Study Skills and How to Learn
Success in any endeavor takes a certain know how that one usually accumulates by direct instruction or by trial and error. You have been learning all your life and I don’t mean just academics, just learning in general.
Learning in a college environment can be challenging due to several factors and it would behoove all students to continue to explore how learning works.
Growth Mindset
This concept is probably the single most important belief you can have about who you are. This view point is needed in order for a book such as What Smart Student’s Know is to have an effect. Dr Carol Dweck coined the concept of a Growth Mindset versus a Fixed Mindset but like any idea it is not hers, she is merely has studied and championed the concept and tried to market this concept. If you have children, watch this. If you are going to have children watch this.
- Growth Mindset. What is it?
- How to Build a Growth Mindset
- What May be Stopping You from Taking Positive Action
- Nick Sabin Alabama coach on The Process
- Five basic ideas on Sabin’s process
A basic mantra you could adopt is this, “The road to success is littered with failure.” No one likes to fail, it is not a good feeling, unless you believe you can eventually succeed and see it as nothing more than a byproduct of trying. A long time ago I read about required characteristics to do well in mathematics specifically, but in reality it applies to anything and at number one, was the characteristic of persistence. That makes sense since if you persist, then you are trying, and if you are trying there is an opportunity to succeed. You can’t succeed unless you try.
Book Recommendation
A book I recommend to any student is What Smart Students Know by Adam Robinson. You can get a used copy sent to your home for ten dollars. I love this book because it shows you techniques that work coupled with the correct mindset you must have in order for the described processes to work. Several local libraries contain copies, check it out.
Study Skills Resources
The following series was created by Jessica Bernards and it offers insight into practices that lead to better academic results. Even if you are already familiar with these practices it often is beneficial to go over good practices to confirm you are indeed following this advice: Math Study Skills.
My suggestion is to continue to seek resources that allow you to grow as a learner, just as a professional athlete continues to hone their skills by seeking advice from others, you as a professional student should do likewise Skills Resources
How Often do you Need to Practice in Order to Remember
Have you ever learned something only to forget it a week later? I am sure you have, and so have I. Whenever I have asked anyone how they learned something, one,. and I emphasize one, technique that is mentioned is simple repetition. In order to contrast this, another technique that is quoted is connecting what you are trying to learn to past learned information, sometimes referred to as a hook. So we all understand that repetition is needed in order for us to remember something, but how often should we repeat? It turns out there is a science behind this. Here is a video describing this science entitled The Most Powerful Way to Remember What you Study.
I wish you the best.