Learning how to study

by Gabriella Boston Byline: Gabriella Boston Early December marks the final weeks of holiday shopping for many of us, but for area students, this time of year has a different, more serious implication: It's final exam time !hile many holiday shoppers may be able to cram all their purchasing into one day, few students can say the same about preparing for finals "o prepare effecti#ely, most students ha#e to plan their study schedule o#er a longer period of time, take good notes and repeat information multiple times, say academic counselors at uni#ersities in the District and $orthern %irginia &"he main issue is time management,& says 'ary (ee %ance, director of )cademic *upport and )d#ising *er#ices at George 'ason +ni#ersity in ,airfax -ity &I think people need to be taught and shown how to use their time more effecti#ely & )t )merican +ni#ersity, .athy *chwart/, director of the )cademic *upport -enter, gi#es students a blank fi#e0week schedule that can be used to designate study time 1ne column is de#oted to &goals,& and in this column, students can define what study goals they ha#e for a specific day or week If you study consistently and ha#e time to re#iew the material o#er and o#er again, chances are you can achie#e a more thorough knowledge that is more likely to stick in the long run, 's *chwart/ says It's called &o#erlearning & 1#erlearning often means, in part, that the student has time to step away from the material, get perspecti#e on it and ask himself or herself, &!hat do I really know2& 's *chwart/ says &"hat's when you can go in and be confident during the exam It's a deep le#el of learning,& says 's *chwart/, whose office also helps students with special needs, such as students with attention deficit disorder *ometimes, howe#er, incremental studying is impossible because a student has waited until the last minute to open his or her notebook If a student comes in two days before the exam and is in a total panic about final exams, an academic counselor helps him or her define a realistic goal and decide what to focus on during the short time a#ailable &If you ha#e two days, you ha#e to make some careful choices as to what you need to learn,& 's *chwart/ says &!e encourage students to try to predict what's going to be on the test & 333 !hile educators and academic counselors make recommendations 0 which often work 0 to students who want to impro#e their study skills, scientists are still working on un#eiling the keys to learning &!e are 4ust now beginning to understand how new learning takes place but we don't ha#e a formula for how we learn more or better,& says )lfredo .irkwood, assistant professor of neuroscience at the 5an#yl .rieger 'ind6Brain Institute at 7ohns 8opkins +ni#ersity in Baltimore &!e know there may be a relation between learning and rehearsing, but there is no formula to explain it,& 'r .irkwood says &!e know there may be a relation between 9E' sleep and learning, but we don't ha#e a formula for how it works & 9E' stands for rapid eye mo#ement During 9E' sleep, brain acti#ity is intense, and the brain's state is similar to its state when awake It's marked by bursts of rapid eye mo#ement and intense dreaming It is possible that some of the brain's acti#ity at this time affects learning Because there are so few hard facts about learning, academic counselors encourage students to find their own way and figure out how they function best &'emory techni:ues are so indi#idual !hat works for one person may not work as well for someone else,& 's *chwart/ says &"he basic principle for students is ;to< use whate#er has worked in the past & *ome people need to take fre:uent breaks to clear their minds= others cram for a few days and do well on the exam ) third group has to plan in detail what and where they are going to study in order to get the best results *itting in the &ta#ern,& a food0court area at )merican +ni#ersity, one recent afternoon, -andan )ganer, >?, who is working toward her master's degree in business administration with a focus on financing, was preparing for a presentation on electronic commerce &!hen I prepare for an exam2 I 4ust take notes and listen carefully "hen I highlight my notes and refer to the textbook,& 's )ganer says &I try to pay attention to what the professor pays attention to& because that probably will appear on the exam, she says )nother student, senior .ristin (abs, >>, whose ma4or is international relations, says she 4ust rewrites all her notes in preparation for an exam &I am a #isual learner, and the more I see ;the material<, the more ingrained it gets,& 's (abs says "homas Deriso, @A, who is training to become a massage therapist and was using the )merican +ni#ersity student center to study for an upcoming test, relies on much more elaborate techni:ues 'r Deriso uses mnemonic methods to remember bone and muscle groups ,or example, the bones that make up the shoulder 4oint 0 the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapilaris 0 become *I"* for short 8e also condenses