Have you ever stared at your textbook for hours, prayed for God to hear you, and failed your exam badly? Yes, we’ve all been there. Fortunately, the Academic Achievement Center is here to help students solve that dilemma by finding better strategies for learning and understanding course material.
On Monday, October 9th, AAC hosted a workshop called “Strategies for Deep Learning.” Henry Wen, an eighth-semester psychology major with a human development and family science minor, and Margaret Luo, a physiology and neurobiology major with a materials science and engineering minor, both at AAC on the Storrs campus. He is a coach. They began the workshop by asking students to estimate the average number of sign-ins that an AAC receives in her one year. Amazingly, the number of students taking advantage of the resources provided by AAC is over 15,000.
Wen wanted the audience to understand that “there is no right or wrong answer as to what is a good learning strategy, but there are certainly some strategies that are more effective than others.” is. AAC defines the least effective learning strategies as highlighting, memorizing, and rereading. The most effective study methods are to teach others, use mock tests and problem sets, and study over a long period of time.
Wen and Luo classified learning into six categories. The first is memory, which includes keywords such as list, receive, recall, identify, and trivia knowledge. This is based on general knowledge that you have learned but do not yet deeply understand. One example is being able to recreate the Apple logo from memory. Most of the time, you just draw an apple with a bite mark, but just a vague memory is not enough to draw specific details, such as the direction of the leaf or which side the bite mark is on. Wen asks the question, “Is being familiar with something the same as having learned it?”
The second category is understanding, which is described by words such as explain, summarize, explain, interpret, and paraphrase. Understanding requires further memorization of concepts and more detailed explanations.
“Apply” is the third level and asks you to calculate, solve, execute, implement, and relate the material. Can you solve 4x?2Using the quadratic formula, −4x−4=0? Questions like this are examples of applying the material to other concepts and applying it to your work to solve problems.
The fourth is analysis, which means contrasting, comparing, classifying, organizing, and discussing. Being able to relate a problem to other problems not only allows you to understand each problem individually, but also allows you to better understand the relationships between concepts. This is especially useful for students studying literature or majors that require critical thinking on a daily basis.
Fifth, evaluate, criticize, decide, support, discuss, and defend your position. Wen and Luo asked the audience to think about which dining hall on the Storrs campus was the best and explain why. While there were a variety of opinions (Northwest is the best), this was essentially an evaluation exercise. Another case where evaluation can be applied is the question: Should euthanasia be legalized in Connecticut? Why or why not? In situations where outcomes must be determined, both sides must be further evaluated. You can’t support one without understanding the other.
The final category is “Create.” This means to design, build, develop, produce, or change something. This was a more difficult concept to explain as it is not applicable to all subjects, but Luo sums it up best with the following example: “Einstein created the equation E=mc.2 He contributed to the study of special relativity, and was able to do so because he had a very deep understanding of physics. ”
The techniques and exercises mentioned include mind maps, which are diagrams that help expand on specific topics. “Mind maps help you focus on one thing and things related to it,” he says Luo. She says she also uses her study guides and Cornell’s study methods. The Cornell Method requires you to periodically self-test the material. The Pomodoro technique is a time management method that divides studying into long sessions with short breaks in between. Wu describes the Pomodoro technique as “repetition for the brain.”
The last study method listed by Wen and Luo is a common one: a five-day study plan. This includes chunking information, creating strategies for approaching the material, distributing exercises, and reviewing and preparing. This plan imposes strict rules on students. “When you have a plan in front of you, it’s harder to procrastinate,” Luo says.
AAC is located in Room 217 of the John W. Rowe Undergraduate Education Center on the Storrs campus. in his room 202 in the Hartford Times Building on the Hartford campus and in his room 128 on the Waterbury campus. AAC is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.