study tools and methods

Methods

1. Concept Mapping: used to see the “big-picture” and visualize relationships between study topics. Create a flow chart to connect key relationships between topics.

   • When to use: Connecting ideas at the end of a lecture or chapter or even a whole unit.

2. Chapter Summary: used to condense notes and evaluate what’s important. Create a list of key terms and write down questions, terms or topics that are unclear.

   • When to use: At the end of chapter readings and lectures.

3. Article Summary: used to condense long articles, evaluate important points, note down key takeaways, and improve understanding of the whole text. It later provides a concise and organized overview of the article.

   • When to use: While or after reading the article, used as reference when writing essays and reports.

4. Definitions List: used to create a glossary of fundamental terms and their meanings, under each topic or chapter/section, depending on the subject or study method. This is also helpful for vocabulary in language learning.

   • When to use: As you encounter new terms, words and expressions that you may want to remember.

5. Blurting Method: used to quickly assess short-term recall. After reading a chunk of text, rewrite as much of the information as you can without looking at the text. Once done, review what you wrote and identify gaps in your understanding and memory, versus what areas you have a good grasp or recall of. You can repeat as necessary.

   • When to use: When testing or improving short-term understanding and recall.

6. Spaced Repetition: used to improve long-term recall and understanding. Test your memory and understanding at regular intervals, such as daily or weekly. For information you don’t get correctly, review it more frequently. For information you answer correctly, review at a later time.

   • When to use: When improving long-term understanding and recall.

7. structuring your ideas with a literature map

   When any piece of literature contains several interlinking ideas and themes, there needs to be a logical flow between the ideas. There should be a clear theme around which related ideas are explored and developed.

   A literature map achieves this by visually representing how the themes and ideas relate to one another. It’s a two-dimensional diagram composing the information and visually showing links between concepts (or information groups) by drawing arrows that can be annotated.

   This practice can help:

   • develop your understanding of the key issues and statements of the literature
   • organize your own ideas and opinions
   • quickly show which ideas are closely related, far apart, or directly opposing one another

   

   Link to original

Tools

1. Flash cards
   • https://apps.ankiweb.net/

Principles

1. Parkinson’s law: “Work expands to fill the time given to complete it.”

   • When you allot more time than necessary to a task, you will end up using all the time given instead of just the time needed.

2. Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule: “80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes.”

   • In productivity, it means that roughly 20% of your task list will result in 80% of the impact you can do for that day.

3. Yerkes Dodson Principle: “performance increases with physiological or mental arousal, but only up to a point.”

   • Introducing challenge or “stress” can improve performance to a limited extent.