Transcript Studying for the Sciences

Studying for the Sciences
Ready for Success in Allied Health
A Basic Skills Production
Summer 2008
What makes an “A” student?
An
“A” student starts early !!
What does it mean to start early ?
Starting early ....
Did you bring a pen/pencil to class ?
 Did you bring paper to take notes?
 Have you read the syllabus and filed it?
 Have you bought a textbook for class?
 Have you read the TOC ?
 Have you read the assigned chapters?
 Have you bought other materials for this
class?
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Reading Strategies
 Explore
 Check
the textbook
the vocabulary
 Analyze
for comprehension
 Synthesize
for understanding
Explore the Textbook
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Look at course outline
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Compare it to Table of Contents
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How do they match up?
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Look at charts, graphs, diagrams, pictures
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Try to make a connection with what you
already know
Check the Vocabulary
Learn basic suffixes, prefixes, root words
 Most scientific vocabulary uses Latin roots
as their basis
 Keep a chart or index cards of commonly
used prefixes and suffixes
 Use context clues
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Analyze for Comprehension
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Look for patterns in the textbooks
Classification --used to group/sub-group objects
Process description --how does it work?
Factual statement pattern
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Problem solving pattern –
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facts are usually used in defining things,
comparing/contrasting, citing examples
how was the problem solved?
Experiment – instruction pattern
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What are the steps needed to conduct the experiment
Synthesize for Understanding
Be an ACTIVE reader
 Become engaged from the start
 Ask yourself questions
 What’s this chapter about? Why is this
important to read? Will it help me get an A?
 Take notes
 Use a highlighter
 Translate formulas into words
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Another Reading Strategy
 SQ3R
 SURVEY
 QUESTION
 READ
 RECITE
 REVIEW
How can we learn something?
Ebbinghaus’ Research
Professor Ebbinghaus gave subjects 20
nonsense syllables to memorize
 They practiced list by repetition until they
were correct two times in a row
 He counted the number of times it took to
master the list
 If they forgot, they practiced until they
remembered the list perfectly

Ebbinghaus’ Results
If they practiced immediately, they retained
the knowledge 100%
 If they waited 20 minutes, they retained
about 60%
 If they waited 1 hour, they retained about 45
minutes
 If they waited 3 days, they retained about
25%
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Retention Curve
Ebbinghaus’ Principles
Memory decays as a function of time
 Rate of forgetting – fastest after initial
learning – slower for more meaningful
material
 Amount remembered depends on multiple
times spent learning
 Effect of “overlearning”– information
practiced beyond mastery will be harder for
you to forget or “lose”
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Did you forget this already?
Reviewing Material
 What
doesn’t work --
just listening in class
 just taking notes
 just memorizing facts & conclusions
 just recopying or retyping your notes
 waiting until AFTER lecture to read the
textbook assignment
 waiting until last minute to review
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What does work ?
 The
best way we learn is by
MAKING
CONNECTIONS
Memory is “Associative”
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Memory of new information is increased if
it is associated with previously acquired
knowledge
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Meaningful association =
effectively remembered
Memory Factors
Intention
 how much effort you expend
 Repetition
 how often material is repeated
 Emotion
 whether material brings emotional
response
 Depth of processing
 whether related to known material
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Shallow vs. Deep Processing
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Shallow processing
 Simple rehearsal
 repeating information
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Deep processing
 Elaborative rehearsal
 actively reviewing and connecting to
knowledge already stored
Deeper Level Processing
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review by RECALL not by recognition
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establish connections
 make associations
 attach meanings
 form relationships
 create hierarchies
Deep Processing Techniques
 Writing
outlines
 self-examination during learning
 review questions
 previews
 encourage
integration of material
and think about the meaning
Shallow processing
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Meaning – understand each isolated part
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Lacks deeper meaning that comes from
understanding relationship among parts
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new knowledge tends to be shallow when it
is first learned – this is normal !!
Flexible knowledge
As you continue to work with knowledge, you
gain expertise
 knowledge no longer organized around
examples
 can be transferred to new situations
 Suppose you know how to find the area of a
rectangle. Can you apply it to a new
situation? Can you find the area of a room
or a house?
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Testing for Flexible
Knowledge
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Types of multiple choice questions:
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A blood pressure reading of 200/96 mmHg is
considered:
 A.
Hypotension
 B. Hypertension
 C. Cardiac hypertrophy
 D. Renal hypertension
What did you have to know to answer this question?
Another multiple choice
question:
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A newly admitted client has a blood pressure
of 200/96 mmHg. The client has a family
history of diabetes mellitus. Which nursing
action is most appropriate at this time?
A. Call the doctor
 B. Retake the blood pressure
 C. Assess for other signs and symptoms
 D. Ask the client if he/she is taking
antihypertensives.
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What’s the difference?
 First
question
 just the facts – recalling factual
information
 Second question
 clinical decision using critical thinking
skills
 Clinical
scenario-type questions are
commonly used in nursing exams.
Here’s another scenario:
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You are the nurse on a med-surg unit who has just
received a report. Which patient should you
assess first?
A. A 35 yo admitted 3 hours ago with a gunshot
wound. 1.5 cm area of dark drainage noted.
B. A 43 yo s/p mastectomy 2 days ago with 23cc
of serosanguous fluid in the drain.
C. 59 yo with a collapsed lung due to an accident;
no drainage in the chest tube
D. a 62 yo s/p abd-peritoneal resection 3 days
ago; now complaining of chills
What do you need to know to
answer the question?