do/ens of pages of notes and information to 4ust a couple on which the information is concise and grouped together in a fashion in which it makes most sense to him &I try to keep it as minimal as possible because this is what I will remember !hen I shut my eyes, I see this page 4ust as it is,& 'r Deriso says "hough study techni:ues such as mnemonic systems, note0taking and focused listening can help students con:uer their finals, some skills perhaps ha#e more far0reaching effects: setting priorities and analy/ing one's own strengths and weaknesses &'any of us are inclined to procrastinate, but I tell students, BDo the easiest tasks last (et them be the dessert ' !hat you least like is what you should do first,& 's *chwart/ says 's %ance calls this the )B-s of task priorities &)& stands for a task that has to be done within >? hours &B& stands for a task that may ha#e a two0 or three0day deadline &-& is the least time sensiti#e &-& can be calling your grandmother or cleaning the bathrooms It is the easiest one to do, and it is the one you see the results of first,& 's %ance says, adding that her bathrooms ha#e ne#er been as clean as while she was writing her dissertation Good studying techni:ues and knowledge about how one operates are good to ha#e at any age If a student ac:uires them early, it may make a world of difference once the student reaches the workplace, 's %ance says &Cou ha#e to learn how to de#ise strategies and stick to them, you ha#e to learn your body's rhythm, and you ha#e to learn when your peak performance is,& she says ')DI'I5I$G 'E'19C 3 +nderstanding and organi/ing: 'ake certain you understand the material !hen material is more meaningful, it is easier to understand "hen try to organi/e the material by grouping facts and ideas in a way that makes sense to you 3 9e#iew right away: By re#iewing material immediately after learning it, you can reinforce your memory 1n an a#erage, people retain about E percent to AF percent of what they hear or read and GF percent of what they teach others or use immediately after learning it 3 *pread out learning: *tudy fre:uently in shorter periods rather than trying to learn e#erything all at once Cou retain information better when you distribute the studying 3 9educe confusion: Hlan your study schedule in order to minimi/e interference between sub4ects that are similar to each other ,or example, you may ha#e a more difficult time remembering ,rench words and grammar if you ha#e 4ust spent an hour studying a similar language, such as *panish 3 +se your own words: !hen studying, make notes on the material in your own words Cou will be re:uired to do this during exams, so learning to formulate important concepts from the start can be #ery helpful 3 +se memory cues: De#elop a system for using key words and symbols to remind you of important details !hen reading a textbook write

the key words or symbols in the margin Be #ery careful about using mnemonic de#ices or memory tricks such as rhymes and sentences: ) slight error in remembering the de#ice can throw you off completely 3 (earn material thoroughly: "he higher le#el to which a skill is learned, the more slowly it is forgotten .eep repeating the material until you feel as if you can say it in your sleep 3 9ecogni/e bad attitudes: "ry to be neutral toward the material If you hold strong feelings against a sub4ect, that may pre#ent you from learning it Cou may o#erlook some concepts and distort or exaggerate the importance of others *ource: "he )cademic *upport -enter, )merican +ni#ersity B9)I$ BI"* 3 Cour brain is the most complex structure in the known uni#erse 3 Cour brain contains as many neurons IAFF billionJ as there are stars in the 'ilky !ay galaxy 3 "he brain doesn't store memories as a #ideo recorder 0 it creates a new #ersion of our memories e#ery time we recall them 3 "he reasons for differences in awareness, intelligence and creati#ity among people are still unknown 3 Cou ha#e to stimulate the brain to keep it dynamic throughout your entire life 3 Cour brain makes up only > percent of your body's weight but uses >F percent of your body's fuel *ource: &Brain 0 "he !orld Inside Cour 8ead,& a current exhibit at the *mithsonian Institution's )rts and Industries Building Hhotos I), colorJ, )J )merican +ni#ersity freshman "homas Gottschlich goes o#er his notes before heading off to class = BK-J .athy *chwart/, director of the )cademic *upport -enter at )merican +ni#ersity, gi#es students a blank fi#e0week schedule that can be used to designate study time )merican +ni#ersity doctoral candidate 7ohn -ha#oski IbelowJ studies outside on the campus :uad between classes , )ll By Bert % Goulait6"he !ashington "imes Boxes, )J ')DI'I5I$G 'E'19C= BJ B9)I$ BI"* 0A0
Luestia 'edia )merica, Inc www.questia.com Publication Information: )rticle "itle: (earning 8ow to *tudy -ontributors: Gabriella Boston 0 author $ewspaper "itle: "he !ashington "imes Hublication Date: December AF, >FFA Hage $umber: A -1HC9IG8" >FFA $ews !orld -ommunications, Inc = -1HC9IG8" >FF> Gale Group