How do you study?

[Paladin-X]

As someone who suffers from learning disabilities, I have been attending sessions to help me develop strategies for learning. Unfortunately, I am having difficulty with them for some reason.

I am curious to know, what strategies, tips, or tricks do you use or have used for successful studying? Can you explain the thought process behind your strategy? I am hoping to discover strategies more in the way of true learning as opposed to tricks for memorization. I am hoping to hear more about what you use that works, rather than general tips and tricks that may or may not work.

 

[subwayrider]

[MENTION=5437]Paladin-X[/MENTION]

Sorry you have learning disabilities. I've never been diagnosed with anything like that, but I have noted some ADD symptoms in myself. Maybe after 15+ years I'm just seriously burnt out on school, but I can't sit still and just study for long periods of time... anymore? Maybe I used to be able to; I'm not sure.

I would make sure you have zero distractions. My cell phone happens to be a huge distraction for me. Turn it off. Put it away. Your own mind can be a distraction! My mind naturally drifts to dissecting people and relationships, and that's not of very much use when you're studying mathematics. If your mind is overactive, try having it think about what you're studying! It's a good way to understand the material more in-depth... theoretically.

I personally wouldn't, but you can try drugs that are commonly prescribed for ADD, etc.: basically amphetamines.

 

[barbad0s]

: (

I usually try to go out to 24 hour coffee shops because I can't focus at home with all the comfy beds and free food and other distractions that it has. Also, the pressure you get from other people in the shop watching you causes you to want to not look lazy. I tell myself I'm not allowed to go home until I reach a certain amount of material covered.

I've found that getting a study buddy from class helps a lot. You can quiz each other and that helps to weed out the gaps in your understanding. You can quiz yourself by making verbal lists or lists on paper too, to test your memory.

Aside from that, I'm the type that just listens to the lecture and reviews the text to remember things, with most classes anyway.

 

[BMatt]

This is a question I've been thinking about for a long time, but have never really reached a proper answer. I'll give my viewpoints on the topic, however taking my advice on studying is like asking Evil Knievel advice on riding a moped.

I wont pry into your statements about learning disability, however I'm a person who has been repeatedly described as an underachiever, and diagnosed with ADHD. The difference I've had from the rest of the kiddies that are medicated is that I've always done fine in school when it came to grades . . . I just always lost recess when I was young, or picked up numerous detentions through highschool because I was forgetful. All that being said, I never did as well as I probably could have done grade wise. . . . but I've never believed grades mattered much, and I've yet to be proven wrong. (Unless you're an undergrad who wants to go to med school. . . . in which case all your professors/TAs hate you for wasting hours of their time because you think you deserve a 97% on your lab report instead of a 96% because your hands are small and you shouldn't be expected to perform as well as people with large hands. . . as a result our recommendations for you will be more damaging than your grade ever was)


So yeah. . . everything has always seemed mostly straightforward to me. . . or at least I believed it was straightforward and I understood it until I got a 9% back on my test. If I thought I knew it, I never cared to study it . . . usually it worked out for me, it was a rude awakening when it didn't.

When I suspected that I needed to practice something more, I always made sure to turn it into something of a group effort ( hopefully with some cute girl) . . . or in grad school I ended up tutoring people in order to force me to refresh my knowledge of undergrad topics before my oral exams. I've found that NOTHING motivates me to learn shit like the risk of letting someone down . . . and then teaching it back to that person solidifies it in my mind because I have to discuss it in a way that they'll understand.


Alternately, vast amounts of coffee can seem to medicate some parts of ADHD if thats the problem. . . it doesn't really help on learning for me, but it settles me into cranking out absurd amounts of work in a short period of time. Caffeine can make me write 50 pages in a day of things that I already know. . . . but learning new things becomes useless.

Beer is good too, but that's an interesting medication. The theraputic range is INCREDIBLY small. I've found it to be approximately 0.6 beverages per hour. . . . if I push past that my productivity crashes.


Coffee is responsible for 90% of the dissertation I'm currently working on cranking out. . . Seriously, I might rank caffeine over my boss in my acknowledgements section.


B

 

[Jah]

Ask yourself the questions why you really must do it. And rationalize it until your subconscious agrees with you. Then give yourself the task: I must do it on NOW. and then don't physically bother yourself not doing it. You can also make yourself excited by doing it, just think very positive and driven like: "Yeah! I will NOW do this and then afterwards i can do that. Wow!". If nothing works, then don't bother at all. Just do something useful instead.

