Effective Learning Skills for Chemistry 108

This page contains ideas from Effective Learning Skills which was the final chapter of a physics textbook I wrote in 1989.   This page is condensed (by cutting parts that seem less useful for Chemistry 108) and rearranged, with a little bit of re-writing;  sometimes, but not always, I've removed references to "physics" or have substituted "chemistry" instead.

An easy-to-print PDF file contains this page (in pages 1-3 of the file)* and (in pages 4-6) an APPENDIX for Learning Skills that includes Learning & Problem Solving, Summary Notes & Flash Cards, and Active Reading.   {* But the longer versions of Section 20.7, at the end of each page, are not included in this PDF file. }

Another page you may find useful and fun is Motivation for Personal Education — I recommend reading the first half, about how my friend became an expert welder, and how I didn't learn to ski, and how you can learn in Steps and Leaps.
 

 
    20.4 — Concentration
    According to the Random House Dictionary, concentration is "exclusive attention to one object" and to concentrate is "to bring all efforts, faculties, etc, to bear on one thing or activity."  Good concentration is an extremely valuable thinking tool.

    Ignoring Distractions
    The human mind responds to sensory input (sight, sound,...) and also constantly generates its own ideas.  These mental activities are the focus of external distraction or internal distraction, respectively, and each can interfere with other.
    The best way to cope with either kind of distraction is to provide competition, with interest and activity.  During an interesting conversation it is easy to totally ignore distractions (or tell them to "go away, don't bother me now, I'm busy") and keep good concentration.  When you develop an interest in what you're studying, distractions won't have a chance.  And if you are extremely ative (reading, listening, thinking, reviewing, note-taking, ...) your mind is so filled with thoughts about the lecture-ideas that there is "no room" left for a distraction to squeeze into.
    During lecture, if you have a valuable thought about a non-chemistry topic, quickly write it down.  The thought is on paper as a reminder, so you don't have to worry about forgetting it and you can return to studying with full concentration.  Later, look at the paper and give the thought your undivided attention.
    Taking notes during a lecture requires a combination of skills:  Mainly you want externally directed concentration, but with some internally directed concentration.  You must receive information (listen) but if you want to learn you must also process it (by thinking) and preserve it (in your memory).  Below you'll find useful ways to improve your note-making skill:  prepare before the lecture, be alert during it, and review afterward.
 

    Active Listening during Lecture
    Active Listening is similar to Active Reading but there are two major differences:
    During a lecture you can learn from the content and also how it is said, in the voice pitch, loudness, inflection & rhythm, facial expressions, hand-waving,...
    You control the pace of your reading, but a speaker talks as fast as she (or he) wants.  Unless a lecture is recorded, stop-and-go is not practical.  Instead, you must do several things almost-simultaneously: listen, mentally process, and make notes.  Here are three ways to improve your skill at listening-and-processing.

    PREPARE BEFORE THE LECTURE:  How?  Quickly review your notes from previous lectures, and read the appropriate textbook sections.  If the teacher's lecture notes from a previous quarter are available, read them for a "preview".
    Why?  If you know something about a subject already, it's easier to understand the lecture.  By comparing the treatment of material by the textbook and teacher, you will learn something about the teacher's "emphasis".  You can probably take less notes, so you can do more thinking-while-listening, and it will be easier to make quick decisions about what is important enough to put in your notes.

    CONCENTRATE DURING THE LECTURE:  With quality practice (relaxed yet alert, motivated, confident) your listening-and-processing skill will improve.
    Practice writing as fast as you can; push the limits!  Develop your own system of abbreviations, especially for words that you use often: w = with, fex = for example, and so on.  Try leaving out vowels, as in "rdng, wrtng, rthmtc."
    If the speaker is dull, use willpower to motivate yourself.  With a skilled speaker, don't think that you will automatically remember the lecture just because it is presented clearly; take good notes anyway.

    REVIEW SOON AFTER THE LECTURE:  You won't be able to capture the whole content of a lecture in your notes, but part of what's missing is preserved in your memory — temporarily.  If you review the notes soon after the lecture while your memory is fresh, you can use the notes to remind you of weakly remembered ideas that will fade and vanish unless they are solidified during after-the-lecture review; you can add these ideas to the notes.  And it is easier to interpret your abbreviations and condensations at this time than it will be later.  Don't rewrite your notes; just fill the gaps, make comments in the margins (leave some space), and do whatever it takes to give them a "summary structure".  Do you see why a quick but well-timed review can improve your memory AND your notes?