Medical terminology
 Vocabulary
 Nature of the surgeries
 What is normal and expected?
 What do you NOT expect to see?
 You are combining ALL these factors to
answer the question. Not just recall and
repeating information.
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Effective Strategies
Spacing Effect
 short periods of practice daily are better than
cramming
 sustained practice
 regular, ongoing practice
 practice BEYOND one perfect recitation
 useful for developing automaticity
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Does Practice Make Perfect?
Practice is important
 Practice until you don’t get it wrong
 Practice has to be ongoing
 Make practice “deliberate”
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set specific goals and get immediate feedback of
results
 exert some effort to improve performance
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What is an Expert’s Attitude?
 Approaches
everything with need to
learn more
 never loses intensity of a beginner
 never feels finished or satisfied
 continually tackling challenges that
lie just beyond one’s competence
What is overlearning?
Overlearning is studying material one
already knows
 For a new skill to become automatic,
sustained practice, beyond the point of
mastery, is necessary.
 develop automaticity – you can become
more skillful when you don’t have to think
about it (knowing the grammar rules !!)
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When to review notes:
 1st
review: immediately after class
 2nd review: within 24 hours
 3rd review: within the week
 4th review: within the month (before a
test)
 5th review: within the semester (before
the final exam)
Now Look at This !!
How do we comprehend?
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Taking in new information and understanding
it depends on what you already know that
can be connected
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Making correct inferences demands some
background knowledge.
Stated v. Implied Information
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“John’s face fell as he looked down at his
protruding belly. The invitation specified
‘black tie’ and he had not worn his tux since
his own wedding 20 years earlier.”
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What is John concerned about?
Background Knowledge
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“Mark was a real Benedict Arnold about it.”
Can you understand this?
Who or what is Benedict Arnold?
How do we know that we
know something?
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Familiarity -- knowledge of having seen or
otherwise experienced some stimulus
before, but having little information
associated with it.
Recollection – characterized by richer
associations
 Ability to explain to others !!
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I already know this stuff...
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If you believe you know this material, you are likely
to stop listening, stop reading, stop working, and
stop participating.
Be careful, you may think you know this stuff, but
you may just have shallow processing.
Feeling you understand the material as it is
presented is not the same as being able to recount
it yourself.
Some students quit once some facts have been
memorized, believing they have already done quite
a bit of studying.
I think I know this...
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I’m familiar with it..
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( I know how to do fractions)
I can partially access (kind of recall) that
information.
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( I learned fractions last year)
Some people just really think they know more than
they do !!
Study Groups
One of the best ways PROVEN to help
increase grades !!
 Cohort of familiar students to support each
other
 Can get a complete set of notes because
everyone has probably written down different
“important” information from lectures
 When you teach someone else, you
reinforce what you have just learned
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Does sleep matter?
Yes !!
 sleep deprivation adversely affects learning
 compensates for inadequate sleep with
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shorter attention span
 lowered creativity
 reduced memory capacity
 rigid viewpoints
 irritability
 increased appetite
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Your favorite word !!!
test
 assessment
 quiz
 exam
 mid-term
 final
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Now it’s time to prove you
know what you know !!
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Studying for a test
Think of questions your instructor might ask
Ask the instructor!!
Try writing a brief summary of commentary for
each chapter studied
Recite important names, theories, dates, terms,
and relevant information
Define words in each chapter
Put it all together – your thoughts, your notes, your
understanding of the material
During the test -
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Read the directions carefully
Ask questions before the test starts
If some questions are worth more than others,
devote more time and effort to them
Make sure you understand if you are given partial
credit for partial completion of the problem
Answer the ones you are confident about
Keep track of time
Write legibly – don’t make your instructor decode
your scribbling
After the test -Your learning doesn’t stop at the test
 When you get your test back, meet with your
study group (or instructor or tutor)
 Was everything on the test already in your
notes?
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Yes – (you may have a studying problem)
 No – (you may have a note taking problem)
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Studying problem
 Did
you start reviewing notes
immediately after class and then on
a regular basis?
 Did you join a study group?
 Did you just memorize facts or did
you make associations to help you
study?
Note taking problem...
Did
you take the right notes?
Did you have trouble figuring out
what was important?
What was supposed to be written
down?
When did you start reviewing your
notes?
Final Thoughts
Start __________ !
 Form a study ________ !
 Take good ________!
 Get some ________!
 Review your notes __________ !
 Practice until you _____________ !
 Make ____________ !
 Have _______ !
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References
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Baiardo, Richard, Helping Students with their Study Skills in the Sciences,
2007, Powerpoint presentation, RSS Group, Evergreen Valley College.
Bloom, Benjamin S. Developing Talent in Young People, 1985, Ballantine
Books
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Romer, C. (1993). The role of
deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological
Review, 100, 363-406.
McWhorter, Kathleen T., Guide to College Reading, 2003, Longman Publishers
Ross, Philip E. “The Expert Mind” Scientific American, August 2006
Willingham, Daniel T., “Inflexible Knowledge: The First Step to
Expertise,”American Educator, Winter 2002
Willingham, Daniel T., “How Knowledge Helps: It Speeds and Strengthens
Reading Comprehension, Learning—and Thinking,” American
Educator,Spring 2006
Willingham, Daniel T., “Why Students Think They Understand—When They
Don’t,” American Educator, Winter 2003-2004
Willingham, Daniel T., “Practice Makes Perfect, But Only If you Practice
eyond the Point of Perfection,” American Educator, Spring 2004