From StudentDoctor:
Here are some ways to maximize the way you study so that you can learn the most in the shortest time, and make it all stick!
Memorization
Learning vast amounts of material that can be regurgitated on an exam is vitally important. Simply put, the key to success in most classes is to memorize everything you can.
I’m sure that when you were younger, you were required to memorize Shakespearian monologues or the capitals of U.S. states. You probably read over each sentence again and again until you could perfect Romeo’s speeches. The good news is that you have already seen how much material you can memorize. The bad news is that you’ve been doing it all wrong. The correct way to go about memorizing is by reading the words backwards. Here’s a demonstration. Look at this number:
75713650058
Cover up everything with a sheet of paper except the last digit, 8. Now slowly say, “eight,” aloud three times. Next, slide the paper over one digit and slowly say, “five-eight,” three times. Again, slide the paper over to reveal 058 and say, “zero-five-eight.” Continue the exercise all the way until the first number. Don’t try to get ahead of yourself by jumping two to three numbers at a time. Just continue working one number after another until you’ve finished. Once you’re done, test your new memorization skills by covering up everything once again and then saying the number aloud.
Are you impressed yet? Go ahead and try memorizing other random things just to get a feel for the backwards memorization technique. Practice on song lyrics and speeches. Just cover up everything but the last word and then work your way back to the beginning. For longer pieces of text, you may want to try memorizing only one paragraph at a time. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to retain large volumes of material in a short amount of time. You can impress your friends by showing them that you can memorize the serial numbers on dollar bills within seconds of staring at the paper.
As a final, cautionary note, stay away from flash cards. They are a waste of time to produce. Yes, some people do learn from them, but keep in mind that the time spent writing flash cards could be better spent working on memorizing the material. By the time your friends are done writing their cards, you’ll be finished studying if you follow the method I described here. If you don’t like the backwords memorization technique that I’ve described, the book Learn to Remember by Dominic O’Brien (ISBN: 0811827151) details methods that use your imagination to create either sequential movies or static pictures of associations to help you remember things.
Speed Reading
Another useful tool for learning is speed reading. Like most people reading this manual, you’re probably reading every single word in succession. Nicholas Schaffzin’s Reading Smart is what I used to break this habit. There are plenty of other books on speed reading, but they all teach the same principle. Instead of looking at words as individuals, you should divide each line into three parts, glance at the sections, and then use your peripheral vision to pick up everything.
As an example, Figure 1.1 contains an excerpt from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Read the paragraph as you would normally. Now move to Figure 1.2 and read the section again—this time by glancing at the bullets. At first this technique seems pretty odd. You’ll need some time to adjust to the new style of reading. The more you practice, however, the better you’ll get at speed reading. My own pace has doubled ever since I adapted to this method. Again, I only give a summarized explanation of how speed reading works. I strongly suggest that you pick up a book on the subject and learn from it.
Figure 1.1: Read this section as you normally would
Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.
Figure 1.2: Now read it again using only the bullets
Call me Ishmael. ∙ Some years ago—never ∙ mind how long precisely—having ∙ little or no money in my ∙ purse, and nothing particular to interest ∙ me on shore, I thought ∙ I would sail about a little and see the ∙ watery part of the world. ∙ It is a way I have of driving ∙ off the spleen and regulating ∙ the circulation. Whenever I find ∙ myself growing grim about ∙ the mouth; whenever it is a damp, ∙ drizzly November in my soul; ∙ whenever I find myself involuntarily ∙ pausing before coffin ∙ warehouses, and bringing up the rear ∙ of every funeral I meet; ∙ and especially whenever my hypos ∙ get such an upper hand of me, ∙ that it requires a strong moral ∙ principle to prevent me ∙ from deliberately stepping into the ∙ street, and methodically ∙ knocking people’s hats off—then, I ∙ account it high time to get to sea ∙ as soon as I can.
Immediate Review
Whenever you get out of class, immediately go somewhere quiet and review everything that the professor covered for the day. Neurobiologists have discovered that if you repeat the work done in class within one hour of seeing the material, the information will become part of your permanent memory! While I’m sure that after you get done with class, the last thing on your mind is more studying, but trust me when I say that the thirty minutes you spend reworking the lecture now will save you hours later.
