Study habit
A student wrote to me: “Why do we have to study materials before coming to class? We come to class to learn from the teacher and if we can learn before coming to class then why coming to class?
Answer: “The old way of studying is to listen to the teachers’ lecture and absorb whatever you can. That is NO LONGER effective. By doing that, students spend all of their energy to study AFTER class, and if they do not understand something, they will be confused and not learn much. In class, most students have to keep up with the lecture by taking notes. Of course, since they could not write faster than what the teacher says, they scramble and missing a lot of information. After class, all they have is some pages filled with scattered facts and incomplete concepts. They then study this material without knowing the lecture’s objectives. Since they do not understand the materials well, they become frustrated and worrying about passing the tests.
I believe all students must recognize the importance of being prepared for lecture. By spending some time reading the material before class, they can save many hours of ineffective study later. I often begin the first week of class by teaching my students to follow this method of learning:
Before coming to class, students must read the material from the textbook or assigned materials. They do not need to spend a lot of time on reading; a half an hour is sufficient. They must read the key objectives, so they know something about the lecture then quickly review the materials so they can be familiar with the concepts. They should ask themselves what they know and do not know so they can ask questions during the lecture.
During the class, they should be actively listening and only take notes to clarify thing they do not understand. If needed, they should write down any question and ask the teacher to explain. Asking questions is the better way to learn as you are active learning instead of passive listening.
After class, students must review their note to study all information that they learned in class. Since this is the time where the “real learning” is taking place, students must spend at least two hours studying. They should compare what they know before the class and what they do not know but ask, and the teacher gave the answers during the discussion. They must make sure that they understand all materials well based on this activity. If they are still confused, they should write more questions to ask the teacher in the next class.
However, I do not recommend students to keep asking questions all the time. As college students, they should develop a habit of utilizing other resources such as textbooks, reference materials in the library, websites, Wikipedia and other sources to fill in any gaps that remain from the lecture. Only when they could not get the answer, then they should bring to class and ask the teacher. I often remind the students that if they do not know something well, it will stay with them for a long time until they get the answer.
A good study habit can be developed if students are serious about learning. Without a proper preparation to develop this habit, they will struggle then eventually fear of learning and a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