 
    Interest and Activity
    Do you have to "try to concentrate" when you watch the climax of an exciting movie, or when you're in the middle of a fascinating conversation?  No; if you are truly interested in an activity, good concentration is natural and effortless.
    In her excellent book On Becoming an Educated Person, Virginia Voeks describes how interest-and-activity helps you learn more — and have more fun — when you read:  "Start with an intent to make the very most you can from whatever you read. ..."
    You can read (or listen) with similar expectations and results. ... Listening to a lecture becomes an exciting adventure in learning, ...   <snip .....;  Here, and later throughout this page, I've cut parts that are in the original chapter;  if you want to read more, click the top-of-page link for the full-length chapter about Effective Learning Skills.>

    Be fully alive!  Wherever you are, be all there.  Whatever you're doing, do it fully.
    Do you ever think "when I'm not studying I feel like I should be, and when I am studying I wish I wasn't"?  If there is conflict between your perceptions of what you "should do" and what you want to do, it will cause a waste of mental and emotional effort, like two tug-of-war teams pulling in opposite directions.
    The key to resolving this conflict is balance.  All work and no play (or vice versa) does not lead to a happy, productive, full life.  Don't make yourself choose between work and play.  Do both with enthusiasm!
    Studying is a two-step, two-level process:  1) just do it,  2) do it with gusto!
    You can make yourself study with willpower and the procrastination-avoiding techniques of Section 20.7.  To reach the gusto level, which is more efficient and more fun, generate interest with the "positive attitude" discussed earlier, and generate motivation with a "piecework incentive" expectation.
    When you are paid by the hour, you earn the same amount of money no matter how slow or fast you work.  But with a piecework salary the more you produce the more you earn, so you get to harvest the rewards of your own efficiency.
    Studying is a piecework activity.  If you are efficient, you automatically receive a higher "learning per hour" salary -- you'll learn a lot quickly, and will feel a real satisfaction about studying.  Later, when you "play" you can relax and enjoy it because you won't be nagged by worries about unfinished schoolwork.

    miscellaneous ideas related to concentration:
    Motivation is important, but just wanting something doesn't make it happen.  To succeed, usually you must work hard and work smart.  <snip .....>
    To learn more, quickly, study enthusiastically with high intensity, trying to learn a lot in a short time.  Use piecework incentive!  <snip .....>
    If possible, study in a quiet place.  But when noise occurs, ignore it and remember that your own response (of interest or irritation) is usually the main distraction, not the noise itself.  If you learn to concentrate despite noise, you increase your own freedom; you can study in a wider variety of situations, independent of other people's actions.  This will also increase the freedom of others, since you can let them do what they want.  <snip .....>
    physical fitness and mental fitness:  There is an intimate connection between mind and body.  Each affects the other.  If you take better care of your body with "whole-person living" that includes good nutrition, adequate exercise, and getting enough rest, your concentration and thinking quality will improve.  <snip .....>
    As with most skills, a good way to develop concentration is to search for insights. [as in the story about "my first morning on the slopes" explaining how I didn't learn to ski]  Notice what works best for you in different situations, and practice until fast, clever, reliable thinking becomes a natural and easy habit.
 

 
    20.7 — Using Your Time Effectively
    Dost thou love life?  Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.  { Benjamin Franklin, 1746 }
    Three ways to use your time more effectively are wise planning, good timing, and increased efficiency.  <snip.....>
    To get more done, you can:  1) work more time, and  2) work more efficiently.  <snip.....>
    [ And you can read more of this section. ]
 

    20.6 — Exam Preparation and Performance

    You probably have two learning goals for every college course:  1) to learn things that will be useful in your future courses, in a career and in life;   2) to do well on exams so you'll get a good grade and "GPA credit" for what you know.
    This section will focus on the more urgent second goal, but the principles are just as useful for reaching the more important first goal.

    1) Gather Information
    Read the instructor's course syllabus carefully.  If you miss the start of a lecture, when exam announcements are often made, check with other students to find out what you missed.  During lectures, listen for subtle clues (or obvious statements) about what the teacher thinks is interesting and important.  Try to "get oriented" and find out, as soon as possible:
    What are you expected to KNOW and be able to DO?  Will you be asked to solve problems, analyze statements about theory, or remember specific details?  If there are problems, will they be like those in the assigned homework?  Will the exam emphasize material from the text or lectures?
    What is the grading policy?  How much of the course grade is determined by midterms?  by the final exam?  by extras like quizzes, homework, labs, projects, papers, class discussion,...?  Will students be graded "on a curve"?
    What is the exam format?  Open book or closed book?  Will you do problems and show your work? do machine graded multiple choice? true-false? fill in the blanks?  Will there be "qualitative" questions?  Will the exam reward speed in doing many easy problems, or in figuring out a few difficult ones?  If possible, try to get one of the teacher's old exams; this will give you a better idea of what to expect.
    Selectivity is important.  You have a limited amount of time to invest in each class.  You'll want to use this time wisely, and this requires making choices.

note: The following sections (2-3-4-5) have been condensed from the full chapter-section, keeping only a few central ideas.

