Successful studying requires not only clear instruction and prompt feedback but also a certain student approach. One should find the ways of learning that really work in order to achieve great results. In this article, you will be given some effective tips that can make the study process more efficient and bring you the highest grades.
1. Participate
Developing a habit to participate in all classes is not easy, but for sure, worth trying. This is an essential skill that helps you get the most out of your education. The New York Times reported that fewer than half of students regularly participate in classroom learning activities. What’s more, during the pandemic, nearly a third of Los Angeles high school students aren’t even logging in, which is a serious problem.
Participation is a viable method to learn new things because of a few reasons. First of all, it helps to develop essential speaking skills. The ability to speak in a group is really needed in many contexts. Regardless of the field of study or future occupation, students face situations when they have to provide information, ask questions, or argue for a different solution. For sure, participation in classes enhances public communication skills that are necessary for successful studying. Moreover, active participation creates an opportunity to practice using the language of the disciplines being studied and expand professional vocabulary.
2. Find connections and examples
Scientists state that learning can’t occur if we don’t connect the new material to our interests, needs, or existing knowledge. There are different types of connections between learning concepts that one should seek in order to study more efficiently. For instance, similaritities and differences help us categorize objects and deepen the understanding of their features. You can also look for relationships between different pieces of information or unusual connections that go against the norm and help to develop creative thinking. To boost academic productivity, it would be great to connect new information to what you’ve already learned, so you can not only understand and remember the new material better but also recall previously learned facts.
It’s also important to always have an example of any concept you’re going to learn. Educators believe that illustrations and examples are powerful ways to get more in depth knowledge. Hence, no matter what subject you are learning, always try to find an appropriate illustration to each new concept or idea.
3. Ask experts
If you want to be really good at a particular subject, you shouldn’t neglect expert’s help. We all know that the information given at schools or colleges is often quite superficial. Therefore, you should find people who know more than your instructors and learn from them. Luckily, there are a lot of videos and manuals created by professionals with rich hand-on experience that are available on the web. You can expand your knowledge by learning from specialists on the Internet absolutely for free.
Any time you face difficulties with your studies, don’t try to sort everything out on your own. It may take you too much time and won’t bring the desired results. It would be more efficient to seek some help. In case you, let’s say, have troubles with essay writing, you can go to writeessaysonline.com and get recommendations from specialists on how to do it right. Remember that expert advice can not only save your time but also provide you with valuable insights on a subject. And there is nothing bad about this kind of assistance because this way your academic results will significantly improve. Isn’t it the most important in studying?
4. Study in short sessions
Typically, students try to carve out 3-4 hours to study, which is not imossible to do every day. As a result, they have long but rare sessions with a significant time gap between them. And the truth is that such approach isn’t as helful as having shorter but more frequent sessions. Scientists argue that long study sessions that take a few hours in a row are not actually effective for learning. So even though it may seem that 20 minutes can’t be enough to learn anything substantial, you are not really right.
According to some studies researching student involvement in learning, their engagement in watching educational videos drops significantly when they last longer than 9-12 minutes. As you see, we are limited in the amount of information we can process. Therefore, it’s better to break information in small pieces and study them in small sessions. Educators also note that the more time passes between learning, the greater chances that the information you’ve learned will fade away until the next session. So if you want to improve your memory, you should devote a few minutes a day to retrieval practice.
5. Seek interaction
As the study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University has revealed, passive listening and reading are not considered effective ways of information assimilation. In order to understand and memorize new concepts, you need to actively process them. Researchers argue that interactive activities are six times more likely to help learners gain insights and new skills. Therefore, you should seek for opportunities to make learning interactive.
You can do it by completing brief quizzes or duscussing the new information with friends. Psychologists say that peer duscussions help students become more emotionally engaged, which enhances the effectiveness of learning. According to the specialists’ point of view, by getting emotionally involved in the studying process, young people grasp new ideas much quicker and remeber them for longer.
Final thoughts
As you see, there are various ways to get better academic results. You can absorb materials much easier if you participate in classroom activities, see connections between different concepts, interact with study materials, properly organize your learning sessions and can use professional help.
Author’s BIO
Michael Turner is an expert writer at one of the leading essay services. Michael also works with students as a study coach. He helps them enhance academic outcomes and achieve greater success at college.