Most of you are probably too young to remember the muppets :(
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Remember when you moved from grade school to middle school? From middle school to high school? Did the way you studied stay the same or were you expected to learn new ways to approach learning? If you play a sport, coach has you practice drills and skills so you can call upon them during the game. If you play an instrument, you might practice scales or spend hours on a difficult new piece before a performance. All these examples show you that you will need to master new study skills as a college student. In my previous blog post, "Top 10 Habits that Help You Study Smarter," I shared with some strategies for how to change up your studying mindset. Today, we're going to focus on some key principles for how to study effectively in college by watching Dr. Chew's 10 key principles for "how to study" below. Many of the principles Dr. Chew discusses relate more to in-person classroom learning. Since March 2020, however, New Yorkers have been learning at home, which has a whole set of new challenges to overcome, including finding time, access to quiet study space, sharing technology with family members, as well as possibly having to supervise younger children's online learning. In the video below, Dr. Chew discusses "choke points" and ways to train yourself to develop work strategies even in these difficult times. Do you believe that you are born with a certain level of intelligence and that it can't be changed? This way of thinking is called a "fixed mindset." Expert and psychologist, Carol Dweck, disagrees. Her research has shown that by changing the way we think, we can improve our capacity for learning. Take a look at the image below. How many fixed mindset messages can you identify with? Challenge yourself to change just one of these mindsets per week from fixed to GROWTH. Scientific research supports the idea the intelligence is not fixed and that the brain's neuroplasticity not only makes learning new things possible, but that challenging the brain with new activities actually helps make us smarter. Take a moment to watch the video below for an illustration of how neuroplasicity works. You will be learning many new things this semester. Some will be relatively easy, but others may make you doubt your abilities. When these doubts arise, come back to your growth mindset messages and try again.
It's the first day of class and the professor hands out a stapled stack of papers to the class. You hold it in your hands and try to count the pages without the professor noticing. It's printed front and back and is ten--no--eleven pages! The professor starts talking and you start wondering if the vending machine in the hall is out of your favorite snack. Maybe you should go check. You can always email the professor later if you have any questions, right? Only what happens when you send that email a week later? You get a reply telling you the answer to your question IS IN THE SYLLABUS. Does anybody really read that thing, you wonder? The answer to your question is yes! Not only do effective students read the syllabus, but they come back to it over and over again throughout the semester. The syllabus lays out the requirements of the class. It tells you what to expect from the course and your professor. It includes a list of specific materials you will need for success in the course. The syllabus reflects your professor's style and vision for the course. The problem is that because the syllabus contains all this information, it tends to be an overwhelming document. Yes, the answer to your question is in the syllabus, but where??? How to Read Your Syllabus (click to expand each section)Most syllabi have the following sections, but not all of them. Click each item on the list to read the full explanation. 9. Grading. 12. Schedule.
Is interleaving for you? There's only one way to find out!Source:
Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., III, & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Belknap Press.
BONUS: Believe you can! Rather than using "I am___" statements, changer your mindset to "I can___" statements. Your intelligence is not fixed, but instead, your ability to learn new things can improve with practice and perseverance. Works Cited Brown, Peter C., et al. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. 2014. Open WorldCat, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctt6wprs3. |
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