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<p>Use the information in this section to support and elevate your academic journey. Get tips for studying, time management, and working successfully on group projects. Explore this content and more in the OpenStax textbook <a href="https://openstax.org/details/books/preparing-for-college-success" target="_blank"><em>Preparing for College Success</em></a>, always available free online. Amplify your academic achievement and prepare for the successful future you deserve!</p>
<h3>Learning, Studying, and Test-Taking</h3>
<div class="os-raise-accordion">
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<div class="os-raise-accordion-item">
<button class="os-raise-accordion-header">The Learning Process</button>
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<p><strong>Questions to Consider:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>What are the steps to learning something new?
</li>
<li>How is the brain affected by learning?
</li>
</ul>
<p>Have you ever thought about how we learn something new? Think back on a skill you have learned. Did you start with an interest in the topic or skill? Then, did you start practicing the skill or deepening your understanding of the topic? You may have received feedback using the skill or shared your knowledge, and then you worked on refining that skill or understanding.
</p>
<p>If you participated in that process, you did what Rita Smilkstein (2011) calls “The Natural Learning Process.(1) Here are the steps that she says we go through any time we learn:
</p>
<ol>
<li>motivation;</li>
<li>beginning practice;</li>
<li>advanced practice to build a foundation upon which control, creativity, and critical and abstract thinking can be applied;</li>
<li>skillfulness;</li>
<li>refinement; and</li>
<li>mastery</li>
</ol>
<p>Another way to look at learning is through the <strong> biological lens</strong>.
</p>
<p>When we go through the learning process outlined above, our brains actually change. This is called <em> neuroplasticity</em>, or the brain’s ability to form or reorganize neural pathways in reaction to the learning process. This means that your brain changes when you learn something new, especially if you practice it and fail at getting it right the first time. When you get better at a skill, such as throwing a curveball or learning how to solve for X, your brain is actually reorganizing itself so that you can perform those tasks more quickly.
</p>
<h4>Bloom’s Taxonomy</h4>
<p>Bloom’s Taxonomy is a hierarchical framework used to classify learning objectives and cognitive skills into six levels of complexity.
</p>
<p>The first and lowest level is “remember.” At this level, you are attempting to recall information, such as definitions of terms or steps in a process. You don’t have to really understand (that will come next) the concepts at this level. For example, you may be able to memorize the steps to perform the quadratic equation by naming them in order, but that doesn’t mean you truly understand the processes involved and the effects of each step.
</p>
<p>The second level is “understand.” This is the stage in which you can explain or describe a concept in your own words. Usually, if you have restated a term, concept, or process in your own words, you have a basic understanding of it. Again, these are lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and are the fundamental first steps if you want to move higher up on the taxonomy. The next level is “apply,” which indicates that you know the concept well enough to use it in a new context. Math classes often ask you to remember and understand the steps of a formula and the reason you would use it but then ask you to use that formula in a new problem.
</p>
<p>The levels in which you “analyze” and “evaluate” require that you be able to examine the concepts in depth and be able to, for example, compare and contrast a concept with another concept (analyze) or choose the best concept among others (evaluate). The final level is “create,” which, according to Bloom, is the pinnacle of learning: If you can create (or recreate) something new based on what you have learned, you have demonstrated understanding of a concept, idea, or skill.
</p>
<img src="https://k12.openstax.org/contents/raise/resources/cfe53f7c51b7687fb94d577f9d5ef35f268f6877" class="os-raise-media-responsive">
<br><br>
<p><strong>Footnotes</strong></p>
<p>1: Smilkstein, R. (2011). We’re born to learn: Using the brain’s natural learning process to create today’s curriculum. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.</p>
</div>
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<button class="os-raise-accordion-header">Memory</button>
<div class="os-raise-accordion-content">
<p><strong>Questions to Consider:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>How does working memory work, exactly?
</li>
<li>How do short-term and long-term memory function?
</li>
<li>What obstacles exist to remembering?
</li>
<li>When and how should you memorize things?
</li>
<li>In what situations is it best to memorize, and what do you memorize?
</li>
<li>What can you do consistently to improve both your short- and long-term memory?
</li>
</ul>
<p>Memory is one of those cherished but mysterious elements in life. Everyone has memories, and some people are very good at rapid recall, which is a desirable skill for test takers. We know that we seem to lose the capacity to remember things as we age, and scientists continue to study how we remember some things but not others and what memory means, but we don’t know that much about memory, really.
