying to prove? What is the logical progression of the argument? You can usually answer these questions by reading the introduction and conclusion of every chapter. Then, pick any two examples/anecdotes and commit them to memory (write them down). They will help you reconstruct the author’s argument later on. 18.Don’t read everything, but understand everything that you read. Better to have a deep understanding of a limited amount of material, than to have a vague understanding of an entire course. Once again: Vague is bad. Vague is a waste of your time. 19. Bullet points. For essays, summarizing, everything.
Phase IV: Reading Period (Review Week)
20. Once again: do not move into the library. Eat, sleep, and bathe. 21. If you don’t understand it, it will definitely be on the exam. Solution: textbooks; the internet. 22. Do all the practice problems. This one is totally tiger mom. 23. People are often contemptuous of rote learning. Newsflash: even at great intellectual bastions like Harvard, you will be required to memorize formulas, names and dates. To memorize effectively: stop reading your list over and over again. It doesn’t work. Say it out loud, write it down. Remember how you made friends? Have them quiz you, then return the favor. 24. Again with the friends: ask them to listen while you explain a difficult concept to them. This forces you to articulate your understanding. Remember, vague is bad. 25.Go for the big picture. Try to figure out where a specific concept fits into the course as a whole. This will help you tap into Big Themes – every class has Big Themes – which will streamline what you need to know. You can learn a million facts, but until you understand how they fit together, you’re missing the point.
i’m so behind oops. Also, thank you guys so much for 1k followers! I’ll try to be more active on here since it makes me motivated seeing that people enjoy my content!
