Studying

[pianoperformer]

Hi,

Studying is something I have always had a lot of trouble with. I did it when I absolutely had to, such as studying for an exam, especially when memorization was required. Beyond that, though, I always found myself having a lot of trouble actually opening up my notes and studying them every day.

Somehow, I got a 4.0 last year. However, I fully expect the classes to get harder this year, partly of course because I have mostly science and math courses. Though it will be harder, I still want to get very good grades, and it'd be excellent if I could get another 4.0.

So, I want to be ready when it comes, and somehow learn how to study effectively, and to actually put in the time.

As for studying effectively, I'm still not sure about that. I've heard recommendations to split it up into 30-minute chunks, and other recommendations saying to go an hour or so at a time before taking a break.

I do take very detailed notes, but since I take my laptop and therefore type the notes, it is usually very close to exactly what the professor said. I've also heard recommendations to try to put it in my own words, or to outline it. I'm really not sure. I think maybe if I took more efficient notes, maybe I could study more effectively.

As for putting in the time, well my class schedule is done, and i've been trying to schedule in studying time around that; I mean have times that are exclusively for studying. The problem is I dont' know how much even to study. I've heard recommendations for two hours per credit, but then I read of a study that said students rarely did more than one hour per credit. I thought for now of going in the middle and doing 1.5. That will mean 24 hours per week for me.

I would argue that usually I wouldn't need nearly so much studying, especially because of how I've done over the last year, but again most of these are science and math courses, and the only one that is not is an honors course. My courses are as follows:

• Chemistry I (including lecture, lab, and recitation) (5 credits)
• Analytical Physics I (including lecture, lab, and recitation) (4 credits)
• Calculus II (4 credits)
• Honors Theology (3 credits)

I know that I might find it difficult to even study so much, especially since I have a bit of a problem with staying on the computer too long, either on forums or IMing people, etc. I also do my homework on the computer, which also means I get distracted easily. I think I'll have to start closing non-essential programs when I'm doing homework or studying.

But, to try to get used to that amount, I thought of trying to prepare before the semester starts. I thought of during those times when I would have to actually do some work (class, study, etc), that during this preparation time I'd fill it in with something like reading, programming, or anything that got me away from what I usually do on the computer. Reading would either be fun reading, to personal development reading, to even educational reading. I thought of ordering a few of my books a little bit early and browsing over the first few chapters to get a head start.

Finally, I did make my weekly schedule for when classes start. Some of the days, I couldn't put in so much studying because of more classes, or activities like my fraternity's chapter meetings on Tuesday nights, for example, but in general I tried to balance them out throughout the days. I figured that on Saturday, I might want to relax more, and might even go to a mixer or something on Saturday nights, so left those mostly free.

I want to see if the schedule seems OK. That is, if there seems to be enough studying, enough social time, or anything else you might find wrong with it that I can improve.

Monday
Study: 8:00 am-9:00 am
Study: 9:30 am-10:30 am
Chemistry I: 11:00 am-11:50 am
Analytical Physics I: 12:00 pm-12:50 pm
Calculus II: 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Chemistry I Recitation: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Study: 8:30 PM-9:30 PM

Tuesday
Study: 8:00 am-9:00 am
Chemistry I Lab: 9:25 am - 12:05 pm
Honors Theology: 1:40 pm - 2:55 pm
Analytical Physics I Recitation: 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Study: 7:00 pm-8:00 pm

Wednesday
Analytical Physics I Lab: 8:00 am - 9:50 am
Chemistry I: 11:00 am-11:50 am
Analytical Physics I: 12:00 pm-12:50 pm
Calculus II: 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm
Study: 6:00 pm-7:00 pm
Study: 7:30 pm-8:30 pm

Thursday
Study: 8:00 am-9:00 am
Study: 9:30 am-10:30 am
Calculus II: 12:15 pm - 1:05 pm
Honors Theology: 1:40 pm - 2:55 pm
Study: 3:30 pm-4:30 pm
Study: 6:00 pm-7:00 pm
Study: 7:30 pm-8:30 pm

Friday
Study: 8:00 am-9:00 am
Study: 9:30 am-10:30 am
Chemistry I: 11:00 am-11:50 am
Analytical Physics I: 12:00 pm-12:50 pm
Study: 2:00 pm-3:00 pm
Study: 3:30 pm-4:30 pm
Study: 6:00 pm-7:00 pm
Study: 7:30 pm-8:30 pm

Saturday
Study: 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
Study: 2:30 pm-3:30 pm

Sunday
Study: 1:00 pm-2:00 pm
Study: 2:30 pm-3:30 pm
Study: 6:00 pm-7:00 pm
Study: 7:30 pm-8:30 pm

I just really want to be ready for the increased difficulty, and want to be sure that I have the discipline to do what I need to do to maintain my grades. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for any replies.