-Jah

 

[Azazel]

I have no strategy, I'm afraid. I learn in a peculiar, absolutely non-linear way. I don't like memorizing (just sit and pronounce till it goes in your head). I read slowly (look through) a few times during a day at a random time. I make a few post-it notes around the house if I have to. I'm afraid I don't have any tips and tricks, I know if I dislike the subject it's awfully hard to learn.

 

[Paladin-X]

[MENTION=5742]BMatt[/MENTION] [MENTION=4717]subwayrider[/MENTION]

I also have ADD. I am diagnosed with severe ADHD combined type. I have tried Concerta and Vyvanse for a while, but were not overly helpful.

My other diagnoses are moderate to severe Disorders of Reading and Written Expression and Autism Spectrum Disorder. These are all diagnosed this year (I'm 32). I've managed to skate by most of my life through logic, intuition and empathically (I gained understanding through the passion/enthusiasm of my teachers; at least the ones that had passion that is.) Now that I've decided to go back to school and pursue a degree in University, it's an entirely different ball game. Though I am still making B+ on these abilities alone, I know they won't hold well past my junior year. It is harder as an adult to overcome these difficulties.

But, even though my assessing psychologist describes my learning disabilities as permanent, I strongly disagree. I believe that I can overcome any obstacle, I just need to figure out the right way that makes sense for me. Which is why I was hoping to see what others have done that works for them. I am hoping to find tidbits from everyone to build a strategy for me.

Part of my problem is that I can apply any given learning strategy, however, without explaining the mental process behind it, I won't usually understand how the strategy will help; nor does it. For example, I believe my reading disability was created when being taught to read. The teacher would sound out the word DOG and point at the picture. I assume for most people this bridges word, meaning, sound, and picture. For me, it bridged word and sound and that the word/sound can be used to describe something that looks like the dog. I was never explicitly told to bring the meaning/picture of dog to mind when seeing/hearing the word DOG. Picture/meaning were separate from word/sound. This could also be a result of the autism. The left and the right brain are out of sync.

I took a course based on a book called the Gift of Dyslexia which helped to bridge these things together, but I'm not as far along as I should be with it because of my issues with self-discipline. I feel like I need others to interact with and to help keep me motivated. I really like your method [MENTION=5742]BMatt[/MENTION], however, I have great difficulties interacting with and managing people. I'll definitely keep it in the back of my mind though.

Thanks so far, all!

 

[sassafras]

ADD benefits from increasing your dopamine, so you can do that naturally by adjusting your diet and habits. Avoid stimulants like caffeine and sugars, and on study days, try to avoid the computer/television as much as possible. Surfing the net (especially if you're the type of person that likes to have multiple tabs open) for more than 5-10 minutes spikes dopamine levels and when you finally get up from your seat, those levels drop dramatically, so you feel exhausted and concentrating becomes especially difficult. When you take your study breaks, go for a walk outside instead, look at something that is a calming green or go talk to people. I imagine these things might help with autism too. Keep yourself in the here and now as much as you can and keep a cap on your daily surfing/tv activities.

I personally study by digesting the text slowly. I first read through the material quickly (no more than 10 to 20 pages at a time) and then go back with a highlighter and underline the important bits and make summary notes in the margin explaining things to myself. Finally, I go back and write out organized notes in my notebook. I write out definitions and formulas on notecards. Admittedly, this process takes me a bit longer than most people, but I have a more thorough understanding of the material by comparison and it's so much easier for me to study for the exams as I just skim through my notes--which are all written and explained to me in my own words.

I also light myself a candle and play instrumental music softly in the background, like the study project. I downloaded the torrent (which they were kind enough to provide) and loaded it onto my ipod. It makes for a much more pleasant atmosphere and the bonus is, that I had conditioned myself to concentrate whenever I hear that music. It also makes me feel like studying is an event; my special time that I've slotted out for myself. It's an affirming exercise.

For a while, I used to use a kitchen timer to keep myself on task. I'd set it for 35 minutes and then take a 5 minute break, but I found that did me more harm than good. I can't take study breaks otherwise I get distracted. I rather just power through for two or three hours with just bathroom breaks in between.

 

[Vanixaria]

I don't know if this will work for you, but I discovered early on in my school career that I don't implement normal learning strategies well. In English classes, I would analyze the passions of my instructor and how they spoke in order to learn what was important to them - as I knew this is what would be on the test. Currently, at 32, I have found a different strategy that works for me. I take my tendencies to over-analyze to the point that I give a personal lecture on the subject I'm learning. Usually this involves me telling myself what I have been told or what I was reading and then I try to analyze why the author of the textbook developed that conclusion, or I try to form parallels with my everyday life. Hearing the subject matter allows my mind to wrap around the concepts while improving my depth of comprehension. I've found that using an audio option with my textbooks help as well. If I need to, I'll bounce off what I'm learning with another to gain more perspective.

