Study Skills 101: Metacognitive Learning Strategies

Final exams are never easy, and usually students are suffering burnout by the time they roll around. The key is to remember that you are in a marathon, not a sprint. You need to start prepping early, pace yourself, and remember why you are here. Whether the reason is a career, a good job, or just to learn, you need to make sure you don't burn out and that you are ready to perform your best!

We are constantly distracted in today's world, and this is not an accident. Companies spend millions of dollars trying to get your attention, and in reality they are winning. However, as you learn to focus and study for exams, you must learn how to manage your distractions so you can pay attention to the material you need to learn to be successful, not what the companies want you to remember.

In academics (or even in the workplace), you may have heard the word "senioritis" or "burnout." It turns out that both of these are real things, and they both impact how our brain functions and how efficient we are in the long run. This week. we will focus on what this is, what it causes, and how you can overcome it and become productive again!

It would be nice to be able to peruse our reading assignments and take our time. However, even the best of us can lose track of time and then need to gain a few precious hours back as we try and prepare for exams. Today we will talk about speed reading, how it works, and its benefits and limitations.

Believe it or not listening is a skill and differs greatly from hearing. Think about it, you hear sounds every day, but you don't necessarily focus on them or remember them. When you go to lecture, chances are you are paying an in ordinate amount of money to attend University. Therefore, you will want to make the most of lecture and improve on your listening skills to get the most out of your education!

We often try to learn material in the exact same working as it was given to us. Well, it turns out that there is a much better way to do this, to learn it well enough to elaborate on it. This means that you put things in your own words, break things down, and are able to explain even the most difficult concepts to anyone around you. This episode will focus on this, as well as other useful tools when it comes to truly learning the material and not just memorizing it!

We have all been there, we have spent out time somewhat unwisely and now we have a huge exam to take and we don't feel we know the material. Well, it turns out that if you plan for your exam ahead of time and design an Ultimate Study Plan Guide, you can avoid this and increase your performance drastically on the next exam. Although this involves some preparation, once you begin to do well on your exams you will realize it is worth every second!

We might not know it, but using mnemonic devises to improve human memory has been around for hundreds of years! We might try and use a few of these techniques, now, but why not learn more about the different types of devices and when and where you can use them to help you get that much more out of your exams.

We have all been there, we have a list of tasks to complete and we feel overwhelmed and buried. Then we Binge Netflix until dawn and realize we wasted the entire day. This is known as "procrastination." By learning what procrastination is, where it comes from, and how to defeat it, we can become more productive in our lives and develop some new skills along the way.

We have discussed the good and bad of using AI/Chat GPT on assignments. Now let's talk ab out using it as a study tool!

Technology these days is growing leaps and bounds. The most recent large advancement came with open source AI, or Chat GPT. These days it comes in many forms, and students are learning to use it, which they should. However, as they learn to use it ethically, there are some things students need to consider which we will cover in this episode.

Most of us have had it at one time or another, and the key is to not let it impact your success or your future. This week, we will be discussing imposter syndrome (IS) and how you can learn what it is an maneuver around it to not let it destroy or negatively impact your grades or your future.

These days, AI is being used for a variety of tasks with regards to learning. I do think this can be a great benefit to students, however I also think that there are certain tasks that students should do for themselves including creating their own study guide. As we will discuss in this episode, many of the same techniques we use to learn new material are also used to create study guides. Why not make the most of your time and get a study guide out of it too?

The idea of multitasking might seem appealing when you have spent a long day focusing on a few topics for exam preparation. However, according to the science, when it comes to how we learn best, multitasking is not helpful and in fact, hinders our progress when it comes to learning.

As you are working to learn and repeat the information for class and your exams, you may want to first determine what environment works best for you. Some people say background music is a must, while other people say "Silence is golden." In today's podcast, we let the science solve this controversy which will hopefully help you determine what is best for you.

Unlike when I was a student, decades ago, the internet is a wonderful resource for learning as long as you use reliable resources. Normally .edu, .gov and resources written by the experts are reliable. In this episode, we will discuss some of the resources I have found over the years, and even a few new ones that I am excited to share with you.

As a faculty member, we see many students who are unsure of what they want in life. This is perfectly normal. As you take more classes, you will figure out what you do and don't like. Take a variety of classes, and learn about yourself and what makes you happy. Most importantly, pick a major based on what you like and then explore careers that are available to you if you have this major.

This week we will discuss the PLRS system, which puts together many of the topics we have covered this term into one cohesive study plan. P stands for preview your lectures and reading material, L stands for going to lecture, R stands for review and S stands for studying. We have discussed many of these ideas separately, but now we can put them together as you learn the most effective big study plan based on the science!

