Change Your Study Habit For Effective Learning

By Author: Heather Protz
Total Articles: 46
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Some of us have experienced sitting long hours studying, but eventually end up retaining very little information. No matter how many breaks you take, how many subjects you switch you just can’t read, digest and STORE. Did it occur to you that you can try alternate study habits? One of the most widely used study models; Fleming’s VAK rule categorizes learners by three types.
Your teacher is talking about the human eye. She whips out a marker and draws a diagram on the board. You immediately start paying attention. It seems like you can understand this much better than the lengthy description she just dictated. Or when you just bought a new cell phone. The first thing you do is go-through the instruction manual and easily master the cool controls that come with it. This indicates that you’re a visual learner. You learn easily by SEEING/READING things. To speed up your studying process I advise you to use flash cards or outlines. If you’re reading a chapter in Chem, note down all the formulae and important points. Connect them to important things in your life. Prepare flashcards and keep testing your memory. Otherwise, ...
... try using sequential flowcharts or maps containing the important topics and keywords of the chapter. Use different color pens and record them in your memory. It’ll help you for a quick revision or when you get stuck in the middle of an essay. Visualize the things you read about. If you’re reading about a water tap, picture it. Remember the mantra is- read, write, and write away.
The Auditory learner is exactly opposite to the Visual learner. You’d probably remember things from an open discussion rather than the diagrams and flowcharts your teacher uses. You don’t find presentations interesting and just doze through it, unless they include some music or sound. Auditory learners are rare compared to visual learners. Don’t feel weird just because there’s a lot less like you. You don’t have to spend much time writing so there’s a plus. It will do you good to record your teacher’s lectures and listen to them regularly. Another plus is that, you can do this anywhere, even in a noisy environment. There are plenty of audio books and audio lectures online for free on sites like Youtube. For starters try MIT’s open courseware. It has plenty of video and audio lectures given by experienced faculty concerning almost every subject. Remember to always read aloud. Trust me, it helps. Perhaps, you can record your own voice reading out the lesson, highlighting keywords or math formulae and listen to it regularly. Many students download dozens of these with the help of fast Internet services like Xfinity. Currently, there are some great offers like the Xfinity Deals going on, so you can buy a cheap Internet connection.
You don’t care about lectures be it visual or auditory. You’re restless in class and can’t wait to get out and do something. Except listening or reading, of course. You don’t do much well in tests or in class, but when you’re in the lab or say a math-modeling class you pick up things so fast that it amazes you. You love to sneak around, experiment and eventually learn. You’re not dumb or dumber. You’re the kind of person that learns through feeling and doing things rather than seeing or hearing them. You learn through your own experience rather than listen to or watch somebody else do it. For you, special one, I suggest you get a study partner who well, studies in the strict sense of the word. Attempt role-playing with him/her. For example if you’re studying about rocket science, pretend that you’re some famous rocket scientist on a T.V. show and ask your partner to be the host. Let him/her ask you questions from the topic you’ve studied and try answering them. Switch roles and try again. Use flash cards, spend more time at the lab learning things and relating them to your course book. Always use practical examples when you study. Keep asking yourself ‘how can I use this in real life?’ Don’t conveniently forget to get an answer

Heather is a cheery, enthusiastic college student. As an education major, she likes to research about the best suited learning methods. She is interested in cooking, pottery, creative visualization, and like all other teenagers surfs the Internet purchased via Xfinity Deals