Evidence-Based Study Tips: Nine Ways To Help You Learn

All three of my children are students; my son and daughter are in college and my youngest daughter just started high school.  And I have been a professor for over 25 years, so I see lots of variation in how students -- undergraduates, masters students, and doctoral students -- go about trying to learn and be successful.  As such, I was struck with a list of 9 things over at BPS research that students can do to be more effective, gleaned from The Psychologist.  Check out the post at BPS research for details, but here they are:

1. Adopt a growth mindset: This might be the most important of all; as Carol Dweck's wonderful research shows, when people believe that their intelligence and abilities are malleable rather than fixed, they try harder of learn more.  It is useless and downright destructive to view your abilities as fixed because, if they are, why should you bother try? And failure means your dumb.  That mindset is dangerous nonsense -- and if your teachers start talking that way, ignore them --or send them some information about Dweck's research. 

2. Sleep well.  There is tons of evidence that sleep deprivation makes people dumber and nastier. There are times when you've got to push it because of deadlines and such, but I think we all know that feeling a dulled mind from lack of sleep. 

3. Forgive yourself for procrastinating.  A cool study shows that students who forgive themselves for past sins here procrastinate less and perform better in the future. 

4. Test yourself.  As BPS reports:  "A powerful finding in laboratory studies of learning is the ‘testing effect’ whereby time spent answering quiz questions (including feedback of correct answers) is more beneficial than the same time spent merely re-studying that same material."

5. Pace yourself. People remember things better when they do a bit every day rather than cram for exams. I know this is against the instincts and habits of many students out there, but the evidence here is clear, so learning to plod along can help you a lot.

6. Vivid examples may not always work best. This one is interesting because, as professor, I know that students love vivid examples.  But BPS reports some research suggesting that learning abstract concepts rather than the juicy stories that illustrate them enables students to more easily apply the concepts to diverse challenges.   (I have to learn more about this, as it actually seems inconsistent with stuff in Made to Stick -- although perhaps the challenge is that juicy stories are so sticky that we don't focus on the underlying lesson). 

7. Take naps.  I love this point. I talk about it a lot in Good Boss, Bad Boss because there is evidence that taking a nap not only makes you more effective, it helps keep your inner jerk from rearing its ugly head.  Napping is also a way to offset some of the negative effects of sleep deprivation when the pressure is on.  See the BPS summary of research on how to nap -- lying down is better than leaning forward, but leaning forward is better than not napping at all. 

8. Get handouts prior to the lecture.  I blogged about this research awhile back; many faculty now put handouts on line, so if you are a student, it sounds like looking at hem before the lecture and bringing them with you is a good idea.  Students who get handouts in advance take fewer notes, but still tend to better on tests, at least according to one recent study. 

9. Believe in yourself.  As BPS tells us:  "Self-belief affects problem-solving abilities even when the influence of background knowledge is taken into account. Bobby Hoffman and Alexandru Spatariu showed this in 2008 in the context of 81 undergrad students solving mental multiplication problems. The students’ belief in their own ability, called ‘self-efficacy’, and their general ability both made unique contributions to their performance."

I will send this post to my children; I hope they read it!  I would also add that if you look at this list, these tips aren't just for students.  Really, they are nice summary of the learning mindset, of how to manage yourself for learning over the long haul.  In particular, two overall themes jump out at me that are supported by piles of behavioral science research conducted under diverse banners (psychology, education, sociology) and labeled with diverse jargon:

1. If you believe you can, you can; if you believe you can't, you can't (points 1 and 9)

2. Treat your journey as a marathon, not a sprint or series of sprints (points 2,5, and 7; and perhaps some others)

Let me know what you think of these tips; and also let me know your ideas about how to persuade others to do some of this stuff!  I am especially concerned about the challenge of teaching people (and myself too) to "pace yourself."  That is something that is easier said that done.

Comments

[James Ash]

One idea I'm experimenting with as an organic chemistry tutor as far as "study in small chunks" is making a series of short quizzes (that could be done in 5 minutes or a little more) and getting an email program to automatically send them to the students' inbox at appropriate times in the future. It should be pretty easy to set this up yourself. It helps prevent students from descending the "forgetting curve". The key is to make the emails short such that there isn't a strong barrier to opening them.

[Anon]

The New York Times is into this theme:

Forget what you know about good study habits (Benedict Carey, New York Times, 9/6/10)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html

[Carla]

Thanks for the post, Bob. I agree, it is tremendously difficult to “pace yourself” when the pace of everything around you is already rapidly moving. With multitasking and tremendous expectations of the workplace, it is difficult to slow down, let alone stop to take a breath. Even on the marathon journey, everyone needs to stop for a water break. As a full-time employee also pursuing my M.B.A., I will certainly remember this list as it contains many great reminders.

