Later in my academic career I realized I was studying inefficiently. After talking to many friends about this topic, I found that I was not alone in making this common mistake.
I would review the different chapters or notes as I studied, paying equal amounts of attention to all the material. This is a major mistake.
If you do not know all the material the same, then you should not study each piece of material for the same length of time. I would always find myself reading through the topic I knew that I already knew (almost as a sense of security, to remind myself that I do know some of the material).
However, comfort does not always equate with results. What's worse, I would take up so much mental energy reviewing the thing I already knew, when it came time to the material I did not already know, I had already depleted most of my focusing energy (and rationalizing to myself, this probably won't be on the test). Any student will tell you that anytime they take this attitude during studying, they usually find that more often than not, that material IS on the test.
Why do we huddle around a security blanket like this?
Why not instead briefly scan the stuff we know, and then empty the tank (energy and focus) on the stuff we do not know already? Think about that the next time you hit the books.
This relates to quality vs. quantity of studying. I truly believe a half hour of intense studying (total concentration) will help you learn more than 4 hours of half-hearted studying (TV on, listening to music, being around other people, chatting with friends on AIM, every so often refreshing your facebook page, etc)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment