Have you ever wondered whether it's more effective to study in the same place night after night or to change locations frequently? Should you focus on one subject per study session, doing mugging for that physics exam tonight and the project work for prof comm tomorrow, or split things up across various evenings?
This article from The New York Times, "Forget What You Know about Good Study Habits," gets at the heart of study habits in a lucid manner. Invoking recent research while dispelling old myths, author Benedict Carey leads you through the library, into your favorite spot in the student lounge, back to your room in the residence hall and right up to your work desk --- then out again, and provides fine detail on an activity that takes up far too much of your time.
So you better get it right!
2 comments:
Wow! The article is really very interesting! As I was reading the article, I found myself nodding to every sentence written. Indeed, now that I think of it, I seem to study most effectively when I am walking! I suppose the constant change in environment does provide additional cognitive stimulus to retain information.
I also agree that tests are an effective way of retaining information! However, the tests in NUS do appear either really hard, or ridiculously easy, coupled with the bell curve system and a significant weightage on the final grade, the tests are actually achieving opposite results! Perhaps we should write in about this? Haha!
Still, I feel that the most important factors in studying is the motivation to grasp the concept, not the grade. Perhaps this is why I find subjects like science extremely interesting because it educates me about the intricacies of nature.
Thank you for the post Brad!
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really love the article. It proved to be very helpful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also engaged! I’m sure you had joy writing this article.
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