If you are having trouble focusing these days: I got you covered! The manual below will definitely help you master the techniques that allow you to learn as much as possible, profoundly and efficiently.
Check the six most effective tips for a successful study:
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Organization
Organizing materials and the study environment influences your concentration and ability to learn better. Keep a specific place of study so that your brain understands that it’s time to focus. This trick is something that psychologists call “conditioned reflex”, which means that certain signals from the environment turn on a “switch” in our mind, associating certain events with what comes next. In this case: study rituals —- study.
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Mindset
We are very much influenced by our own expectations and attitudes. First of all, it is necessary to undo the myth of talent. Talent counts, but it is not the factor that most determines success in studies. There is something more important than talent witch is a good direction of effort by using the right study techniques.
Original Illustration by Gina Escandon for Her Campus Media -
Notes
It is worth taking good notes in class. Writing down is an exercise of selecting ideas and then analyzing which sentences best synthesize those ideas. When writing down, we make an effort to synthesize, as a result, we are fully attentive in class and studying actively. The learning gain is precisely in the effort to capture the idea, instead of memorizing the words used by the teacher. Trying to recall the notes without rereading is also a good technique for active study.
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Active Reading
Active reading consists of reading the text trying to understand each word and its context in the sentence. It is important to underline the keywords and draw arrows to make observations or try to summarize the paragraph in a few words. This method of reading is much more efficient for understanding a subject than just doing a passive reading.
Photo by Alexis Brown from Unsplash -
Teach
According to Seneca, when we teach, we learn. We learn by speaking, by verbally formulating the ideas we need to learn we are being challenged to show that we understand. Have you ever had the impression that you only understood something when you were trying to explain it to someone else? An effective way to promote an education is to study in a group. When trying to explain the subject to each other the understanding of the content will increase dramatically.
Pexels / Tirachard Kumtanom -
Feynman Technique
To deepen the topic of teaching, it is important to understand that if you cannot simply explain something, then you haven’t understood the subject enough. Based on this, the Feynman technique, is a learning technique created by the winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize, Richard Feynman, to teach how to learn just about anything profoundly and efficiently. The basic tenet of Richard Feynman’s technique is truth: honestly testing when you really know the subject: your intellectual honesty is the most important thing for this method of study.
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step #1
Choose the subject you want to learn and start studying it. Here the tip is to seek as much information as possible on the subject and, when studying, write in topics everything you are learning, preferably by hand (which is one of the most effective ways to retain content).
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step #2
Teach or pretend to teach someone the subject you’ve learned. Organize the ideas and put them in an order. Use very simple terms and speak in a didactic way to facilitate the understanding of who is listening to you.
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step #3
Identify your flaws in the explanation. During the explanation you will identify the parts where you were unsure to explain or that you simply could not explain in a simple way. Mark the points that can be improved.
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step #4
Identifying the flaws, improve your knowledge by deepening the subject and simplifying the explanation. Try going back to step 1 and reinforcing what needs to be deepened. The excessive complexity with which you explained the subject can be solved by making summaries and always using analogies to explain complex terms.
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step #5
Redo the process as many times as necessary until you feel confident in your explanation, which means that you really learned the subject. As a benefit of the method, you will develop your ability to think critically by learning how to teach, you teach yourself how to learn.
Hope this tips help you! Have a productive study session and don’t forget to #StaySafe!
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The article above was edited by Laura Ferrazzano.
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