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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Studying much? You might be using the classic moves. You knowârewriting all your notes into a newer, bigger note; highlighting as the new underlining; and my personal favorite, cramming everything into your brain in any way possible. Sometimes those moves work just fine. But what if youâre looking for more than âjust fineâ? And what if you could get there with a little less stress and a little more purpose?
Researchers at Stanford University in California discovered that using some simple tricks made a big difference in how students performed. The research is based on a classic learning theory that seems pretty obvious when you break it down. Itâs called metacognition, and it involves something we could all benefit from: thinking about how we think.
Intrigued? Letâs take a closer look at how metacognition can get you to a better spot with your study habits. Once youâve got the basics down, weâll show you how to use it with real-life tips thatâll help you reap the brain-boosting benefits. Bonus points if you drop the word âmetacognitionâ with your friends when talking about your new secret to study success.
What to know about how to think
Metacognition is thinking about thinking, says Dr. Veronica Yan, an assistant professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. OK, but what does that actually mean? Itâs taking the time to consider how you think and why the process of reflecting on your thinking can give you some key insights into what youâre learning and what youâre missing. It means thinking through the methods, tools, and resources available to you and deciding which ones can best get you where you want to go.
Still with us? Think about it like this: Textbooks, tutors, academic advisors, past exam questions, and homework assignments are all resources that you can use to studyâbut whatâs the purpose of each of them? How can they help you? And which ones will help the most? Now youâre thinking like someone who thinks about their thinking.
âWe are constantly making decisions, but we arenât always intentional about these decisions,â Dr. Yan says. So how exactly can doing this help?
Why thinking things through can get you better results
This is where it gets interesting. Researchers at Stanford University wondered if applying some of the principles of metacognitionâsetting goals, thinking about resources, and crafting a planâwould make a difference in studentsâ test results. They split students into two groups and reminded both about an upcoming exam.
One group just got a reminder. The other received a reminder and were also asked questions about how they wanted to do on the exam and how they were going to prep. The students received questions about their study resourcesâwhich ones they would choose, how they would use them, and why they felt these resources would be helpfulâessentially having them create a study plan. The students who thought through their study plan, or used metacognition like pros, did better on their exams than those who did not map out a plan, according to the 2017 study in Psychological Science. They also reported feeling less stressed during the prep process.
âLearners should take the time to explicitly think through why they want to use each resource for learning,â says Dr. Patricia Chen, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford and one of the authors of the study. Bottom line: Itâs about thinking carefully about your resourcesâhow to choose them and how youâll use them.
How to put it into practice
The best part about the Stanford research, and about metacognition in general, is that itâs simpleâyou can do it yourself by making a plan and setting some goals. And who knows? You may even see the same boost in results. Hereâs how to go about it:
Step 1: Think about (and list out) your options before you study
This means ditching your autopilot plan and taking some time to make one that works. Start by jotting down the resources you have access to: books, notes, PowerPoints or class presentations, audio recordings, essay prompts, past quizzes or exams, the syllabus, tutors, classmates, online forums, review sessions, immediate access to the entirety of your professorâs brain, etc. Then list out how those resources could help you craft your plan.
Exam or quiz questions from earlier in the semester
Your prof probably has a particular way of creating test questions, so if youâre looking at an exam from earlier in the semester, itâs likely the upcoming one will follow a similar format or ask questions in a similar way. Use that to your advantage. Practice your responses to the question type and exam format. Just be sure your prof is OK with you using past assessments for study, and steer clear of using materials from past semesters or sections of the class.
âThis allows students to identify in advance which topics they need to spend more time on and which they are already very familiar with,â Dr. Chen says.
Step 2: Make your plan
Now that you know which resources will work best, itâs time to make it work for you. And that involves making a specific plan. Participants in the Stanford study were asked to do just thatâplan when, where, and how they would use the study resources they identified. We know that worked for them. It can work for you too.