    2) Early Exam Preparation
    Use the study suggestions from Sections 20.1, 20.3 & 20.5:  learn from problem-solving practice, make summary notes, read and listen actively.  Do most of your studying early, so you can "cram" effectively later.

    3) Late Exam Preparation
    Cramming will help you get better grades.  When you practice fact-recalling and problem-solving in the days before an exam, very little "fading" occurs between studying and the exam, so your memory and skill levels remain high.  But if you use the time before an exam for "original learning" that could have been done earlier, you're wasting time that is extremely valuable for memory and skill practice.  To be effective, CRAMMING should be a supplement to earlier study, not a replacement.  It should be mainly consolidation (review & practice) of knowledge and skill that have been built on a solid foundation over a long period of time. [because "chemistry is cumulative"]

    4) Exam Performance
    The most reliable way to do well on exams is good preparation, as described above in 1-3.  But the quality of your thinking during the exam is also important.

    5) After the Exam
    Think about what happened so you can learn from it, for each phase discussed above.  {use the Oregon Strategy by asking "Why did I miss it, and how can I fix it?"}
 

 
note:  If you want to PRINT the information below, most of the ideas — with a little subtracted and a little added, plus tips for Summary Notes & Flash Cards from the Appendix — are in the second page of the "scanned file" described at the top of this page and extra information is in the Appendix.

    20.3 — Memory as a Problem-Solving Tool

    Good problem solving requires an "active memory" that gives you quick, reliable access to essential thinking tools.  A good memory isn't sufficient to make you an expert problem solver (you also need creativity and logic) but it is necessary.
    To improve your memory, take advantage of original awareness with intention to remember, plus organization and review, so you will have effective retrieval from your memory.

    Here is a summary of Section 20.3:  The best way to insure good recall is good preparation, to achieve storage.  The final step of "retrieval" is usually easy if you've done a good job with the earlier stages:  1) learn with intention-to-remember,  2) organize the information (with intrinsic logic or an external system),  3) review actively and often, using appropriate cues.
 

    INTENTION TO REMEMBER — When you find something worth remembering (in your listening, reading, or problem-solving practice), stop for a few seconds and review it before you lose it.    <snip.....>
 

    ORGANIZATION IS IMPORTANT
    It's easy to find page 86 of a book, or the word "grace" in a dictionary, due to organization;  book pages are in numerical order, and dictionary words are alphabetical.  Logical organization also makes it easy to retrieve information from your memory so you can "use what you know" for problem solving.

    Quiz #1:  For a few seconds, look at these 22 letters:  t s e k h a u o e n d y g c a l h t e y n m
    Then close your eyes and try to remember all of them;  don't leave any letters out and don't put any extras in.
    If you were given enough time and incentive, you could memorize these letters.  But there is a better way to do it — by using organization!

    Quiz #2:  After a few seconds of study, can you remember these combinations of letters?  sneaky the lunch dog my ate

    Each quiz contains the same 22 letters.  So why is Quiz #2 easier to remember?
    To make it even easier, you can organize the words of Quiz #2 into a sentence:  What does the dog do?
 

    RETRIEVAL: the importance of REVIEW
    If you want to remember something (concepts, equations, problem-solving strategies,...), review it.  A balanced combination of review distributed throughout the course and a massed cramming session before the exam is better than either one alone.
    As explained in the Appendix for Learning Skills, summary notes can provide organization, flash cards require activity, review pages combine some advantages of both, and all will let you quickly review groups of related ideas — for an exam and/or for your own self-motivated personal benefit.  Each type of review offers advantages.  Generally, review is more effective when you are active.  <snip.....>

 
20.7  Using Your Time Effectively

        Dost thou love life?  Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.  { Benjamin Franklin, 1746 }
        Three ways to use your time more effectively are wise planning, good timing, and increased efficiency.

