How to be a better student
I am an undergraduate university student from Pakistan. I often have in my mind this question, “How to get better at studies?” I think that being a good student requires many things that are usually overlooked by students. In this article, let me share with you the ways we all can adapt to become better students.
Changing the approach
The focus of our education should not be limited to good grades and results because although they are necessary to make progress, they aren’t themselves the progress. Progress is learning the things you are being taught and the things learning which prepares one for the future life. The question then is how to make progress in such a way?
The answer for me lies in purpose-based education i.e. learning guided by its purpose. What we have to do is whenever some work related to our education is before us to do, first we should find out its purpose. Our mind should ask questions like, “Why I have to do it?” & “What good will it do me?” compelling us to find their answer before anything else. We can find their answers either ourselves, or ask our teachers, friends, or anyone who can help us identify the real purpose of the chore before us. Once we have known the purpose of a task, the possibility of us doing it the most fruitful way increases manyfold.
For example, almost every student in high school or college is required to write essays during his coursework. This practice is often very boring, tiresome, and hard for students. The problem here is that most students aren’t told why they have to repeatedly go through this boring and hard practice. They aren’t told that doing this again and again on different topics will enhance their ability to formulate their arguments on a topic, then transform those thoughts into appropriate and effective sentences and paragraphs. That the capability to do this is a must to possess in the “real world”. That it will enhance their communication skills and grasp over the language along with many other skills that transcend into many other areas of life. If a student knows all this, it will only help him benefitting more and more from this practice.
IF YOU CLICK ON THIS LINK, YOU CAN GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MAIN PURPOSE OF ESSAY WRITING IN EDUCATION.
Some Class Habits
· Try to Never Miss a Class.
In their classes, teachers don’t go through everything written in your book. Rather they just give the necessary information which is key to building the concepts. That’s why if you attend classes regularly, it will help you learn things in a better way.
· Try to Sit in Front Rows.
The students sitting at the front of the class are more attentive because the board can be seen and the teacher can be heard clearly. Moreover, it keeps you from dozing or being inattentive because of the constant fear of being noticed by the teacher. This habit may also have a psychological effect because by sitting again and again in front rows, you are telling your mind that you are here not just to pass your time, rather to study and learn from your teacher.
· When making notes, don’t take down what you read or hear word by word. Rather try to process the information and then write down what you have understood. When you actively think about what you have just heard or read, you make your mind work on the information. Then when you write it down, your mind has to work again in transforming the concept into proper text. This practice can help you in understanding and memorizing the information.
Get together with a study group & explain things to others
These 2 things can help you a lot. Many times we are missing the “getting up & go” especially when exams are not around the corner. A study group can provide us with this required motivation. Secondly, it compels us to improve ourselves so we can keep up with our group fellows. Another great advantage is the discussion that you have with your fellows on the current topic. Such discussion may add a new perspective to your understanding. This can easily be understood by this quote of Nitin Nohria, the Dean of Harvard Business School,
“Even when you believe you have the point that is going to change the class, listen to others. Because they might actually have a point that will change yours.”
Avoid cramming
Cramming can become a habit very easily and quickly. It diverts the attention from understanding the text towards just memorizing it. It may appear easy because we can just memorize the text and be satisfied that we will be able to reproduce it in the exam. Hence we forget the real goal, which is to understand the concept and remember it not just in the exam but whenever it is needed.
What we should do is read the text, understand it, make our concept, and memorize the concept. Then after some time such as a few days, or a week, review the information. Review the text and also your concept and understanding of it. You may understand and memorize it better this time. Repeat this review of the same information after a few weeks or a month. This practice will enhance your understanding and memorization of the information. You must try it, especially for the important topics and chapters.
Let the tests test you
Keith Lyle (Ph.D.), a psychologist at the University of Louisville, in his research published in 2011, found out that regular practice of retrieval of information given in the lecture through quizzes at the end of the lectures helped students perform better in the exams. He emphasized teachers should deploy methods that would quiz students on the information given in the lecture.
From this, I also emphasize students on making self-quizzing and quizzing their fellows in group discussions a regular practice. Alongside being tested by teachers, such an approach can help us a lot in improving our learning.
Learn how to learn
Having good know-how of “how to learn” is a precious possession. This topic needs detailed discussion. Here I would just say that students should make some effort in this area too. Often students keep following the same learning methods throughout their education. They don’t pay attention to whether their methods are effective or not, and whether they need any change or improvement. This negligence can cause a big obstacle blocking us from going forward on the road to progress. Therefore, we should keep improving our methods to make sure no such obstacle is blocking our path.
Nowadays, I am taking this free course ‘Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects ’ by Coursera. I am finding it very useful and I recommend you to go and take a look. Hopefully, you will find it useful.
Focus on the process, not the outcome
Throughout my education career, the only thing that has mattered to my educational institutions and my teachers is the outcome. And honestly speaking, my primary focus has also been the results. Nobody asked me what did I learn, or how did I learn it. All that mattered were good grades. If I read something, it was just to get good grades on tomorrow’s test and had nothing to do with understanding or learning.
But this approach is completely wrong in my opinion. We should give more importance to the process than the outcome. For example, consider we have a test of a Science chapter 3 days from today. In this scenario, we can set either of these two goals for ourselves. One is to achieve an ‘A’ in the test. The other is to learn the chapter included in the test as well as we can. I find it much better for a student to set the second target for him and focus on the process, which in this case is preparing the chapter. If he does his best to read, understand, and memorize the chapter, his test result will automatically take care of itself. But this way, he has a much greater chance of learning the chapter to its best, which may not quite possible if he just focuses on the result.
In short, we should take care of the process, and the process will take care of the outcome.
Exercise & Sleep
These two things have a great effect on a student’s life. If managed well, they can help a student in a lot of different ways.
Exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 to 45 minutes. Exercise is a miraculous therapy as it enhances memory, brain function, prevents depression, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, improves mood, and reduces mental stress. It heals you physically and mentally. It can also help you a lot in organizing your routine.
Good sleep is needed every day for a student to function properly. Because to learn, we have to actively use the brain. And to be able to use the brain, it must have been given proper rest. Therefore, make having a continuous sleep of 7–8 hours a habit.
These are some ways that can help me and other students improve. I hope these are useful and beneficial for you. We should always remember that education is not only about getting good grades, but it also is about pursuing excellence, and it is about learning, & growing, and cultivating your strengths, so you can contribute more effectively.