 

[Paladin-X]

I personally study by digesting the text slowly. I first read through the material quickly (no more than 10 to 20 pages at a time) and then go back with a highlighter and underline the important bits and make summary notes in the margin explaining things to myself. Finally, I go back and write out organized notes in my notebook. I write out definitions and formulas on notecards. Admittedly, this process takes me a bit longer than most people, but I have a more thorough understanding of the material by comparison and it's so much easier for me to study for the exams as I just skim through my notes--which are all written and explained to me in my own words.

How do you know what the important bits are? I find that I have problem determining importance of information. I can take guesses as to what might seem important to a Prof or a test, but I still can't for the life of me understand what is actually important or why. For example, in studying Psychology, there are a lot of names and dates to know. I don't understand the importance of who did what. In my mind, it is irrelevant to the understanding of the concept. I know that it is important to psychologists, scientists, and academics, but I don't understand it. I know it has something to do with legacy and credibility and I can understand their reasons for it, but I don't understand what the rationale is behind those reasons; and how all of that relates back to what I know about the concept. If that makes any sense. :S

 

[Paladin-X]

Here are two thoughts I have on my ability to learn:

First is a bastardization of Type theory -- I can seek out and understand the depths of a pattern (Ni) and build a framework of knowledge (Ti) to see what it is (Se) but I often lack the Fe connection to finalize my understanding.

Well it was one musing anyway.

The second thought, is that I can build a concept tree. I can see how each leaf, twig, and branch connects to the main trunk. However, when trying to see how this tree fits into my forest of knowledge, I get lost amongst the trees. As I try to find my way back out so that I can see it as a whole once more, I find myself following every somewhat worn path in hopes that it leads me somewhere. But each path becomes an adventure in and of itself. By the time I finally come back out, I have forgotten why I got lost in the first place and still fail to see how the tree fits in with the rest of the forest.

It's really tough for me to describe why learning is difficult. I hope that made some sense. :S

 

[Azazel]

[MENTION=5437]Paladin-X[/MENTION] do you try to learn it in a linear traditional manner, studying a book from the beginning to the end? Maybe it isn't your thing? It isn't mine, that's for sure. I can pull through somehow but it's nowhere as good as my chaotic learning pattern. I thrive in chaos :/ The whole A-to-B-to-C confuses me and I can forget why and what is going on. I don't have ADD, I wish I could help... Maybe let your intuition guide you.

 

[JGirl]

As someone who suffers from learning disabilities, I have been attending sessions to help me develop strategies for learning. Unfortunately, I am having difficulty with them for some reason.

I am curious to know, what strategies, tips, or tricks do you use or have used for successful studying? Can you explain the thought process behind your strategy? I am hoping to discover strategies more in the way of true learning as opposed to tricks for memorization. I am hoping to hear more about what you use that works, rather than general tips and tricks that may or may not work.

for me it was structured time without distraction. i had to be totally alone and totally silent. i could never study with a partner and i could not study in the library.
sorry if that's not much help

 

[sassafras]

How do you know what the important bits are? I find that I have problem determining importance of information. I can take guesses as to what might seem important to a Prof or a test, but I still can't for the life of me understand what is actually important or why. For example, in studying Psychology, there are a lot of names and dates to know. I don't understand the importance of who did what. In my mind, it is irrelevant to the understanding of the concept. I know that it is important to psychologists, scientists, and academics, but I don't understand it. I know it has something to do with legacy and credibility and I can understand their reasons for it, but I don't understand what the rationale is behind those reasons; and how all of that relates back to what I know about the concept. If that makes any sense. :S

Well, to me, the important bits are what I either don't grasp immediately or understand intuitively, so I break them down and explain them to myself. The rest, like I mentioned, I summarize in a sentence or two. I go by paragraph and ask myself: What is this paragraph discussing? What's the point they keep re-iterating? How does this information relate to the concepts I've already learned and to the concepts that are threading through the entire section or chapter? The introductory paragraph at the beginning of the chapter and the the summary page at the end provides clues, as do the headers and sub-headers. That's why the preliminary read-through is so important before you even think to put the highlighter to paper. I'm not sure anyone would know what to highlight if they didn't familiarize themselves with the material first (they'd probably highlight everything or at random and that completely defeats the purpose of highlighting to begin with).

