One of the most common conversations I have with students and their parents is that of study skills. What we all understand about study skills varies widely and tends to include mostly anecdotal stories about what worked for us as kids. This is not completely off-base given that we now understand learning styles and even learning differences to be inherited to some degree. However, many years later, we would think that some advances in this area should help inform us on how to help our children study more effectively.
A recent NY Times Article raises this important question. I found some of their findings particularly useful to emphasize here. For example, “instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention…In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room.” While this presents some logistical challenges for families with several children, it may lead to more productive studying and ultimately less time reviewing the same information with less satisfying results. This seems to be particularly effective for students with shorter attention spans who tend to become restless after sitting still in the same room for too long.
Another concept is that of mixing up what we study at on time. We often become focused on completing one long task before starting another for fear of confusing the two tasks. However, “varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and studying a foreign language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time. Musicians have known this for years, and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work. Many athletes, too, routinely mix their workouts with strength, speed and skill drills.”
Finally, and perhaps the biggest challenge for parents with children with busy schedules is that of time management. Research is most clear about how we need to study to increase the likelihood of actually retaining what we learn past the point of the quiz or test the next day…perhaps actually into the next semester. As the research has suggested, when we study, gradually and over time, we are able to process the information more deeply and retain this information for a much longer time. “An hour of study tonight, an hour on the weekend, another session a week from now: such so-called spacing improves later recall, without requiring students to put in more overall study effort or pay more attention.”
Just some thoughts to consider on re-thinking how we may help our children study more effectively. Its hard to change our habits and even harder to change the habits of our kids as they grow up. However, starting young and having then experience success is often the easiest way to convince them to try something different.
