Food for thought...

Research-Based Approaches to Studying
            In this New York Times article, Benedict Carey reports the latest findings from cognitive science about the kinds of studying that work best for students of all ages. Interestingly, these findings are at variance with the conventional wisdom among parents and educators. For example, Carey says that all the talk about visual, auditory, left-brain/right-brain learners, etc. is unproven. A recent article in Psychological Science in the Public Interest found no empirical support for these theories. "The contrast between the enormous popularity of the learning-styles approach within education and the lack of credible evidence for its utility is, in our opinion, striking and disturbing," write the authors.
Here is what the research says does work:
            · Varying study location - Alternating between two rooms while studying significantly improves retention. A classic 1978 study found that college students who studied 40 vocabulary words first in one room and then in another did far better on a post-test than students who studied the words two times in a single location. Subsequent studies have replicated this finding for a variety of subjects. "The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time..." says Carey. "It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the back yard. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give the information more neural scaffolding."
            · Mixed content - Studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting improves retention. "Musicians have known this for years," says Carey, "and their practice sessions often include a mix of scales, musical pieces and rhythmic work. Many athletes, too, routinely mix their workouts with strength, speed and skill drills." In a recent study in Applied Cognitive Psychology, University of South Florida researchers Doug Rohrer and Kelli Taylor reported on a study of fourth graders' retention of geometry concepts. Those who studied a mixture of problems scored 77% on a follow-up test, compared to 38% for students who focused on one kind of problem. "When students see a list of problems, all of the same kind, they know the strategy to use before they even read the problem," says Rohrer. "That's like riding a bike with training wheels." Mixed practice is far more productive. The finding has been replicated in other fields, including an experiment asking college students and older adults to distinguish the painting styles of twelve unfamiliar artists. "What seems to be happening in this case is that the brain is picking up deeper patterns when seeing assortments of paintings," says Nate Kornell, one of the authors. "It's picking up what's similar and what's different about them."
            · Spaced studying - "An hour of study tonight, an hour on the weekend, another session a week from now," says Carey, is a highly effective study strategy. Dozens of studies have shown that spacing improves later recall for the same amount of time. One theory is that when the brain comes back to material after some time has passed, it has to re-learn some that's been forgotten before adding new material. "The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning," says Williams College psychologist Nate Kornell. "When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively, the next time you see it." Last-minute cramming, on the other hand, may help pass a test the next day but is ineffective for long-term memory. "[H]urriedly jam-packing a brain is akin to speed-packing a cheap suitcase," says Carey. "... it holds its new load for a while, then most everything falls out. When a neural suitcase is packed carefully and gradually, it holds its contents far, far longer."
            · Frequent assessment with feedback - "The process of retrieving an idea is not like pulling a book from a shelf," says Carey. "It seems to fundamentally alter the way the information is subsequently stored, making it far more accessible in the future." Washington University/St. Louis psychologist Henry Roediger agrees: "Testing not only measures knowledge but changes it," he says. Roediger and his colleague Jeffrey Karpicke had college students study science material and tested them for retention. One group studied the same material twice, in two study sessions. The other studied once, and in the second session took a practice test. The second group had far better long-term retention. "Testing has such a bad connotation," says Roediger. "People think of standardized testing or teaching to the test. Maybe we need to call it something else, but this is one of the most powerful learning tools we have."
            · Challenge - It turns out that a difficult test is better for long-term memory than an easy one. "The harder it is to remember something, the harder it is to later forget," says Carey. "...The more mental sweat it takes to dig it out, the more securely it will be subsequently anchored." Researchers call this "desirable difficulty."
            "We have known these principles for some time," says UCLA psychologist Robert Bjork, "and it's intriguing that schools don't pick them up, or that people don't learn them by trial and error. Instead, we walk around with all sorts of unexamined beliefs about what works that are mistaken."
 
"Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits" by Benedict Carey in The New York Times, Sept. 7, 2010 (p. D1, D6)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html