Make a chart that lists out the resources youâre using along with all the dirty detailsâwhen, where, how, and why.[/vc_column_text][vc_cta h2=”” shape=”square”]Resource
Exam questions from earlier in the semester
Why this can work
Familiarize myself with the potential exam format and way prof asks questions
How Iâm going to use it
- Identify patterns in types of questions
- Identify stuff I know from past exams and stuff I still need to work on
- Think like a prof: How would new material be put into similar exam format or question type? Make a sample exam and test myself, or grab a classmate and create some sample questions for each other; test them out, see how we do, keep working at it
When and where
- Monday 4â6 p.m.: Campus cafÃĐ
- Wednesday 10â11 a.m.: Remote corner of the library
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âPlanning is crucial because it helps learners translate their strategies into action,â Dr. Chen says.
Step 3: Set and get those goals
It comes back to goal setting. Knowing what youâre looking to get out of your studying can help you get there. Think beyond pure performance here; whatâs the long-term goal of knowing the material? A foot in the door at your first post-grad job? Feeling confident in applying your newfound knowledge? Grad school goals? Keep those in mind too. Write them down, add them to your chart, Sharpie them on your foreheadâwhatever makes them stick.
âI realized that when I had goals, I did better and got more done. Working at things aimlessly, without goals, has led to poor results, in my experience. The more I reached my goals and saw how they were benefiting me, the better I performed and the more motivated I was.â
âBlair C., fourth-year student, Indiana University Southeast
âGoal setting helps learners clarify exactly what they want to achieve and focuses them on their goal as they plan out their studying,â Dr. Chen says.
Step 4: Know that you can
Yup, weâre asking you to have a little faith in yourself, and not just because youâre awesome (you definitely are), but because it actually affects how well you do.
Self-efficacy, or simply believing that youâre capable of planning and carrying out the tasks necessary for your performance, was the greatest predictor of college studentsâ achievement and performance, according to a large review of research (Perspectives on Medical Education, 2012).
As youâre working through your study plan, keep track of what youâre getting done. Hit your study session goal for the day? Thatâs a win. Mastered material you didnât quite get last time? That counts too. Come up with a system for tracking them. We like unicorn stickers, but checking things off your to-do list will do in a pinch.
Those small successes are part of your bigger goals, and the more you see yourself moving in the right direction, the more likely you are to believe that you can keep going. The wins you rack up in the process are still there cheering for you when you slip up. So remind yourself of them early and often.
Steps 5 through infinity
Identifying resources, making plans, setting goals, and knowing you can hit them is an awesome plan of attack, but donât be too hard on yourself if some of the steps are a struggle. You might have to do some finagling to figure out what works best for you. âIt is the responsibility of the learner to experiment and identify what is most effective for themselves and when,â says Dr. Chen. So keep trying, keep track, and let us know how you do.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
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Article sources
Patricia Chen, PhD, postdoctoral researcher, Department of Psychology, Stanford University, California.
Veronica Yan, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Study smart. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2011/11/study-smart.aspx
Anderson, J. (2017, May 9). A Stanford researcherâs 15-minute study hack lifts B+ students into the As. Quartz. Retrieved from https://qz.com/978273/a-stanford-professors-15-minute-study-hack-improves-test-grades-by-a-third-of-a-grade/
Artino, A. R. (2012). Academic self-efficacy: From educational theory to instructional practice. Perspectives on Medical Education, 1(2), 76â85. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3540350/
Chen, P., Chavez, O., Ong, D. C., & Gunderson, B. (2017). Strategic resource use for learning: A self-administered intervention that guides self-reflection on effective resource use enhances academic performance. Psychological Science, 28(6), 774â785. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797617696456
Dartmouth College. (2001). Memory is learning that persists. Retrieved from https://students.dartmouth.edu/academic-skills/sites/students_academic_skills.prod/files/students_academic_skills/wysiwyg/retain_information.pdf.
Tanner, K. D. (2012). Promoting student metacognition. CBE Life Sciences Education, 11(2), 113â120. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3366894/
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