[Captain Cloudchaser]

Hi there. I'm not that familiar with university/college life yet, I only studied two subjects a week and that was a handful for me! What you're studying sounds like a lot of hard work, it's great that you're trying to organise your time so well.. That's way better than me for a start

I'm useless when it comes to focusing, that's my problem. I just kept getting distracted and to be honest, the thought of sitting down for hours on end just reading made me go insane. Some people mentioned to me the 'stop watch' technique, which I actually found very effective, so I thought I would post it here. Basically, set yourself a time to do a chunk of work and focus all of your thoughts into that time, then when the time is up, run away and do something enjoyable, procrastinate, reward yourself with something then start again. It's better to set an alarm and then forget about the time, so you're not always looking at the clock to see how much time you've put into your work. I broke up my day with 30 min chunks of work and rest in between. It made it easier because I didn't feel like I was missing out on doing something enjoyable. Course, that wouldn't really work if you had an important essay or revision, but for general study, I think it helps!

If you think you can maintain concentration for an hour or longer, then set an alarm for that long and see how you feel. If you study too much then it might be nice to take a break in between to just let the information soak in a bit, rather then end up drowning in words!

I hope someone else can offer some better advice on studying though

[pianoperformer]

Captain Cloudchaser,

Thank you, that may be useful. That's why I set those 30 minute breaks in between—so that I could relax. I don't know if 30 minutes would be enough, though it very well may be enough with studying science and math, since they are rather intensive. Maybe if the hour is too long, I can do a half an hour with 15 minutes as a break, or something. And I'll award myself with something I only get if I don't procrastinate.

Procrastination is my biggest problem. I live with my fraternity brothers, so when I hear people in the main area outside my room, I get curious and I go out there—saying, of course, it will just be for a few minutes, but usually it lasts for an hour or more.

I appreciate your suggestions.

[igmistro]

A quick thought. One of the best ways to learn is to teach. Form/join a study group or offer tutoring for one of your classmates. It will keep you accountable and force to truly understand the subject because you'll have to explain it to others.

[pianoperformer]

Already plan on it. My university has a tutoring program that I plan to join, that I should even be able to be paid for.

[pianoperformer]

Oh, in regards to this as wel, I also meant to ask how much sleep is recommended? I was planning on getting up at around 6:00 or so every morning, so that I could check my email, get a shower, have breakfast, etc before 8:00, when I'd usually have either class or study. This generally isn't too hard for me, because even last semester I got up at around 6:30-7:00 every morning. Last semester, though, I also only got an average of 5-6 hours per night. Often, in the middle of the day, I would be exhausted, and would have to take a nap before my next class. I dont' want to have to do this.

I don't know if it is because of the amount of sleep, though, or because apparently my iron level is a bit low. No one knows why, yet, and I have a doctors appointment next month where I plan to see what he says about this. Sometimes even if I do get enough sleep, I am still tired, so I think it may be a mixture of the two.

I think 7 hours seems decent, so maybe I will try going to bed at 11:00.

Not that that has anything to do with studying, but my focus is on all around doing very well next semester, just as I have been doing for the last two semesters.

[Tasaio]

Looking back on my school years, I wished I'd researched different systems for studying.

Now, I'm using several to great effect. But by far the most important discovery was the SRS system.

"SRS" stands for "Spaced Repetition System". It can take the form of flashcards or a computer program.

In a nutshell: You input things you wish to memorize into the system. It progressively schedules reviews after increasingly large time intervals. If you fail a review for an item, then that item starts back at the beginning of the system.

Before you think I'm trying to sell you something, I should point out that most SRS programs are free. You can even make your own, physical version using flashcards.

I think that Steve unknowingly made his own SRS system to get through college in two semesters. In one article he said that he considered himself falling behind if he did not feel ready to take a test on everything he'd learned so far. This is good advice, except for the idea that you can literally spend hours studying on a single day, but that does no good in the long term.

Which really gets to the point I'm trying to make: long term memory vs. short term memory.

If you study the same facts every single day, and then test yourself on what you've studied...then you're actually only storing the facts in short term memory.

A much better idea is to study one day, wait a day or two, and then try to review. This stores the fact in long term memory and strengthens memorization. The SRS program is what helps you decide how long you need to wait, before reviewing.

