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Advice to students for better learning, studying
This document provides advice to students for better learning, studying, and remembering. It recommends that students not overload themselves with commitments and to resist overconfidence early in a course. Students are advised to come to every class on time and prepared, and to start homework assignments as soon as possible after lectures. Elaborative rehearsal of material and starting homework in a distraction-free setting are also emphasized. The document concludes by recommending students utilize instructor office hours and get sufficient sleep before tests.
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Advice to students for better learning, studying
- 1. ADVICE TO STUDENTS FOR BETTER LEARNING, STUDYING,AND REMEMBERING From “Improving Learning by Understanding the Psychology of Human Memory”, (Saikali, 2013), presented at the 2013 Annual Autumn Conference of California Mathematics Council Community Colleges (CMC3)
- 2. DO NOT OVERLOAD YOURSELF Students have many responsibilities. • Work, School, Family obligations. • These collective demands cause their grades to suffer so that they accumulate a poor academic record. • They may then drop out of school, take on long-term responsibilities, and regret forever that they did not go further with their education. • Determine how much YOU can handle and be careful about exceeding it. * Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 3. DO NOT OVERLOAD YOURSELF Some commitments are inflexible. Perhaps the stress of other responsibilities can be moderated with help from family members. Still others may be possible to reduce or remove from your life. • Are you working many hours due to necessity or luxury? • Could you scale back expenses, work fewer hours weekly, and still survive financially? • Alternatively, taking fewer units of classes per term may mean a longer total time to graduate, but may allow you more time to study, get sufficient rest, and hence, achieve a better academic record. * Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 4. RESIST OVER-CONFIDENCE Usually,the first part of any course is its easiest. Even so, there may be bits of knowledge that you need to master. Moreover, when the new material comes, you need to be ready for its challenges. An over-confident attitude may serve only to get you behind. It can be scary and frustrating to find that you are unable to keep up with the new material in a course. Cramming to then retain too much material in a short time rarely works out for students. * Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 5. COME TO EACHSESSION OF A CLASS ON TIME AND PREPARED In order to make best use of your time in class, you should • complete homework exercises from previous sections; • bring the homework with you to class; • review the last lecture; • read the portion of the textbook to be covered in the coming lecture. • This will expose you to terminology, concepts, graphs, and methods that you may hear again in lecture. All of these are important efforts toward learning, studying, and long-term remembering. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 6. ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL ISCRUCIAL TO LONG-TERM MEMORY RETENTION You can supplement in-class attentiveness by reviewing and audibly pondering the deeper meanings of what you heard in lecture. Arrange a small study group in which people take turns explaining portions of the material to the group and resolving any confusion. Flashcards can also serve effectively as rehearsal. Re-writing your lecture notes while explaining (aloud or to a friend) each part works well for some students. The more you reinforce and reach a level of comfort in talking about the lecture content, the easier it will be to remember and use what you have learned when tested. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 7. INSERT MEMORY LADDER DoingWell in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 8. START EACH HOMEWORKASSIGNMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER ITS LECTURE Unless you quickly and often use what you hear in the classroom and read in the textbook, you begin forgetting new material rather quickly. Avoid waiting until the weekend to do multiple lectures worth of homework. • The amount of work can feel insurmountable and leave you getting much less out of the exercises than otherwise possible. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 9. Doing Well inClass Introduction Philosophy
- 10. START EACH HOMEWORKASSIGNMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AFTER ITS LECTURE As psychologist Ebbinghaus found a century ago, we begin forgetting brand new material almost immediately • if it is not used in meaningful ways, • and if we do not relate it to our existing knowledge. Look up the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve online, print it up, and carry it with you to help encourage you to start homework ASAP!!! Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 11. DO HOMEWORK INA DISTRACTION-FREE SETTING Put away devices that draw focus from your work. • Do you listen to music when you work out, or when you do household chores? Why? • Likely to help the time go by while you are doing something you find boring. • Is this really conducive to studying, learning, and remembering? • If you are checking your telephone, social media sites, email, texts, every few minutes, think of how little substantive attention is being paid to what you are supposed to be learning. • How can you reasonably expect to remember later? • Make a printed weekly schedule of when to do homework for each course. • Carry it with you daily and commit to it. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 12. DO HOMEWORK INA DISTRACTION-FREE SETTING Put away devices that draw focus from your work. • Do you listen to music when you work out, or when you do household chores? Why? • Likely to help the time go by while you are doing something you find boring. • Is this really conducive to studying, learning, and remembering? • If you are checking your telephone, social media sites, email, texts, every few minutes, think of how little substantive attention is being paid to what you are supposed to be learning. • How can you reasonably expect to remember later? • Make a printed weekly schedule of when to do homework for each course. • Carry it with you daily and commit to it. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 13. DO HOMEWORK RESPONSIBLY Starthomework by reviewing the new ideas and methods (from the lecture notes and textbook) relevant to the current homework. • How does this new content relate to what you learned in earlier lectures, sections of the textbook, and homework? • Homework should strengthen the learning of new content. • This benefit comes only if you are consistently responsible with it. • Example problems show how to make use of a section’s material. • It may be tempting to “do” each homework problem by looking for an example problem to emulate without really seeking to understand the relevant theory. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 14. DO HOMEWORK RESPONSIBLY Exampleproblems show how to make use of a section’s material. • It may be tempting to “do” each homework problem by looking for an example problem to emulate without really seeking to understand the relevant theory. • Any short-term gain from this practice will be of minimal value during a test when no aids are available. For each homework problem, write the instructions and problem statement, and show work neatly. When helpful, construct a table or sketch. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 15. DO HOMEWORK RESPONSIBLY Ifthe problem is a True/False or Yes/No type, justify your answer. • That is, for example, state WHY it is true or WHY it is false. • You can also state what would make it true if it is false. These practices will make studying for tests much easier, as you should be able to remember your past work better. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 16. STOP AND ASKYOURSELF, “WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?” FROM HOMEWORK When you complete a subset of related homework problems, take a few minutes to consider what you have gained • What do you know now that you did not know before? • Could you teach it to others? • Are you able to use what you have acquired to do other problems in this or future sets? Be honest with yourself • If you have not learned much from doing the homework, that must be addressed. • Telling yourself that everything will work itself out is not the remedy. • While there are academic things that take time to mentally digest, it should not be that way generally with your work. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 17. STOP AND ASKYOURSELF, “WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?” FROM HOMEWORK Learning is sometimes very difficult and frustrating. • The discomfort you feel, the frustration, that is the brain actually physically rewiring itself to be better at the task at hand. • This is one of the major reasons why learning math is such a difficult process – the brain has to physically undergo change. • This, combined with the fact that we are programmed to hate the feeling of being ‘wrong’ are two major reasons why many students ‘hate’ mathematics… • It’s not easy, it takes practice, and it takes getting things wrong many times to learn how to get them right! Tell yourself that it’s OK to be wrong, it’s OK to make mistakes, and it’s OK to feel frustrated – this is how we LEARN!!! Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 18. INSTRUCTOR OFFICE HOURS A misunderstanding of current material will interfere with you correctly learning and remembering new material. • It’s not ‘Practice makes perfect’ but rather… • ‘Perfect Practice makes perfect.’ Do you make use of your instructors office hours? • You can and should also ask questions in class when they come up! When doing so, be prepared to specify what you do understand and show that you have made reasonable effort on your own at figuring out what is unclear. • However, if you are truly stuck, go in and see them also! Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 19. FAMILIARITY ≠ COMPREHENSION While there is value in rereading your lecture notes and the textbook, do not get deluded into thinking that visual familiarity equals understanding/retention. • Just because something is easier to read does not mean that you are able to reason on it to solve problems as may very well be required during a test. • “It was so easy when I watched YOU do it at the board, but when I got home…” • Also, this kind of narrow familiarity tends to not work well when a person is presented with the same material from a different perspective. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 20. SPEND SUFFICIENT TIMESTUDYING EARLY, AND SPACE OUT STUDY SESSIONS It takes time to get knowledge into your long term memory in a way that makes it easily retrievable in the future. • Avoid waiting until a day or two before a test to start preparing. • Cramming is generally not as effective as people assume. • Consistently studying daily is more conducive to retention. • Math is a language… Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 21. SHORT BREAKS DURING STUDYING Getting distracted every few minutes is an extreme. Working many hours without breaks is an extreme. Find a good place in between. Check yourself along the way to see if you are remembering what you have studied and can demonstrate mastery of it without peeking at notes, books, or answers. If comprehension is minimal, your manner of studying is impractical. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 22. SHORT BREAKS DURING STUDYING Try to get up and have 5-10 minutes of physical activity for every hour of study. Whenever possible, do not go longer than an 1 to 1 ½ hours of studying without a physical activity break. Good nutrition and rest are also important. • Naps, when possible, are GREAT! Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 23. FINAL ADVICE FORTESTS Start studying well in advance of a test. Cramming and all-nighters are risky. Get enough sleep the night before a test. Eat properly so that you are alert and nourished. Gather all necessary tools (pencils, eraser, fresh batteries for your calculator, etc.) well in advance of the test date. If possible, arrive to the testing site early so that you are less stressed. Keep a positive attitude even if the subject matter is not one you are fond of. These will promote your capacity to learn, remember, and do well academically. Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 24. Be prepared Don’t take on too much Hit the ground running Come to each class, on time, and prepared Use classroom time wisely Practice well, and a lot RECAP OF IMPORTANT POINTS Get started on homework as soon as physically possible after class Do homework in a distraction free setting Do homework responsibly Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 25. Learning isas important as getting the right answer Ask yourself “What have I learned from homework?” Utilize office hours Focus on trouble spots when prepping for a test. RECAP OF IMPORTANT POINTS Familiarity ≠ Comprehension Study early, for sufficient amounts of time, and often Physical breaks when studying Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 26. Jason Edington ◦Apparently I used to work in radio? Grew up in LA area… ◦ Went to Jr. High with… Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 27. Jason Edington ◦Apparently I used to work in radio? Grew up in LA area… ◦ Went to Jr. High with… Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 28. Jason Edington ◦Apparently I used to work in radio? Grew up in LA area… ◦ Went to Jr. High with… Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 29. ◦ What aremy hobbies? Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 30. There aretwo major features to my teaching that I am going to utilize in class. ◦ First: I work to motivate students to embrace their education. I encourage students: to come to every class be prepared for class do the Homework read ahead Attend study groups You may need to take the initiative and create one! Come for help as SOON as you start getting behind (or heck, even before!) Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 31. There aretwo major features to my teaching that I am going to utilize in class. ◦ Second: Consistently remind students to be OK with struggling. This is a safe environment to take a chance and be wrong. Only by trying, and struggling, can we really succeed and grow to our full potential. Because we are ALL in the same class together, we need to support each other through this! Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 32. Being explicitabout the conceptual structure, and interconnectedness, of mathematics. ◦ This is something that we will strive for, every day, in every aspect of our discussion, reading, and studying. Specifically in this class, I will point out how the concepts that you’ve been learning in Algebra and Trig will be used in Calculus. Allowing students to struggle to understand concepts. ◦ This does NOT mean that I will throw you out into the wild on your own. ◦ Rather, it means that I will show you the basic ideas necessary to understand the harder problems, and you will do the work in putting them together. (In other words, I’ll show you some examples, but for effective learning to take place, you WILL struggle with problems. ) HINT: The struggle is when the learning happens! Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 33. There aretwo major features to my teaching that I am going to utilize in class. ◦ Again… Be motivated to do what it takes to learn the material. Be OK with struggling. ◦ Your success is the most important thing to me, and is why I teach. ◦ However, like a Sherpa, I can only show you the way… you have to do the climbing… Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 34. Now, let’shear about you! ◦ Please tell us the following: Name Major Something interesting about yourself Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
- 35. Last Name,First Name Email Address Last class you took, and when? (Semester/Year) Major School you plan to transfer to Date you will graduate with your final degree (Certificate, AA/S, BA/S, MA/S, or PhD) Doing Well in Class Introduction Philosophy
Editor's Notes
- #5 The cramming method does not work well with Mathematics because you are learning a process and a language. Your brain needs repeated exposure to the work to build the circuitry necessary to become proficient.
- #7 What kinds of things have you worked at getting better at? Did they come naturally? How did you get better at them? STUDY GROUPS!!!! Do football players lift weights on the field?
- #9 This is a downfall of many students. “I’ll get it all done on the weekend.” Realistic…we know that we have work/practice/rehearsal/social/sleep! However, you should spend as much time as you can EVERY DAY because you are learning language – and the only way to learn a language is to constantly use it.
- #13 Baroque Classical (Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #3), Ambient music or sound (waterfalls, rain, seashore), Modern electronic ‘Chill Out’ music genres such as Trip-hop, Nu jazz, Abient House, Ambient Trance, New Age…60 bpm target and limited or no lyrics.
- #18 Thomas Edison famously made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the lightbulb. When questions about this by a reporter, he said ‘I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps!’
- #19 The reason you want to be prepared, when possible, for office hour is that this will make it much more productive that simply stating ‘I don’t understand anything.’ This statement is usually coming from a place of frustration. It is a valid statement, but it will take longer to get you to a better place of understanding. Can you specify what parts you are struggling with?
- #21 Does anyone here speak more than one language? How did you learn? Discuss my learning of Spanish.
- #23 Suggestion is 10 minutes of physical activity (walking the dog, vacuuming, playing handball against the garage…) for each hour of study. So, 50 minutes study, 10 minutes play….PHYSICAL, not video games! (Pokemon Go, if you are walking!)