The summer slide — when children lose valuable skills and information over the three-month hiatus — is about to end.
Soon, area students will be back behind their desks having all sorts of information — some useful, some not — drilled into their heads. For parents, teachers and students alike, the challenge is to make it all stick.
To help make the learning experience more valuable, researchers have determined two study habits help students retain new information better.
Put away the highlighter and don’t reread the text ad infinitum. Instead, play teacher.
That’s right.
Throw yourself a pop quiz over the material.
The results are two-fold. Firstly, knowing which questions to ask shows an understanding of the general concept of the material studied. Secondly, finding the answers and rehearsing them with flash cards, for instance, helps cement them in the old, or young, noggin.
Short, frequent self-exams also help students prepare for the real thing, without the pressure.
The second bit of advice is against learning everything you can about one subject in a short period of time. It doesn’t stick.
Instead, space out the study of a subject, say Spanish, over a period of days — the longer the interval the better.
Although it goes against typical textbook learning, psychologists have found that students better retain new concepts when they can come back to them at least 30 days later. Ideal learning conditions include six- to 12-month gaps to return to a specific concept — although that plays havoc with a traditional learning schedule.
Having several days before a certain class is repeated helps students develop better recall of fundamental concepts.
This method of distributive practice works best when learning a new language, playing an instrument, and even advanced skills such as medical surgery, according to researchers published in the recent edition of the journal “Scientific American Mind.”
Other helpful techniques include having students ask themselves “why” questions to the topic at hand forcing their minds to do more than just rote memory. This elaborate interrogation process helps students see a subject at different angles.
Students can better learn a subject by pretending they are participating in a debate, where they must explain a topic thoroughly with justifications for their reasoning.
Learning how to learn more effectively can give students lifelong skills. When it comes down to it, we’re all perpetual students — with a lot to learn.
— Susan Lynn
Good study habits can give edge on learning material