        Planning
        The foundation of planning is knowing yourself and what you want to do with your abilities and opportunities.  { This doesn't necessarily mean having a specific career goal.  As a student, your immediate goal may be to earn grades (and skills) that give you good options to choose from later. }  Wise planning is choosing daily activities that help you make progress toward your long-term goals.  In his excellent book “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life,” Alan Lakein describes the relationship between goals and activities:
        “When you have planned well on both long-term and short-term levels, then goals and activities fit together like well-meshed gears.  Most if not all of the activities specified in short-term plans will contribute to the realization of the goals specified in long-term plans."
..... <snip> .....

        When should you plan?  In the evening (so you can review the previous day and plan for the next) or morning (when you're well rested and ready to go), or at any time during the day when you ask Lakein's Question, “What is the best use of my time right now?"
        A useful time-management tool is a daily To-Do List.  First think of all the things you might want to do, then set priorities -- it is very important that you do certain activities today (so be sure you do them), others would be nice to do but they aren't “necessary", while some probably shouldn't be done at all (cross them off your list).  Then use this prioritized list to plan your activities for the day. .....
        A portable to-do list (like a 3 x 5 card in your pocket) increases the probability of getting activities done, and decreases your memory load -- you don't have to think about “what to do today” so your mind is free for creative thinking.  I use a cheap alarm watch to remind me that it's time to go to class, or catch a bus, or...
        The purpose of planning is to use time effectively.  It's all right if you don't finish all of the activities on a to-do list.  If a list gets you to use your time for high priority activities, it has served its purpose.
 
        A whole-semester schedule of “things to do” will help you plan ahead, so you can skillfully coordinate your daily and long-term activities.  On this schedule, put the due-dates for everything that must be done (homework, exams, papers,... ) for each of your classes, and also “advance warnings” to remind you that (for example) you should begin writing your term paper at least a week ahead of time, plus extra events (sports, concerts, special lectures,...).  If you want, you can make a schedule that is more complex, with more rows, so you'll have one for each of your classes plus another for events.

    Timing
        Good timing lets you take advantage of opportunities while they're still available.
        Timing is an important part of planning;  you are deciding what to do and also when to do it.  But planning doesn't always lead to doing.  A valuable time-use tool (Lakein devotes 1/3 of his book to it) is the ability to convert planning into action at the proper time.
        If you avoid an activity that you know is “high priority,” you are procrastinating.  You are especially likely to avoid a task you feel is unpleasant or overwhelming, or if you have doubts about whether you should do it.
        If you have doubts, re-think the situation and ask “Is this something I should do?  Is it a top-priority project?”;  If you answer NO, decide what you should do instead.  If you answer YES, then you can move into action with increased confidence that you are doing what you should be doing.
..... <snip> .....
        Alan Lakein suggests turning an overwhelming project into “Swiss Cheese” by poking holes in it with small tasks that are quick and easy to do.  You can gather information, do brainstorming (to increase creativity by decreasing constraints on your imagination), make a plan of action, or begin work on some aspect of the project.  After you've poked a few holes in it, the project may not look so overwhelming.
        Hopefully, your first small steps will lead to full scale action.  If your initial involvement leads to interest-and-enthusiasm, which leads to more involvement and more interest, you'll want to continue working on the project.
        But if your first steps don't lead to eager involvement, you have to use willpower.  This is easier when you give yourself logical reasons for “doing what you don't want to do."  Ask yourself, “What are the consequences of delay, and what are the benefits of doing the project now?”;  Convince yourself that since you have to do the project anyway, sometime, you might as well choose the best time to do it.
        Let's look at a common victim of student procrastination, a term paper that must be written. .....
 
        Cooperation and Teamwork
        For many students, in many situations, studying with other students is an effective strategy.  If you don't know something, your study partners can help you learn.  And vice versa, which (because teaching is a good way to master ideas-and-skills) will help you learn.  And study groups can help you form valuable friendships.
        But for some students, in some situations, studying alone will be more effective.
        Probably you'll want to do some of each.  Based on experience you can try to know yourself, and your situations, well enough to know which blend of approaches (by studying with others and also on your own) will be most useful for you, in each of your classes.
        And you can develop strategies for making your study groups more effective, for keeping all of you on-task, but in ways that are not too overbearing so you also promote good social relationships.
 
        Efficiency
        To get more done, you can  1) waste less time, and  2) work more efficiently.  .....

And you can see "the rest of the story" with all of Section 20.7 including the omitted parts indicated by "....."

Copyright © 1989 Craig Rusbult, all rights reserved