Diy study guide

Editor's Notes

• #2: Introduce yourself First name Major Courses you tutor Ask attendees their names & emails Email students a copy of workshop materials so they can follow along.
• #3: Ice Breaker: How many have every felt like this internet meme? What was the big hurdle that contributed to this feeling? How did you get through it? Conclusion: It’s okay to feel this way. However, the goal of this workshop is to empower you to move forward more quickly by giving you the mindset, process, & self-awareness to transition more quickly to getting it done. Addressing Skepticism: It’s ironic that after learning something difficult, people look back and say/believe it “wasn’t as hard” as they thought. Many don’t even acknowledge that there ever was a significant challenge. Point: Learning changes our brains, attitudes, beliefs about who we are & where we are going
• #4: There is supposed to be difference between high school & college education College Education is aimed at Specialized study Working with professionals to become a professional Instructors are trying to help students with skill building & concept mastery Develop critical thinking skills for problem-solving Reflecting on their own learning (“metacognitive learning”) Accurate self assessment Balance Independence with Inter-dependence Instructors spend a lot of time defining course start/end points & progess Walk-Thru: lecture, readings, practice problems, labs, presentations, projects, exams, etc. To further control how you study is very confining & counter-productive to goals There are so many methods The best learning is applied to student lived experience
• #5: The bad news is that there are many paths from “Point A to Point B” The good news is that we evaluate the process used to become more effective—Save Time, Get Learning “Done” After a semester or two you will be comfortable with the process that works for you At the beginning it will be challenging
• #6: Ask participants what they think & why. Explain that both contain good information for different stages of learning.
• #7: Reality: The study guide is just a plan. Like a diet, it doesn’t work if you don’t follow it. Also realize: A general plan may help you avoid failing—that’s not the same as passing.
• #8: An effective study guide is different from a chapter or unit summary. A unit summary overviews key points from the chapter without distinguishing challenging topics or suggesting priority for study. This is already available in the form of End-of-Chaper reviews in the textbook Student lecture notes More of the same is not likely to help
• #9: Reality: There is a difference between studying and reading/looking over things Creating meaning requires active thinking Reading only involves decoding Students that want to be effective with their time should use the process that is the most active.
• #10: This is Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Processing. It’s a model that describes different levels of thinking that are used. Creating a study guide represents the apex of thinking—it is the hardest mental task to do. It means that you have to work through the other layers. Looking over a provided study guide only requires comprehension—one of the lower levels of processing. While this is important but you may not be ready for the test just by understanding Ex: People can watch a science documentary and follow along (ie comprehend) the main ideas—this does not make the audience ready to perform a lab, build a rocket, or perform surgery.
• #11: Reality: The study guide does not represent what’s in your head! Students write down what the DON’T know As you study, the brain recognizes more information more quickly Students find they remove information from study guides because eventually it becomes very obvious A well-prepared student may have a study guide that is a half or quarter page in length, includes pictures, and isn’t very comprehensible to others.
• #12: Multi-page Lots of topics No priority between what is known and unknown to the user May not be relevant all semester Conclusion: May be helpful in the learning phase Less helpful for exam review phase
• #13: One page Bite-size topics Fewer, more relevant facts to a specific person Color-coded by topic, with headings Hand-written content is generally easier to remember Arrows show awareness of relationships between topics Relevant to what this particular student needs to know Ironically, it is less than useful to others—though they don’t always realize it!
• #14: A personalized study guide COMPLEMENTS student strengths & weaknesses After effective studying the information is in your head You don’t need to write so much down on the page EX: the address of a new apartment may be unfamiliar on the first visit—you might have to write down the zip code, etc. After another visit, getting mail, or filling in paperwork you don’t need it written down.
• #16: Things to know: this process is non-linear Analogy: while driving you shift gears to provide the smoothest, effective ride--the order changes based on context. It’s okay to get help AT ANY STAGE of this process.
• #17: Successful students are very accurate about guessing what they do & do not understand They have high level of awareness They accept differences in understanding Good News: This ability can be learned & improved through practice.
