College is a space for learning. Many students have a dream to go to college and become excited when they become a member of campus. After the first day in college, many students understand that learning there is different from what they did in high school.
You may have already known the phrase “learn to learn”. It is fine if you did not understand its meaning. Now, being in college you may think that you need to do something remarkable.
A recommendation for learning how to learn is the top advice you may have. You need to learn how to learn in college, and these 9 points may help you become an effective learner. There are many advanced learning strategies, and we have gathered those which could help you become a top student.
When you learn the basic strategies of learning, you try to acquire the skills of how to arrange and process the information fast.
The habit of effective learning helps you memorize new data and use it in different situations. Learning how to study in college is not about keeping in mind the facts only. You may know how to learn by heart.
This strategy may help you critically assess the information, analyze it, and arrange your work in a way that helps you operate new knowledge with ease. After reading this article you may find out how to arrange your work in college to make these days the most effective in your life. Just read the piece of information below and enjoy these study tips.
Prioritize
There is always much information to learn in college or any other educational institution. If you consider each assignment as highly important, you may burn out in a couple of months. Stress and depression from not being able to complete each task will support you.
If you wish to enjoy college life and the process of learning, you should prioritize the assignments. You should study all the subjects in the most effective manner. You need to understand which tasks are of the highest priority and which ones may require less time and effort.
Spend more time on the prioritized tasks, and quickly complete the assignments that are not your priority. Also, you can delegate some tasks to essay writers.
Choose the best time for learning
You must have already heard that people are more productive in the morning than in the evening. It can be a real disaster for you to wake up at 4 am. Listen to your organism and your biological clock. If you feel good when you study after the sunset or late at night, it is your choice.
The human circadian clockworks for the benefit of an individual. Well, since all people are different, it is fine if you have more productive hours than those of other people. You should always consider that studying instead of sleeping is not a good idea. Doctors recommend that people should take a good 7-8 hours’ sleep to be energetic.
Use handwriting to take notes
Living in the era of computers has made us more effective while typing than while writing. Moreover, different applications that allow making note or recording your voice make it even easier to work and study.
Thus, you may just turn on a microphone and record some ideas you have in the flow of your research process. Research shows that handwriting enhances both comprehension and retention. There is a connection between human hands and the brain.
Children develop motor skills by playing with fingers. Do not ignore handwriting as one of the ways to become smarter and more sophisticated. Just use a pen several times a day.
Learn note-taking skills
You may be surprised, but you need to learn how to make notes. This is not just about writing something on paper. Taking notes is a process that requires you should critically assess what to write down.
When you take notes, you summarize the information and extract the most useful and important facts. Here are some tips on how to take notes:
- Summarize the ideas and use your own words
- Leave spaces to add something in the future
- Abbreviate and use symbols, just ensure that you understand your writing
- Use phrases, not sentences
- Note the most important facts
Explain to others
The most effective way to learn the information is to explain it to someone else. When you explicate the information, you perfectly process it. You may use different words to present the same ideas, and it helps you memorize the facts.
Also, you can repeat one more time what you already learned and critically discuss this information that enhances memorization of the facts. If you do not have anyone to teach, just pretend that you are a teacher and you need to explain new material.
Pronounce words
Listening is one more way to learn the material. When you speak and listen to the information, you use two different channels of data processing.
People read faster without pronouncing words. If you wish to memorize the information in a more effective way, you need to speak. Try to read several pages of the material and then repeat the major ideas. You may also speak in front of a mirror.
The following strategy may help you pretend that you talk to other people. It can help combine the speaking strategy with the idea to teach somebody. Speaking practice is highly valued by students. Do not ignore it.
Make Mind Maps
When you have to keep in mind a lot of material, you may try to organize it in a form of a mind map. This is an effective strategy where you place the major concept in the middle of a page and then use lines to connect smaller concepts to it.
In such a way, you organize the material using connections between the concepts. This may help you memorize the information and find the ties fast. Use words, sentences, phrases, and even images if it is helpful.
Make Tests
Use testing as one of the strategies to learn effectively. When you have studied a specific subject, search for a short test online and use it to understand that you have learned the material.
Tests help see what you have already understood and which information still requires your attention. Do not ignore any types of tests available to you. Use them as an opportunity to assess your knowledge and see gaps.
Have a Sleep
Never choose to learn instead of sleeping. Good sleep is a guarantee that your brain has some rest and can renew its activity. If you regularly sleep 3-4 hours a day, you can feel exhausted fast.
Do not allow learning to harm your health. People who do not sleep enough become depressed and fail to memorize information.