As for your question as to what is the relevance of knowing who said what, it's less about credibility and more about grouping and classifying related thought. As you know, knowledge-workers tend to align with a specific method or philosophy in their work and their findings are compared and contrasted with similar thinkers with the same over-arching theme. As you begin to see patterns in people's work, this classification method allows you to zoom out and see the different avenues departing from the same idea as a big picture, each avenue being identified by their respective philosopher/founder/researcher, etc.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Nixie]

I concur with @TheDaringHatTrick in everything she said. I have the same method of learning when reading text is assigned.

First I will read it. Just to get from first page to last page. I make sure I look up words if I don't understand them while I'm reading if I'm totally lost but usually try and infer a meaning from the surrounding text. I pay attention to the headings--they tell me what the section is supposed to be about. Bolded words or side notes also let you know important things.

After reading it through once. I go through and highlight important things. Definitions. Within the first sentence or two of any section is usually the thesis statement. BTW, once you establish this method of doing a reading, often you can combine step one and two here--as you work through this process again and again--you learn to recognize the meat and potatoes of what is important. But it is perfectly fine to keep these steps separate.

Once I have hightlighed the text, I go back through and write out an outline. This is re-writing the headings of each section and then making small sentences of the imporant topic as well as including any definitions in that section. It is important, that outside definitions (which should be verbatim) that you write out the meaning of the section in your own words.

Once I have written out the outline, I type it. Why so much? Because the reading, then the highlighting are the beginnings of comprehension. The writing solidifies the idea into your mind because you are "translating" the words into language you understand--and learning what the author/reading is trying to convey. The typing out part re-inforces it into your memory.

For every hour you spend in class, you should budget a minimum of 3 hours outside class in prep work a week. So a 3 hour class should involve 9 hours outside class. Most usually take less, but I would think if you have learning problems/issues that you would need that time. It would then, be important to budget your time wisely and stay on target.

For concentration issues, I find by setting yourself a goal--I will work for 30 minutes and then take a small break--that you will find your attention not drifting because you know you have this set time limit on what you are working at. Once you train yourself to appreciate the goal setting process, you can make the time longer...I will work on this (be specific--reading chapter 2) for 1 hour and then take a break and (fill in blank). It is good to get up and do something that breaks up the monotony--even couple it with something physical like streching if you wanna be really good.

 

[sassafras]

The second thought, is that I can build a concept tree. I can see how each leaf, twig, and branch connects to the main trunk. However, when trying to see how this tree fits into my forest of knowledge, I get lost amongst the trees. As I try to find my way back out so that I can see it as a whole once more, I find myself following every somewhat worn path in hopes that it leads me somewhere. But each path becomes an adventure in and of itself. By the time I finally come back out, I have forgotten why I got lost in the first place and still fail to see how the tree fits in with the rest of the forest.

Why do you need to do this? As a Ni, this should come easy to you. You need to trust your intuition and allow the knowledge you pick up on coalesce in the background on it's own; this is what Ni-types are good at. Ni take things in and it knows. Ni-types don't need to try and turn this into a conscious process. It's already in their heads. They make the connections unconsciously and then look for application with their Fe and Ti.

What you're doing here, breaking things down and hoarding more and more knowledge, and the way you described it as a forest, it actually kinda sounds rather Fi-Ne-ish to me...

 

[BMatt]

Why do you need to do this? As a Ni, this should come easy to you. You need to trust your intuition and allow the knowledge you pick up on coalesce in the background on it's own; this is what Ni-types are good at. Ni take things in and it knows. Ni-types don't need to try and turn this into a conscious process. It's already in their heads. They make the connections unconsciously and then look for application with their Fe and Ti.

What you're doing here, breaking things down and hoarding more and more knowledge, and the way you described it as a forest, it actually kinda sounds rather Fi-Ne-ish to me...

This would be the ideal, but the problem I've found with certain subjects is that they don't necessarily make sense to my intuition. . . so I end up going through some crazy bullshit mental process that doesn't suit me to try to memorize stuff.

Personally I have a terrible time memorizing names of anything. It's why I always hated history classes, and was drawn into science. There are definitely famous people in science, but the learning and testing is rarely about naming them, but on the system that was built by them . . . history classes are ONLY about naming them, even though it's the impact on history which should be the main point. I can easily remember anyone's actions, or impact on a given topic. . . . those silly words that people use to identify a person never seem to stick. Worst grade I ever got was when I took a greek mythology class . . . I could have summarized any story we read and discussed it's meaning and importance, but the test was multiple choice:

Who was the first robber Theseus met?
a) Pheotheces
b) Periphetes
c) Phycrotes

I had no clue . . . if only I could have written in "the guy with the club"


I've heard that some people think in words, and that they need a word to describe something in order to have a place in their memory for it. I think in pictures for the most part, and the only reason I associate words with those things I'm thinking of are when I have to describe it to someone else. It is incredibly common for me to go about describing something as, "you know those things on doors that people have to turn to get it to open" . . . though less efficient, that explanation seems fully sufficient in describing the object I'm imagining. Names just seem like a trivial formality.

