The Art of Studying - By Coach Stephanie Cutrona
Studying — the process of learning, reviewing, and mastering complex information — is an art. There are many different ways and methods one can use to study effectively; the success one experiences while using different studying methods remains to be contingent on their personal learning preferences and styles.
As the jobs are roles people are expected to fulfill in the 21st century are based more on critical thinking and literacy skills rather than skills associated with physical labor, it is important that all people develop strong studying skills so that they are able to succeed and become contributing citizens.
When an individual develops heightened studying skills, they are able to appreciate studying as an art and are able to use the act of studying as a form of personally-driven therapy.
The aim of this document is to provide people with a tool they can use to improve their studying skills to help support their success and overall well-being.
Learning Preferences and Styles
By determining one’s learning style, we can determine how one processes and learns information most effectively. By engaging in studying activities that incorporate one’s preferred learning styles, the act of studying will become more effective and emotionally satisfying.
Most Common Learning Styles
Observe the list below and determine which type of learning styles you find to meet your learning needs; you may find that you enjoy and learn effectively across multiple learning styles; activities each type of learner enjoys and benefits from are listed next to each preference and style of learning:
Visual Learner (visual aids, reading, drawing, flashcard creation, concept maps, note-taking, color-coding)
Auditory Learner (oral instructions, debates, discussions, songs, recorded lectures)
Kinesthetic Learner (hands-on, tactile stimulation, drawing, physical manipulation, flashcard games, integrated exercise and movement)
Social Learner (discussions, role-playing, debates)
Solitary Learner (independent processing)
Reading and Writing Learners (note-taking, re-writing, note study)
Methods of Studying
Flashcards: The use of flash cards can be incorporated into the studying process in several different ways. Depending on how one creates and uses flash cards, flash cards can become effective studying aids for all learning preferences. The act of creating flash cards addressed the learning needs of visual learners and those who learn through reading and writing. To make the use of flashcards as a study aid more engaging, one can gamify the flashcard studying process. Independent learners may benefit greatly from the self-studying they do with the use of flashcards. Quizlet is a great resource one can use to save time and manage one’s attention span; there are flashcards already made for virtually all subject-areas.
Movement Incorporation: To address the needs of kinesthetic learners and the needs of individuals with reduced attention spans, one can incorporate movement into their studying process. For example, people can study their notes while they are walking, folding laundry, or cleaning. Research has found that for some individuals, the incorporation of movement while learning helps to increase the processing of information (Weight, Harry, & Erwin, 2021). It has also been found that for some individuals, exercise before the studying and learning process helps to improve memory encoding (Sing, Frith & Loprinzi., 2018).
Sleep Consolidation: Research has found that reading before sleeping helps an individual to retain the information read and learn new words (Williams & Horst, 2014). These findings can be applied to the studying process; to support the learning and retention of studied information, people can review their notes or flashcards before sleeping to help support sleep consolidation and the learning of studied information.
Pomodoro Technique: This method of studying can be regarded as a time management system that encourages people to utilize the time more effectively thereby increasing their overall productivity. It also helps to support skills associated with attention and memory. Using this method, you break your study session into 25-minute chunks separated by five-minute breaks. During the 25- minute session, one must reduce all potential distractions within their control (e.g., silent phone notifications, isolate oneself from others, establish an environment that is conducive to intense focus). After the 25-minute session, one takes a break; and then after the 5-minutes break, one resumes their study for another 25-minutes. Research has found that the use of this technique helps to reduce anxiety associated with the task of studying and also helps to increase levels of motivation to engage in the task of studying (Cirillo, 2006).
Gamification: To use this technique, one can play different games to help improve levels of satisfaction while studying. One can create games while using Flashcards, separating each card into the following piles: Mastered, Learning, Unknown. Social learners can also study with their peers by testing one another. There are also many online platforms one can use to study including Quizlet and Kahoot!.
Teacher Role-Playing: If a person can teach another person a topic, it is likely that they have mastered it. Social learners may benefit from role-playing activities in which they pretend they are a “teacher” and another individual pretends they are a “student”; to support the learning process, the “teacher” can use their notes and/or flashcards they create to help the “student” learn information; the “student” can ask the “teacher questions to support the learning and studying process. Independent leaners can still use these activities by using their imagination.
Note-taking: At the collegiate-level, skills associated with note-taking are vital for success. Almost all college professors use the direct-instruction, lecture method of delivering information; students are expected to take notes while a lecture is provided and study their notes to learn and master the provided information. While studying one’s notes, one can use highlighters to color-code information; one can also re-write the information and/or transform it into flashcards that are studied. Individuals can also study while walking or completing other physically-stimulating tasks to support one’s focus and to increase one’s satisfaction while studying.
References
Cirillo, F. (2006). The pomodoro technique (the pomodoro). Agile Processes in Software Engineering and, 54(2), 35.
Sng, E., Frith, E., & Loprinzi, P. D. (2018). Temporal effects of acute walking exercise on learning and memory function. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(7), 1518-1525.
Weight, E. A., Harry, M., & Erwin, H. (2021). The Walking Classroom: Measuring the Impact of Physical Activity on Student Cognitive Performance and Mood. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 1(aop), 1-8.
Williams, S. E., & Horst, J. S. (2014). Goodnight book: Sleep consolidation improves word learning via storybooks. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 184.