• #18: Understanding comes from Review & Recite stages Awareness comes from Reflection & Recording stages
• #19: Reflection is the first stage in building awareness Goal: figure out what you really know & what you really don’t know Attitude: be skeptical & ask for proof Process: Markup Your Own Practice Problems Get a red pen (or any other color) Notice & mark common mistakes on old problem sets Ex: Math – making mistakes in arithmetic Ex: Anthropology – writing a summary instead of making a claim
• #20: The next step is to figure out why you don’t know something Do this by figuring out what information is missing or misunderstood. Let’s call this info “KEYS” to the process Process: Take a page and fold it into quarters Assign one box to each section & write-in a heading If you understand the material well move on! Note: You understand it if you got the homework right the first time through. If you don’t understand the material well in the section: write in The mistakes made in homework problems on the first try The Key Idea to avoid each common pitfall Optional: Include example of each type
• #21: To recite means to perform the information Apply it Teach it Rehearse it Write it out Use three column notes to clarify one item in each column: Process Application Rationale Work with a tutor Ask the tutor to quiz you Ask the tutor to listen to your recitation of the answer Tutor a classmate!
• #22: If you are still facing pitfalls you may not have found all the KEYS that are needed. Shrug off frustrations by taking a break & get into “creator mindset” Find a 30-minute window of study time to focus on the specific topic Go back to the original source material to figure out what idea(s) were missed Adding more information into lecture or class notes Re-reading limited, select textbook passages again Watching limited, select lecture videos again Asking follow-up questions in class or office hour Looking up additional study resources (additional problem sets or examples) Know when to stop! Don’t get stuck in an endless loop of trying the same thing that doesn’t work—this is NOT learning! You need to SAVE time & STAY motivated Be COURAGEOUS & get help Early—NOT the day before the test! From the right people: instructors, classmates, tutors, friends/family
• #23: Here’s another example of a personalized study guide on a specific topic: At the top the student Lists & defines terms, with examples In the middle the student creates & solves application problems Notice that they also take time to check their work You could go to office hours or tutoring! At the bottom the students leaves space for reflection about their learning Ex “The communitive property lets me move the numbers without changing the answer” Basically, the student discovered the purpose of this math concept. Being able to restate it in their own words is more proof the student understands it.
• #24: Q: Why reduce information after so much work? Handy reference guide – keep it simple Shows only the info that’s relevance to you Updates priority for the next study session Transfers learning from short  long term memory Tip: Writing out by hand is generally better than typing! Assess your progress Ex: Jenny knows that when she can simplify her study sheet down to one side of a page she is ready for the test. This helps her plan what day to take her test and when to start studying. This also helps her feel confident the night before the test—instead of cramming she can have a nice dinner with family, watch a fun show with friends, and go to bed on time. Process: Cross off items on the study page that are committed to memory Recopy the remaining information to a new piece of paper. Don’t force it, but try to use less space.
• #26: Write in sections to study for each day Recommendation: Always start with reflection to figure out what needs to be done.
• #28: Jim sets out a study plan to start 2 weeks early because it’s his first test He dedicates one day per section for the sections he did “okay” on (Section 1.1 – 2.3) Jim will schedule four study sessions of 15- 40 minutes each (as needed) Reflect: self-grade his own homework and list his “Top 5” mistakes on the back Record: Write down all the key formulas and rules on his study sheet Recite: Use the Read/Cover/Write-it-Out method for the problems he knows how to do (30 min) Review: For the problems he forgot or struggled with he will use the 3-column notes method (30 min) Jim holds off on Reducing his study sheet for three more days to make sure he learned the content When Jim gets to Sections 2.4 – 2.6, Jim allows 2 days per section On the first day (T-6) he reflects on Section 2.4 and realizes he doesn’t really understand how to do the homework He decides to skip the recite and record steps & dive into reviewing concepts Jim goes back to the class notes for this section to review concepts Jim goes back to the textbook examples and reads through the sample problems, line by line Jim covers up the example and tries to recreate it on a blank page—it’s slow but he gets through On the second day (T-5) Jim goes to tutoring He completes the homework and double-checks the process with a tutor Before he leaves the session he writes down his top mistakes After a break he writes down the Key formulas on his review sheet Before bed he spends 15 minutes reviewing a problem from tutoring using the Read/Cover/Write method On T-4 & T-3 he follows the same plan He also peeks ahead at Section 2.6 for just 10 minutes to size up his load On T-2 Jim surprises himself by being able to understand Section 2.6 based on review of past sections. If he needed more time he could still study on T-1 as long as he started early Jim decides to stop studying at 3 pm because that’s when he typically starts worrying Jim reduces his study guide one more time, this time updating Section 2.6
• #30: *This could be controversial! Let’s see what people think!”