[Ellen O'Rourke]

Bob, thank you for sharing the BPS learnings. Number one struck me as true. As a returning student there is a difference in my mindset. When I was attending my undergraduate program twenty years ago I lacked confidence and was unsure of my abilities. I also treated my education as a commodity. Twenty years later, I have started graduate school and there is a difference in my mindset. After years of adult learning in the business world I have come to believe that I bring a valuable perspective and an important set of life experiences to the training classes I attend at work. This mindset has transferred to my participation in graduate school. I have learned to question my assumptions, I have found that I am more secure and confident, and I contribute to classroom discussion - something I would never have done twenty years ago. I completely agree with you when you say “if you believe you can, you can.” Personal investment in one's education does yield better performance and success.

[Eric Schwarzrock]

#5 is excellent. When you cram for a test it’s the equivalent to stuffing your mouth at a Chinese buffet just to go home and puke kung pao projectiles all over the toilet. Instead, eat a fair amount of snacks everyday and reap the nutrients and manageable servings. Reading and problem solving in spurts allows you brain to digest the information and retain the data.

[Jeffrey Thomas]

I found the list to be very interesting. I have struggled with a number of examples on the list. Getting a good nights sleep and setting a pace while learning are two areas I personally have found to be important and am working on improving.

[Anon]

Advice from college professors whose own skin (off spring) is in the game is likely most valuable.

From Greg Mankiw's "Advice for Frosh" http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2010/09/advice-for-frosh.html a link to his NYT column http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/business/economy/05view.html
that starts

". . . And this year, I am sending the first of my own children off to college. Which raises these questions: What should they be learning? And what kind of foundation is needed to understand and be prepared for the modern economy? Here is my advice for students of all ages . . ."

[Joyce Reynolds-Ward]

Thank you for sharing these! I am a middle school special education teacher, and this sort of information is good stuff for me to share with my students.

[Wally Bock]

Thanks, Bob. This is a really helpful post. For people my age ( 64 and a half) the point about the plasticity of the brain is vital. We grew up learning that IQ and other talents were essentially fixed. My mother now seems so wise since she refused to let the schools give my sister and me an IQ test. When I asked her about that years later she said, "They wanted to pigeon-hole you and you're not a pigeon."

The points about sleep are critical, too. It's been a big life lesson for me that sleep is one of the most important variables that I can control. When you get enough, things have the best prospect of going well. When you don't, it's like loosening the bonds on your inner jerk. Plus you're more likely to over-eat and less likely to exercise discipline of any kind. Vince Lombardi said that "fatigue makes cowards of us all," but it's seems more accurate to say that it turns us into sloppy, undisciplined jerks.

I've added a link to this post to my own, "Read Better, Do Better" with links to posts on business book selection and creating a self-development program. It's at
http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2010/09/03/read-better-do-better.aspx

[Ali R. Khan]

Learning is Fun if you make it and i really do believe on your point nice...If you believe you can,

Regards
Ali R. Khan

[Serhiiy Yevtushenko]

I would like to point out on another evidence based research about learning, which was done in cognitive psychology. For learning about them, one could read Cognitive Psychology by J.R. Anderson, or look at PQ4R method (Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, Review). Some summaries could be found here: http://www.scism.lsbu.ac.uk/inmandw/review/cogpsy/review/rev5653.html

[Alexandru Bolboacă]

I think vivid examples are wonderful for raising interest, but they need to be followed by theory or practice.

As a trainer for software developers, I can tell that experiential learning is the best. First try to do something, then learn how you can do it better and then try on the new skills.

[Ellie]

I disagree that 1 is magical thinking, after all, we know that our brains are plastic, so why handicap ourselves unnecessarily by believe they aren't?

That said, number 9 needs a slight readjustment because, as John suggests, self-belief is only helpful if it is a task you actually *can* do. If you can't, then high levels of self-belief lead to high levels of depression as your failure comes as a shock and you are constantly faced with your own unexpected inadequacy.

It's the "unexpected" that causes the problem here, expected failure doesn't upset us much. Finding the level of self-belief where we believe we can but are not disappointed if we can't is It's a tricky balance to strike.

[Andrew Meyer]

Curiosity. Universities are the greatest places to follow your curiosity, find people with similar curiosities and get honest feedback from people with experience who may like or dislike the idea.

[Anon]

Another good resource for students is Karl Wirth and Dexter Perkins's "Learning to Learn", summarizing research on learning
http://www.macalester.edu/geology/wirth/learning.pdf

Students also need to recognize the shadow curriculum - Bill Coplin's "10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College: The Know-How You Need to Succeed"
http://sites.maxwell.syr.edu/dogooddowell/DG&DW/TenSkills.htm

Peter Drucker's quotes to remember:

"When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course"

"Education gives you neither experience nor wisdom"

And Tom Magliozzi's Car-Talk comments, just for perspective
http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/ATC/

[John Jenkins]

1&9 seem like magical thinking to me.

You can't do something if you don't try to do it, but just because you try doesn't mean you can do it. So while half of the idea works (if you think you can't, you can't, at least to the extent you don't try), the other half is simply false.

I think a better mindset is one where you simply don't cut yourself off from TRYING based on your predispositions about what you can and can't do (but, eventually, you may find that you're really, really bad at something, and it's okay not to do that thing in preference to things you're better at).