Study for 10 hours or 18 hours or even for 24 hours and still you’ll be at the same level where you were before, possible that you even get a little far behind.
Why?
Maybe you’re doing it all wrong.
Just 3 minutes of reading wouldn’t harm!
Read it all to get 5 Learning Tips curated by scientists after years of research and deep surveys. 3rd ONE IS MOST IMPORTANT!
Learning Tips By Scientists
1. Mood for Learning
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov in his classical conditioning experiment made dogs salivate as soon as they heard the bell ring – in anticipation of food.
The logic is—if you study the same subject at the same time, same place, your brain makes the association.
Over a period of time, you just need to follow the clock, and you will automatically get in the mood for learning. Whether you like the subject or hate it, this trick does its wonders!
2. Study in Shorter Sessions
Psychologists found that students learn as much in one-hour sessions spread over four days as they learn in one six-hour marathon session.
It means you can cut your study time by at least 30% by using a well-planned study schedule.
As grasping potentiality of the human brain reduces after 40 minutes due to boredom, lack of attention and any digression. So, the ideal time for a study session should be between 40-45 mins.
3. Dr. Walter Pauk’s OK4R Method of Learning
To make exam preparation easier and less time-taking, Dr. Walter Pauk, former Director of the Reading and Study Center at Cornell University, formulated a learning method –
O – Overview – Start by reading only the title, the introductory, and summarizing paragraphs and all the headings included in the reading material. Then you’ll have a general idea of what topics will be discussed.
K – Key Ideas – Now you need to find the key ideas from entire reading material. Try to read the bold, the italic part, bulleted sections, itemizations, pictures and tables.
R1 – Read – Now read the entire course from start to end. As you already know the flow and theme of the book, hence you’ll be able to read it quickly.
R2 – Recall – Now you need to keep the book aside and start writing few key points, headings, titles of whatever you have read so far. The most forgetting place is immediately after the initial reading. Therefore, Dr. Pauk suggests, “One minute spent in immediate recall nearly doubles retention of that piece of data!”
R3 – Reflect – The previous step helps to fix the data into your memory. This step enables you to concrete that forever. Try to find relationship of whatever you have read so far with the previous knowledge or similar topics.
R4 – Review – Now test yourself, do few short quizzes, tests to review your knowledge over a period of time and this will take a good time.
You should know about this trending Study Method developed by Francesco Cirillo in 1980s!
4. Use Graphs, Pictures and Colors
Scientists found that the human mind recognizes images even before it understands sound.
When I utter ‘Apple’, it is the image that comes to your mind first. Using more flowchart, infographics, videos to clear concepts and highlighting/marking your important pointers using different colors for different categories are advised.
For example, you can use blue to highlight a formula, yellow for the names of principles/theories, etc. this technique is helpful in memorizing.
5. Practice Sample Papers
At the revision time, educationists suggest that you shouldn’t start any new course or book. Read whatever you have read so far and practice that as much as you can.
Take the help of sample papers as they are best in the revision time. In the revision time you don’t need new books or new topics but need new questions based on the previous topics for which sample papers are the best.
Bottom Line
Research have found that it doesn’t matter how much you study but how well you study and from where you study during that time.
Follow these tips as they are formulated not just on the basis of bookish texts but are created after thorough research and years of practical surveys.
All the Best!
