Making the Most of Your Leaving Cert Year: Practical Tips on Effective Learning
Prof. Aidan Moran School of Psychology UCD September 2006 Introduction As you prepare to enter your last year in school, please answer the following question about the learning habits you have acquired so far. Have you ever experienced a sudden and irresistible urge to tidy your room, watch television or visit a friend when faced with the task of doing your homework or engaging in some independent study? If so, then you know from personal experience how “displacement activities” (or self-created distractions) can prevent you from tackling your textbooks. But just because you are rarely in the mood for study does not mean that you cannot become a disciplined and effective learner. As the famous psychologist William James observed so shrewdly over a century ago, “it is easier to act your way into a feeling than to feel your way into an action!”. In other words, people's behaviour often controls their mood - not the other way around. And so, by adopting a routine of studying at the same time in the same place every day, you will not only develop a valuable learning habit but also “inoculate” yourself against the host of distractions that surround you. Based on this psychological principle, here are some practical tips which will help you to increase your motivation, sharpen your thinking and improve your memory for what you learn. 1. Listen actively in the classroom Many students are like sponges. They “soak up” what teachers tell them but rarely try to express this knowledge in their own words. On the other hand, successful learners are like prospectors for gold - always trying to add nuggets of new information to the wealth of what they already know. And strangely enough, the more you know about a given topic, the more you will remember about this field. For example, if you love history or literature, then your mind will assimilate new information about these topics effortlessly simply because your interest has “programmed” your memory. But you can fool your mind into paying attention to something by asking questions about it. And so, the best way to become an active listener is to ask plenty of questions - both in class and on your “summary sheets” (see tip 6 below).
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2. Develop a study routine As far as possible, try to study in the same place at the same time every day. This routine approach has two main advantages. First, it will condition you to associate studying with a particular place and time. In addition, it will reduce the amount of time you would otherwise waste in “settling in” to different study environments. 3. Tidy your study environment Most people prefer neat to cluttered environments. Therefore, try to keep your desk as a work-place not as a storage place. This will not only reduce the distractions available to you but will also encourage you to return to your study environment regularly. 4. Study regularly and briefly - rather than “cramming” at the last minute Try to study in blocks of time which do not exceed your concentration span. For example, break up a study session into periods of about 50 minutes each. For each one, write down your specific question at the top of the page and insert relevant information underneath. Then, at the end of the session, put your summary notes aside and spend about 5 minutes trying to recall what you have learned. Ask yourself: “What specifically did I learn from this study session?” This quick review (called “overlearning”) will consolidate your memory. 5. Ask questions before you read “Studying” involves more than reading: It involves reading with a purpose - to obtain specific answers to specific questions. For example, what is photosynthesis and how does it work? Questioning promotes your learning in three ways. First, it forces you to think critically about what you have read because you must distinguish between “relevant” and “irrelevant “ information (on the basis of whether or not it helps to answer your specific study question). Second, it improves your memory because the more questions you ask, the easier it is to relate new information to what you already know. Finally, questioning increases your concentration by focusing your mind on only one target at a time. Therefore, to study effectively, you must specify 2-3 specific questions before you open your books or notes. Remember - questioning is the key to active learning. 6. Use summary sheets
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As you read, make brief summaries of any information which seems relevant to your 2-3 study questions. This condensed information will help you to prepare essays and exam answers. If possible, avoid such techniques as underlining, transcription or photocopying as they do not condense the material that you wish to learn. You are not thinking effectively unless you are trying to summarise what is most important in any passage of text. 7. Give yourself rewards for work done - not for avoiding work Most students are experts at rewarding themselves - but for the wrong behavior! For example, by taking a break before tackling a maths problem, you are learning to avoid the challenge of hard work. So, the trick is to give yourself a reward (e.g. a cup of coffee or a visit to a friend) - but only after successful completion of a given study session. The principle here is that activities which are followed by rewarding consequences tend to become rewarding in themselves. 8. Work SMARTer not harder If you like to use time-tables, then make sure that your study goals are “SMART”. Each letter stands for a different feature of an effective goal. In other words, your goals should be specific (“I'm going to study Economics tonight between 7 and 8 pm”), measurable (“I'm going to focus on Ch. 7 only”), active (“I shall go to the library for an hour after my last lecture”), realistic (“one chapter at a time”) and time-tabled (e.g. two hours of private study for every class hour per week). 9. From time to time, test yourself under exam-conditions A good way to improve your memory in exams is to test your ability to recall your summary sheets under simulated exam conditions (e.g. testing what you can remember about a topic for 45 minutes in the absence of your books/notes). Research suggests that successful students test their memories more often than do less successful counterparts. Prof. Aidan Moran is Director of the Psychology Research Laboratory in the School of Psychology, University College, Dublin, and author of the best selling book Managing Your Own Learning at University: A Practical Guide (2000, UCD Press) as well as a number of books on sport psychology. His latest book (with Michael O’Connell) is entitled Timeless Wisdom: What Irish Proverbs Tell Us About Ourselves (2006, UCD Press).
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