Studying for the Sciences

1. Studying for the Sciences Ready for Success in Allied Health A Basic Skills Production Summer 2008

2. What makes an “A” student? • An “A” student starts early !! What does it mean to start early ?

3. Starting early .... • Did you bring a pen/pencil to class ? • Did you bring paper to take notes? • Have you read the syllabus and filed it? • Have you bought a textbook for class? • Have you read the TOC ? • Have you read the assigned chapters? • Have you bought other materials for this class?

4. Reading Strategies • Explore the textbook • Check the vocabulary • Analyze for comprehension • Synthesize for understanding

5. Explore the Textbook • Look at course outline • Compare it to Table of Contents • How do they match up? • Look at charts, graphs, diagrams, pictures • Try to make a connection with what you already know

6. Check the Vocabulary • Learn basic suffixes, prefixes, root words • Most scientific vocabulary uses Latin roots as their basis • Keep a chart or index cards of commonly used prefixes and suffixes • Use context clues

7. Analyze for Comprehension • Look for patterns in the textbooks • Classification --used to group/sub-group objects • Process description --how does it work? • Factual statement pattern • facts are usually used in defining things, comparing/contrasting, citing examples • Problem solving pattern – • how was the problem solved? • Experiment – instruction pattern • What are the steps needed to conduct the experiment

8. Synthesize for Understanding • Be an ACTIVE reader • Become engaged from the start • Ask yourself questions • What’s this chapter about? Why is this important to read? Will it help me get an A? • Take notes • Use a highlighter • Translate formulas into words

9. Another Reading Strategy • SQ3R • SURVEY • QUESTION • READ • RECITE • REVIEW

10. How can we learn something?

11. Ebbinghaus’ Research • Professor Ebbinghaus gave subjects 20 nonsense syllables to memorize • They practiced list by repetition until they were correct two times in a row • He counted the number of times it took to master the list • If they forgot, they practiced until they remembered the list perfectly

12. Ebbinghaus’ Results • If they practiced immediately, they retained the knowledge 100% • If they waited 20 minutes, they retained about 60% • If they waited 1 hour, they retained about 45 minutes • If they waited 3 days, they retained about 25%

13. Retention Curve

14. Ebbinghaus’ Principles • Memory decays as a function of time • Rate of forgetting – fastest after initial learning – slower for more meaningful material • Amount remembered depends on multiple times spent learning • Effect of “overlearning”– information practiced beyond mastery will be harder for you to forget or “lose”

15. Did you forget this already?

16. Reviewing Material • What doesn’t work -- • just listening in class • just taking notes • just memorizing facts & conclusions • just recopying or retyping your notes • waiting until AFTER lecture to read the textbook assignment • waiting until last minute to review

17. What does work ? • The best way we learn is by MAKING CONNECTIONS

18. Memory is “Associative” • Memory of new information is increased if it is associated with previously acquired knowledge • Meaningful association = effectively remembered

19. Memory Factors • Intention • how much effort you expend • Repetition • how often material is repeated • Emotion • whether material brings emotional response • Depth of processing • whether related to known material

20. Shallow vs. Deep Processing • Shallow processing • Simple rehearsal • repeating information • Deep processing • Elaborative rehearsal • actively reviewing and connecting to knowledge already stored

21. Deeper Level Processing • review by RECALL not by recognition • establish connections • make associations • attach meanings • form relationships • create hierarchies

22. Deep Processing Techniques • Writing outlines • self-examination during learning • review questions • previews • encourage integration of material and think about the meaning

23. Shallow processing • Meaning – understand each isolated part • Lacks deeper meaning that comes from understanding relationship among parts • new knowledge tends to be shallow when it is first learned – this is normal !!

24. Flexible knowledge • As you continue to work with knowledge, you gain expertise • knowledge no longer organized around examples • can be transferred to new situations • Suppose you know how to find the area of a rectangle. Can you apply it to a new situation? Can you find the area of a room or a house?

25. Testing for Flexible Knowledge • Types of multiple choice questions: • A blood pressure reading of 200/96 mmHg is considered: • A. Hypotension • B. Hypertension • C. Cardiac hypertrophy • D. Renal hypertension What did you have to know to answer this question?

26. Another multiple choice question: • A newly admitted client has a blood pressure of 200/96 mmHg. The client has a family history of diabetes mellitus. Which nursing action is most appropriate at this time? • A. Call the doctor • B. Retake the blood pressure • C. Assess for other signs and symptoms • D. Ask the client if he/she is taking antihypertensives.

27. What’s the difference? • First question • just the facts – recalling factual information • Second question • clinical decision using critical thinking skills • Clinical scenario-type questions are commonly used in nursing exams.