I, personally, am using the SRS Leitner system (based on flash cards) to great effect when learning 3000 Chinese characters. Since you're in math and physics, you'll want one that's more general. I've heard good things about Mnemosyne.

Welcome to the Mnemosyne Project | The Mnemosyne Project

Also, Supermemo was one of the first computer SRS systems. Some older versions are free, but the newer ones aren't. I personally find Supermemo clunky and outdated, but then, I'm learning a subject much simpler than math and physics.

Super Memory

Good luck,

Tasaio

[pianoperformer]

Tasaio:

I am trying Mnemosyne. I really like it so far!

My only concern is that a lot of what I have to study probably will involve formulas, which have to be calculated, not just memorized. However, I can see this being useful for of course the common question and answer format, however often that might arise. I will have other classes such as Theology, which will definitely have such a format. Also, I could even enter formulas, and then what those formulas are used for, or what the variables are for. I think it could potentially be used for a lot of things.

So, thanks for the information.

I wonder if you could provide more specific information about how this has worked for you? How long are you able to remember things after effectively using this system?

I also wonder how you would use this if you were in college. For instance, I wonder if each semester, I should leave the information from the last semester in it, for periodic review, or delete it from semester to semester. I guess for the classes where I care about long-term retention, such as for all of my science and math courses, I might leave it, while for my core classes, such as the theology class I'm taking this semester, where I don't really care about it but have to take it, I might delete it after the final.

Anyway, I am definitely going to use this! The Mnemosyne project includes some card sets for download, so I got two to try, including one with the periodic table, and one with popular GRE vocabulary terms. I'll be experimenting with this to see how it works for me throughout this summer. Also I'm getting my chemistry and physics books next Friday, so may begin to read those and add some terms and such.

Again, thank you for the information. I am really very appreciative.

[pianoperformer]

Now I do wonder whether Mnemosyne or Supermemo is better. Certainly Mnemosyne is simpler, but Supermemo has that incremental reading capability, which seems rather useful, especially for reading sections of textbooks.

Anyone with experience with these?

[The Cloud]

You may want to calculate all the inflexible hours that you have per day, and then make an inverse study schedule so the most studying is done on the days with the fewest inflexible hours. Also, it may not be necessary for you to have your study hours rigidly scheduled, you could simply have an hour quota per day and a sheet where you sign yourself in and out for your hours (to make sure that you get that feeling that you're clocked in and that it's time to study). That way you can take advantage of those little seemingly useless bits of time between classes, and you can take breaks whenever you feel the need by "clocking out" for half an hour. I would also agree with your idea of having Saturdays free, because the feeling of having free time is half the point of setting a study schedule. There is little more liberating for a student than being able to say "I have put in my hours for the week, and I can now enjoy my free time without thinking about school."

Also, you could have contingency hours planned on certain days that you only use if you need to. So say on Monday you plan on normally studying 4 hours, with 2 contingency hours in case you have an exam or paper coming up.

An alternative idea could be to have a task-based schedule rather than an hourly one. You could assign certain tasks to certain days, with contingency days for tasks that aren't regularly scheduled. This plan gives you a bit more flexibility, but it removes the time constraint and is more likely to let you get bogged down with details. It all depends.

As for the distraction problem, you already came up with the necessary solution. When clocked in, you should be logged out of email, chat, the entire internet if possible. One thing that I found useful was to make a list of all the websites that I waste the most time with, and limiting the number of times that I can visit them with a check list. So for important things like email, allow yourself 3 or 4 visits a day. Maybe make the forums a once-per-day thing, or even every other day. Again, the checklist is vital because it gives you a visceral reminder of your alloted time resources. It doesn't have to be limited to the internet, you can do it for anything that has a tendency to be a distraction for you. Limit your distractions, and you'll have to fill the void with something (hopefully something more productive and fulfilling than checking your email for the umpteenth time in the day.)

I can tell you from personal experience that this system works phenomenally well, as long as you want it to. No system will help you if you don't have passion or drive, but if you do then this will definitely help you get that 4.00 that you're looking for.

[pianoperformer]

Originally Posted by The Cloud

You may want to calculate all the inflexible hours that you have per day, and then make an inverse study schedule so the most studying is done on the days with the fewest inflexible hours.

That's similar to what I did. I went through and marked down every hour that I had free starting at 8:00 AM and up until 11:00 PM. On weekends, I only marked 4 hours for both days. I think it came out to about 28 hours or so, so I went through and removed some times from other days, especially Monday-Wednesday, and especially late at night.