We have discussed in previous podcasts ways to be more efficient as we study. Today we will focus on how to use those skills to stick to our schedule and complete all of our tasks, even if that means a B+ rather than an A+. As you go through the different stages of life, you will realize that mastering those skills when you are younger will be beneficial to your no matter where you are at in life.

It might be intimidating to ask for help in a lecture hall of hundreds of students. However, you should know that if you are having problems in a class, most likely many other students are as well. When you ask for help from a professor or a classmate, this is a normal process and it is how we learn and learn to work together. You can then find a "study buddy" whereby you take notes together, and study together. This is way more effective than trying to do it on your own.

For those of us who are visual learners, having an image that links everything together can really help us. In this episode, we will focus on concept mapping, and how we can use these to study and learn difficult topics while we transfer the material from short-term to long-term memory.

Although it might seem overwhelming to realize the material you need to learn for that next exam, using the Pomodoro technique can help you break things up and make things more manageable. The idea is you use intense 25-minute study sessions interspaced with short breaks to keep your mind focused and not distracted. By using this technique, combined with other techniques we have talked about, you should be able to tackle any tough topic that you once used to dread!

As we are trying to learn new information to perform well in class, we may not realize that there is an active part of our brain that is trying to make us forget. This might seem like a useless service, but the reality is that when we forget unimportant information, we are better able to make good decisions and function in society. This is very important to know as we try to learn and make new memories, while letting go of the unimportant information we don't need.

Schools have long recognized that study groups are important for doing well in those difficult classes. Today we will talk about how to start your own study group, and how this can give you an advantage as you prepare for those tough exams!

When we are super busy, we might not be that organized and it may be difficult to meet all of your demands. By setting a schedule, and sticking to it, you can find a way to budget your time to make those deadlines as well as take care of yourself.

We have al been there, we are ready to take an exam and we are stressed out and very anxious. It turns out that this is very common, and there is even a term for it "test anxiety." Today we will discuss what this is, and how to work around this so you can perform well on your exams.

Part of the challenge in University can be learning to actively take notes in class. In this episode we will discuss several different methods that have worked for students over the years. Ultimately it is up to you to choose what works best for you, but if you try a new method it might help give you that competitive "edge" for that higher grade in class.

Faculty have all different personality types, and they can range from "student hostile" to "student friendly." It can be hard to figure out how to talk to them and ask them for help when you need it. This episode, we will focus on how to talk to and address professors. There is a "good" way to do so, and this can save you a lot of headaches as you learn it.

Have you ever been told that you were stubborn? Well, it turns out that this can be a very useful trait in academics. Being stubborn is akin to being 'gritty.' Being gritty means that no matter the challenge, you keep working and keep trying. This is very related to success in academics and can be a great trait as you go after your degree.

If we realize it or not, our attitude plays a large part in our success in a class. If we avoid a difficult topic, and we decide we hate it, this will not help us conquer it. However when we embrace a challenge, take criticism well, and work hard to have a positive attitude, this can help us to do better in that challenging topic.

We may not know it, but a memory is a series of connections between our neurons called synapses that ultimately build networks in our brain. We build these networks through repetition and learning, and the more you use or review the information, the stronger the links and synapses become and the more likely you will remember it. Chunking is a way to link related new and old ideas together in those networks. By doing so, chunking will make us more likely to recall the information, particularly as we take those crucial exams.

This week we will discuss how important it is to spread out your study time in small blocks rather than one big chunk. We will also discuss what order you should study your topics as we introduce a new concept of interleaving. Finally we will discuss the importance of frequent quizzes (even if you need to administer them for yourself).

Today we will be talking about the importance of office hours. Many times students do not feel they will benefit. However, going to office hours is like an investment. We get to know you, and we can then give you the help you need to do well in our class. I hope to see you soon!

Although there is no magic formula to getting top marks in University, research has shown that for people who sit up front, there is a potential pattern for higher success in their classes. This week we will discuss the benefits of sitting up front in your large lecture classes. This will once again be based on the research. Happy studying everyone!

Have you ever read a paragraph in your textbook like 5 different times and you still don't know what it says? Today's episode will focus on how to turn textbook reading into an active learning tool so you can remember what you read the FIRST time around!

This episode, we will discuss the best strategies to succeed on a multiple choice exam. Once again, this is based on the science, and I hope you find this helpful.

In this episode, we will discuss the importance of getting a good night's sleep before an exam. Scientific evidence has revealed that sleep and memory performance are tightly linked, which means in order to do well on your exams, you need to keep your brain healthy and well-rested.

This week, we will be discussing the scientific evidence as to why attending class live (in person) in addition to listening to recording will give you the best results.

Textbooks are incredibly expensive, and seem like a huge waste of resources and time. But according to the scientific evidence, reading them BEFORE you go to lecture can drastically increase your test scores! Join Charlie as we talk about the benefits (and evidence) of reading the book.