</p>
<p>Nelson Cowan is one researcher who is working to explain what we do know about memory. His article “What Are the Differences between Long-Term, Short-Term, and Working Memory?” breaks down the different types of memory and what happens when we recall thoughts and ideas. When we remember something, we actually do quite a lot of thinking.(2)
</p>
<table class="os-raise-doubleheadertable">
<thead>
<tr>
<th scope="col">ASPECT</th>
<th scope="col">LONG-TERM MEMORY</th>
<th scope="col">SHORT-TERM MEMORY</th>
<th scope="col">WORKING MEMORY</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th scope="row">DURATION</th>
<td>Hours to lifetime</td>
<td>Seconds to minutes</td>
<td>Seconds to minutes</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">CAPACITY</th>
<td>Vast</td>
<td>Limited (5-9) items</td>
<td>Limited, but varies from person to person</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">ENCODING</th>
<td>Stores important information by linking it to other knowledge</td>
<td>Stores information by repetition or actively thinking about it</td>
<td>Stores information by verbally repeating it or mentally rehearsing it</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">RETRIEVAL</th>
<td>Conscious or unconscious; can recall information without much effort, even after a long time</td>
<td>Can remember things quickly, but they might fade if not rehearsed</td>
<td>Allows you to recall and use information immediately, like during a test</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th scope="row">FUNCTION</th>
<td>Retains essential knowledge and experiences throughout your life</td>
<td>Holds onto temporary information needed for immediate tasks</td>
<td>Active processing and manipulation; helps with multitasking and managing info in real-time situations</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>We go through three basic steps when we remember ideas or images: we encode, store, and retrieve that information. Encoding is how we first perceive information through our senses, such as when we smell a lovely flower or a putrid trash bin. Both make an impression on our minds through our sense of smell and probably our vision. Our brains encode, or label, this content in short-term memory in case we want to think about it again.
</p>
<p>If the information is important and we have frequent exposure to it, the brain will store it for us in case we need to use it in the future in our aptly named long-term memory. Later, the brain will allow us to recall or retrieve that image, feeling, or information so we can do something with it. This is what we call remembering.
</p>
<p>Working memory is a type of short-term memory, but we use it when we are actively performing a task. In working memory, you have access to whatever information you have stored in your memory that helps you complete the task you are performing.
</p>
<img src="https://k12.openstax.org/contents/raise/resources/da0613e0ec7c3c57125aae2d3c2d4ad6249e7a88" class="os-raise-media-responsive">
<br><br>
<p><strong>Footnotes</strong></p>
<p>2: NCBI. “What are the differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory?” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657600/</p>
</div>
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<button class="os-raise-accordion-header">Studying and Test Taking</button>
<div class="os-raise-accordion-content">
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<p><strong>Questions to Consider:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>How do you prepare yourself and your environment for successful studying?
</li>
<li>What study strategies will be most beneficial to you?
</li>
<li>What are learning preferences and strategies and how can you leverage those to your advantage?
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Preparing to Study
</h4>
<p>Studying is hard work, but you can still learn some techniques to help you be a more effective learner. Two major and interrelated techniques involve avoiding distractions to the best of your ability and creating a study environment that works to help you concentrate.
</p>
<h4>Avoiding Distractions
</h4>
<ul>
<li>Put your phone out of sight—in another room or at least some place where you will not see or hear it vibrate or ring. Just flipping it over is not enough.
</li>
<li>Turn off the television or music (more on that in the next section).
</li>
<li>Unless you are deliberately working with a study group, study somewhere alone if possible, or at least far enough away from others to not hear them talking.
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Study Environment
</h4>
<p>You don’t need an elaborate setting, but you may want to consider including a few effective additions if you have the space:
</p>
<ul>
<li>small bulletin board or notebook for often-used formulas
</li>
<li>encouraging quotes or pictures of your goal
</li>
<li>whiteboard for brainstorming
</li>
<li>sticky notes for reminders in texts and notes
</li>
<li>scratch paper for practice problems
</li>
</ul>
<img src="https://k12.openstax.org/contents/raise/resources/b8c617d3683668ea345f98566dc7668b3b8b765a" class="os-raise-media-responsive">
</div>
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<button class="os-raise-accordion-header">Three Effective Study Strategies</button>
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<p>There are more than three study strategies, but focusing on the most effective strategies will make an enormous difference in how well you will be able to demonstrate learning (also known as “acing your tests”). Below is a brief overview of each of the three strategies.
</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Spacing</strong> — This has to do with when you study. <br>
<em>Hint:</em> Don’t cram; study over a period of days, preferably with “breaks” in between.
<ul>
<li>Research on memory suggests that giving yourself time in between study sessions actually helps you forget the information. And forgetting, which sounds like it would be something you don’t want to do, is actually good for your ability to remember information long-term.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Interleaving</strong>—This has to do with what you study. <br>
<em>Hint:</em> Don’t study just one type of content, topic, chapter, or unit at a time; instead, mix up the content when you study.
<ul>
<li>Interleaving includes revisiting material from a previous chapter or unit or revisiting different types of problems or question sets. The benefit is that your brain is “mixing up” the information, which can sometimes lead to short-term forgetting but can lead to long-term memory and learning.
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>Practice testing</strong></li>—This has to do with how you study. <br>
<em>Hint: </em>Don’t just reread content. You must quiz or test your ability to retrieve the information from your brain.
<ul>
<li>Practice testing is an effective study strategy because it helps you practice retrieving information, which is what you want to be able to do when you are taking the real test.<br>
</li>
<li>One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to someone else, so ask a friend or family member if you can explain something to them, and teach them the lesson. You may find you know more about the subject than you thought or you may realize quickly that you need to do more studying.
</li>
</ul>
</ol>
<h4>10 Steps for Doing Your Best on a Test
</h4>
<img src="https://k12.openstax.org/contents/raise/resources/2e564540eda0dfb95d74e86f40a397777d08b8de" class="os-raise-media-responsive">
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