HOW TO STUDY ACTIVELY

One of the most common problems when people are studying for long periods of time is that they fall into passive, almost mindless
mental habits. Eyes dutifully move over the lines of print, but not much goes into long term memory. Even worse, if the information
is being reviewed, it already looks familiar, so you can easily fool yourself into thinking 'Yes--I remember this--I know how this works.'
Unfortunately, following along when the information is all laid out on the page and being able to call the relevant information from
memory when you are dealing with a question on that material later are not the same thing. Even when you know a lot, you may
apply the wrong information to an item, or get confused about what applies from what you recall.

WHAT IS ACTIVE LEARNING?

Active learning occurs when a student is earnestly engaged in the material presented before him or her. This is different from the
traditional model where the students passively receive information from their teachers, such as class lectures. Studies show that
active learning is important, because without it, The amount of information retained by students declines substantially after ten
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minutes. To do well, researchers stress a student must realize that Learning is not a spectator sport. They must talk about what
they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences, apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of
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themselves.

There are many different ways to learn actively, such as creating flowcharts out of the reviewed information, or discussing case
studies in groups. Below are a few examples of exercises that you can do on your own that when done correctly -- will help focus
your concentration and increase subject retention. They all require you to do something with the information, rather than simply
reading through it with the intention to memorize.

1. Look over some practice questions on a topic you are about to review first.
If it's been a while since you studied a topic, you may not actually be able to answer the items yet, but just reading the question, to
get a clear sense of what's being asked is your goal here. After you finish looking at the items, traces of what was called for by the
items will linger in your memory, making the question-relevant information jump out once you begin reviewing this content.

2. Make key aspects and relationships stand out in your study notes.
Most people take notes when they review. But if you aren't careful, it's easy to just write down without really thinking about the
information. To make those study notes really work for you, take a few minutes to look over the kind of material you are about to
review. Is it describing several disorders that present similarly? Are there key lab tests that tell you which disorder you are dealing
with? Do the disorders hit different groups of patients (the very young, post-menopausal women, certain ethnic groups, for
example)? Can you generate a way to compare and contrast the varieties of disorders, showing how they are similar and different
from each other? Once you have a clearer sense of the kind of information you are dealing with, decide how to represent the key
aspects on paper in a way that highlights these aspects. Techniques for doing this can include:

1. Using boxes with arrows to show the ordered steps of a process or sequence of events.

2. Color highlighting your notes, e.g., pink for lab data information, blue for presenting symptoms, yellow for
incidence (who gets it), green for morphological changes, etc. Now when you look over pages of notes, you can
scan all the pink to see how the anemias differ in terms of their labs, for example.

3. Use a tape recorder to make summary notes instead of paper. You can even ask yourself questions, leaving a
pause after for later listening and self-quizzing. By forcing yourself to articulate what you want to remember in
your own words, you are more likely to remember the key points and you have a portable study aid to plug into
later, in the car stereo while you are driving or using a Walkman to listen to while you do chores or take a walk.

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Thomas, J. (1972). The variation of memory with time for information appearing during a lecture. Studies in Adult
Education, 4, 57-62.
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Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice. AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7.

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 4. Make charts of related groups, such as the types of meningitis. Rows for each type, columns to show the bug,
presenting findings, typical lab results, prognosis, etc. Color code as necessary to make exceptions and shared
features and key aspects stand out.

3. Switch activities to stay mentally alert.

If you are sitting at your study table and find that you are just spinning your mental gears, stop what you are doing and do
something else. Try switching to a similar topic in a different subject as a break (shift from Cardiac Physiology to Cardiac Pathology,
for example). Look at a website on the study topic for a change of pace. You can also try doing a few practice items on the material,
then look up the related material in your review source to understand the correct and incorrect answers. Now, what you read is
relevant to an actual question and this will help you take in the information because it is perceived as more meaningful than just
reading page after page in the book.

4. Find a study partner to do questions out loud.

Find someone who is willing to sit with you for an hour or two several times a week. Agree in advance what topic you want to focus
on, then take turns doing questions, reading the stem out loud, stating what you think is being asked, and talking through your
reasoning as you evaluate all the possible answer choices. The other person should listen for reading or reasoning mistakes and give
feedback. Then switch roles and you give the feedback. Don't get bogged down in fine details while doing this. The goal of the
session is to refine how you interpret and reason with what you already know, not to worry about checking out every little detail.
Use the answer explanations when you get stuck because neither of you recall the correct reason, or just skip that question and
move on. This is an excellent way to practice applying what you know and to improve your accuracy in understanding and reasoning
through test questions.

Other Active learning exercises:

90 Second Paper Harvard 5-in-5 Lecture Series

For this technique you will need: For this technique you will need:
Your reference book 5 pictures of faces drawn on paper
A timer/stopwatch Sticky tape
Pen and paper
Instructions
Instructions: Tape the 5 pictures of faces on the wall.
Read a section of your book Pretend that these 5 faces are Harvard students, and you are a visiting lecturer there to
Close/cover the book teach them the material.
Set timer for 90 seconds Choose one chapter from your book. Read through it, and identify 5 points that these 5
In 90 seconds, write down the topics students must know about the topic. (Tip: ask yourself, Is this common in the US?
just reviewed Will management change because of this information?)
Discuss the material that you just reviewed, limiting your discussion to 5 minutes.
Why this is helpful:
When a student does this technique, Why this is helpful:
his or her internal dialog will change This requires that the student be able to identify 5 important points about the topic and
from This is boring, hurry up turn the be able to talk about it for 5 minutes (5 points in 5 minutes, or 5-in-5). The act of
page to Don't you turn the page speaking this material out loud not only reinforces the recall, it also specifies areas
until you got it, we will be writing where the student may be unclear. Additionally, it teaches a student how to discern
about this in a few minutes, stay what is relevant and to prioritize the information that was covered.
focused.
Taking it further, a student may also record him/herself using a voice recorder and use
this later on to help with memory work, e.g., while working out in the gym or while
driving.

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