The problem with that, is that I don't do well with words as a source of information. Words can start to build the picture in my mind. . . but it doesn't necessarily build the right picture for what the professor wants. Think to something like physics and acceleration due to gravity. You can describe it with equations:
X = Gt^2 + Vit + Xi
V = Gt + Vi
A = G
The descriptions of all those only make sense to me because I can visualize the plots of what they mean, and their impact on reality . . . only then can I start assigning meaning to those equations and build them into my understanding of the topic. It seems most other people can take those equations at face value and manipulate them from there, but they don't have a good grasp on how that translates into the reality of the physical world.


In coming to understand what a professor expects, I've found that old exams are awesome. It seems they often make them available these days because it's more fair than random people passing them around, and others being left out. These give real examples of what they're actually grading, the style of the questions, and hints at what they believe are the most important points.

B

 

[jyrffw54]

@Palidin-X

Do you know what your dominant and secondary learning styles are?

There is a great book called "How We Learn and Why We Don't". It consists of an assessment and tips for each learning style on how best to study. For a general example, an SF learner needs a study group/buddy to talk out the concepts with verbally... In fact they are verbal processors. Their challenge is figuring out the big picture by forming relationships between ideas, as opposed to an NF learner who needs to read/think about the material on their own, and have an understanding before they talk to a group/person about it, in addition to tackling the details, since they know the big picture. They also tend to like music while they study. NT learners are more likely to start a study group if they want one, that is. Their main focus is looking at a set of ideas and finding a way to form a system out of them. STs like outlines, and linear/organized representation of ideas. They tend to prefer to study alone, with no distractions.

Hope that informs you somewhat.

 

[Chess]

I study in the quiet with nothing to distract me except a drink to sip at (even music alters my mood and concentration to too high/too low), I use the Pomodoro technique as suggested by a friend, and I allow myself to deviate from the work to go experiment or find further resources if I don't fully understand what I'm reading. Often it's just the book itself that I don't understand. I try to be habitual and dedicate specific times for studying and specific times for relaxing, with room to deviate and make it up later if I really want to rather than just hit my head against a wall.

 

[Gaze]

How do you know what the important bits are? I find that I have problem determining importance of information. I can take guesses as to what might seem important to a Prof or a test, but I still can't for the life of me understand what is actually important or why. :S

I struggled with tests and papers in college because of this. What I thought was relevant or important wasn't always what the prof thought was significant. And when asking for feedback, it was assumed I should "know" instinctively what was relevant and show that in my paper. However, it didn't work that way. Also, I derive my thoughts through associations and analytically. I can't explain something in a linear manner since my thoughts are not linear. But it's easier to understand things in sequence. When too many steps are missed or not included, I become confused. Or when there are too many parts to the whole, it becomes confusing. My confusion was in structure, not understanding but when I had difficulties, many assumed my problem was understanding. I see things from multiple perspectives because of all the scholarship I know is available on a topic, so asking me to narrow it down to one idea and present it in thesis form seems counter-intuitive to me. It works against my Ne. I learn best from lecture and discussion. I learn best when I can derive meaning from what I'm learning. I can learn by rote. I also learn well from repetition. I am also good at pattern recognition. So, from all this, I would suggest that you learn more about your actual learning style, and what in your experience has been the easiest for you to learn, how you learned it, and why. This can help you to identify things in your experience working on an unconscious level which may work on a conscious level when applying them actively to your studies and learning styles.

I don't know if this will work for you, but I discovered early on in my school career that I don't implement normal learning strategies well. In English classes, I would analyze the passions of my instructor and how they spoke in order to learn what was important to them - as I knew this is what would be on the test. Currently, at 32, I have found a different strategy that works for me. I take my tendencies to over-analyze to the point that I give a personal lecture on the subject I'm learning. Usually this involves me telling myself what I have been told or what I was reading and then I try to analyze why the author of the textbook developed that conclusion, or I try to form parallels with my everyday life. Hearing the subject matter allows my mind to wrap around the concepts while improving my depth of comprehension. I've found that using an audio option with my textbooks help as well. If I need to, I'll bounce off what I'm learning with another to gain more perspective.