Originally Posted by The Cloud

Also, it may not be necessary for you to have your study hours rigidly scheduled, you could simply have an hour quota per day and a sheet where you sign yourself in and out for your hours (to make sure that you get that feeling that you're clocked in and that it's time to study). That way you can take advantage of those little seemingly useless bits of time between classes, and you can take breaks whenever you feel the need by "clocking out" for half an hour.

Oh, I like that. That'd give me mor einsentive, too, to do more earlier in the week, to lessen the load at the end of the week. I got the idea of the study schedule from when I practiced the piano for several hours every day. I would have specific hours to make sure I got in enough time. some were optional, depending on what was going on, but I usually had a pretty set requirement of 2 hours at night. The thing is that when I became more lax about the exact time, that two-hour slot always slid back, until sometimes I wouldn't be getting down there until 11:00, because I wouldn't allow myself to go to bed unless I got that two hours. That's why I thought to set the times for studying, so I couldn't think, "well I still have a while tonight—I'll just do it later."

Originally Posted by The Cloud

I would also agree with your idea of having Saturdays free, because the feeling of having free time is half the point of setting a study schedule. There is little more liberating for a student than being able to say "I have put in my hours for the week, and I can now enjoy my free time without thinking about school."

Yeah, I like it. I still want an hour or two though, but just not as much as the other days.

Originally Posted by The Cloud

Also, you could have contingency hours planned on certain days that you only use if you need to. So say on Monday you plan on normally studying 4 hours, with 2 contingency hours in case you have an exam or paper coming up.

Excellent idea. I will think about that. Though my goal is that no cramming will need to be done, if I am fairly consistent with my studying.

Originally Posted by The Cloud

An alternative idea could be to have a task-based schedule rather than an hourly one. You could assign certain tasks to certain days, with contingency days for tasks that aren't regularly scheduled. This plan gives you a bit more flexibility, but it removes the time constraint and is more likely to let you get bogged down with details. It all depends.

Works well for homework, but maybe not so much for studying where the aim is mostly just to learn the material. I may use a combination of both, though. For instance if I have to read 50 pages for Friday, I might read 10 pages each day that week. I employed this idea rather frequently last year, since the idea of homework not being due for several days was frightening, since I never knew what homework other classes would give on subsequent days, and therefore couldn't safely push the homework until the night before, since I might have quite a load from other classes, too.

Originally Posted by The Cloud

As for the distraction problem, you already came up with the necessary solution. When clocked in, you should be logged out of email, chat, the entire internet if possible. One thing that I found useful was to make a list of all the websites that I waste the most time with, and limiting the number of times that I can visit them with a check list. So for important things like email, allow yourself 3 or 4 visits a day. Maybe make the forums a once-per-day thing, or even every other day. Again, the checklist is vital because it gives you a visceral reminder of your alloted time resources. It doesn't have to be limited to the internet, you can do it for anything that has a tendency to be a distraction for you. Limit your distractions, and you'll have to fill the void with something (hopefully something more productive and fulfilling than checking your email for the umpteenth time in the day.)

Yes, it is hard but I will do it. I usually have Outlook open all day, so the idea of shutting that down is rather foreign. However, of course when it is open, and I hear the notification of new mail, curiosity overcomes me and I go to check it. Then, it is doubtless a reply notification from this forum, so I have to go read the reply, and reply myself, and...an hour later I'm wondering what happened to studying.

I've been using this program called Rescue Time. It's nice for tracking and setting goals, but the one downside is that it tracks time usage by what programs you are focused on. It works, but sometimes I am in Microsoft Word for doing homework, but other times for just doing something totally unrelated to homework, so if I mark that as study, then the measurements are rather inaccurate. But in general, it does give me a good idea of how I am doing.

I do wonder whether there is some software application for doing such clocking in and out, and seeing when I reach my goal for the day and so forth. I've wondered about this before but never quite found something. I could probably program it rather easily, but never got around to it. Maybe that's something to think about. I could imagine it with a simple start and stop button, with a setting for goal time for the day, and a reading of how much time was used so far that day.

Originally Posted by The Cloud

I can tell you from personal experience that this system works phenomenally well, as long as you want it to. No system will help you if you don't have passion or drive, but if you do then this will definitely help you get that 4.00 that you're looking for.

Thank you. I am sure it will help, and hopefully with some work, I can get another 4.0.

As regards those memorization programs again, I think I actually prefer Supermemo now. The incremental reading feature is pretty decent, and I could imagine me using that for textbooks, possibly.

Thanks again to everyone for all of the advice.