28. Here’s another scenario: • You are the nurse on a med-surg unit who has just received a report. Which patient should you assess first? • A. A 35 yo admitted 3 hours ago with a gunshot wound. 1.5 cm area of dark drainage noted. • B. A 43 yo s/p mastectomy 2 days ago with 23cc of serosanguous fluid in the drain. • C. 59 yo with a collapsed lung due to an accident; no drainage in the chest tube • D. a 62 yo s/p abd-peritoneal resection 3 days ago; now complaining of chills

29. What do you need to know to answer the question? • Medical terminology • Vocabulary • Nature of the surgeries • What is normal and expected? • What do you NOT expect to see? • You are combining ALL these factors to answer the question. Not just recall and repeating information.

30. Effective Strategies • Spacing Effect • short periods of practice daily are better than cramming • sustained practice • regular, ongoing practice • practice BEYOND one perfect recitation • useful for developing automaticity

31. Does Practice Make Perfect? • Practice is important • Practice until you don’t get it wrong • Practice has to be ongoing • Make practice “deliberate” • set specific goals and get immediate feedback of results • exert some effort to improve performance

32. What is an Expert’s Attitude? • Approaches everything with need to learn more • never loses intensity of a beginner • never feels finished or satisfied • continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one’s competence

33. What is overlearning? • Overlearning is studying material one already knows • For a new skill to become automatic, sustained practice, beyond the point of mastery, is necessary. • develop automaticity – you can become more skillful when you don’t have to think about it (knowing the grammar rules !!)

34. When to review notes: • 1st review: immediately after class • 2nd review: within 24 hours • 3rd review: within the week • 4th review: within the month (before a test) • 5th review: within the semester (before the final exam)

35. Now Look at This !!

36. How do we comprehend? • Taking in new information and understanding it depends on what you already know that can be connected • Making correct inferences demands some background knowledge.

37. Stated v. Implied Information • “John’s face fell as he looked down at his protruding belly. The invitation specified ‘black tie’ and he had not worn his tux since his own wedding 20 years earlier.” • What is John concerned about?

38. Background Knowledge • “Mark was a real Benedict Arnold about it.” Can you understand this? Who or what is Benedict Arnold?

39. How do we know that we know something? • Familiarity -- knowledge of having seen or otherwise experienced some stimulus before, but having little information associated with it. • Recollection – characterized by richer associations • Ability to explain to others !!

40. I already know this stuff... • If you believe you know this material, you are likely to stop listening, stop reading, stop working, and stop participating. • Be careful, you may think you know this stuff, but you may just have shallow processing. • Feeling you understand the material as it is presented is not the same as being able to recount it yourself. • Some students quit once some facts have been memorized, believing they have already done quite a bit of studying.

41. I think I know this... • I’m familiar with it.. • ( I know how to do fractions) • I can partially access (kind of recall) that information. • ( I learned fractions last year) Some people just really think they know more than they do !!

42. Study Groups • One of the best ways PROVEN to help increase grades !! • Cohort of familiar students to support each other • Can get a complete set of notes because everyone has probably written down different “important” information from lectures • When you teach someone else, you reinforce what you have just learned

43. Does sleep matter? • Yes !! • sleep deprivation adversely affects learning • compensates for inadequate sleep with • shorter attention span • lowered creativity • reduced memory capacity • rigid viewpoints • irritability • increased appetite

44. Your favorite word !!! • test • assessment • quiz • exam • mid-term • final

45. Now it’s time to prove you know what you know !! • Studying for a test • Think of questions your instructor might ask • Ask the instructor!! • Try writing a brief summary of commentary for each chapter studied • Recite important names, theories, dates, terms, and relevant information • Define words in each chapter • Put it all together – your thoughts, your notes, your understanding of the material

46. During the test -- • Read the directions carefully • Ask questions before the test starts • If some questions are worth more than others, devote more time and effort to them • Make sure you understand if you are given partial credit for partial completion of the problem • Answer the ones you are confident about • Keep track of time • Write legibly – don’t make your instructor decode your scribbling

47. After the test -- • Your learning doesn’t stop at the test • When you get your test back, meet with your study group (or instructor or tutor) • Was everything on the test already in your notes? • Yes – (you may have a studying problem) • No – (you may have a note taking problem)

48. Studying problem • Did you start reviewing notes immediately after class and then on a regular basis? • Did you join a study group? • Did you just memorize facts or did you make associations to help you study?

49. Note taking problem... • Did you take the right notes? • Did you have trouble figuring out what was important? • What was supposed to be written down? • When did you start reviewing your notes?

50. Final Thoughts • Start __________ ! • Form a study ________ ! • Take good ________! • Get some ________! • Review your notes __________ ! • Practice until you _____________ ! • Make ____________ ! • Have _______ !