Study/Learning Skills for Medical Students
Cut Text Books
I would take my textbooks to Kinko’s after I had removed the front and back covers. I would have them cut the binding and punch three holes in the sheets so that I could place the pages in a three-ringed binder. I would remove only the pages that pertained to what I was studying for a particular lecture or week and place them in a separate (small binder) that was divided by subject. I would leave the rest of my textbook at home. My small 3-ring binder would have each subject for the day, the pages of text and the appropriate syllabus pages. I would preview each lecture the night before and add what I thought I would need for the day.
Time Your Study
My attention span is about 50 minutes so I would set a kitchen timer for 50 minutes. I would study my notes for that 50 minutes and take a 10-minute break. On my break, I would get a drink, move around, get a breath of fresh air but I would do anything except continue to sit and look at a page of notes. When I returned from my break, my mind would be ready to focus.
Videos
Active Studying
Body Building for the Brain
UNC Chapel Hill Learning Center Handouts
Other Sources:
Reinforcement Techniques
These are study skills designed to facilitate learning and to store the learned material in long term memory banks. Frequent repetition is an example of a reinforcement technique. Other examples are using new information to solve problems or to answer questions, and the "see one, do one, teach one" technique used to teach clinical skills. In the basic sciences frequent repetition and using the information to solve problems or to answer questions are the most effective techniques. A sequence of reinforcement might look like this:
· The evening before a class survey the subject material to be covered the next day. Skim the text or syllabus. Major topics, subheadings, and the first sentence of paragraphs might be read. Charts and graphs are quickly scanned and the captions are read. Major topics and concepts are quickly listed in the notebook used for lecture notes. The skimming and major topics list should be done in 30 minutes. The list will form "advance organizers" that will serve as categories or concepts around which other information can be learned and organized. Also take about 15 minutes to look back over the work that you did after the preceding class session.
· Attend to the lecture next day by adding information as subtopics under the list of advance organizers. The structure of each of the major concepts will begin to form as you carry out this task. Do not try to write down everything. Most faculty present a syllabus, handout, or reading assignment that will contain the details needed to understand the topic under discussion. Take 3-4 minutes to read through your notes immediately after the lecture.
· That evening read your notes again and either begin to work out the content of the instructor's learning objectives or write out three or four questions that you will answer during that evenings study period. Again, move quickly, using the objectives or questions to guide your study. Return to step 1 the evening prior to the next scheduled class in each subject.
· The weekend will play an important role in this reinforcement scheme. Study time during the weekend might be used to go back over the weeks work, tie up loose ends, and to organize the weeks work so that it can be easily reviewed prior to an examination.
Taking notes from Lectures
It is very helpful to "skim" the material to be covered before the lecture, and to provide a list of advance organizers so that you can relate what the lecturer says to what you already know. Active listening is an important skill that will help you get maximum learning gain from a lecture. To listen actively, listen for the signals the lecturer uses to stress important information. There are seven common signals used by most lecturers to signal important information:
Introduction of a topic: For example "next, I am going to discuss..."
Words that stress importance: For example "It is important to know that ...", "You should remember that ...", "The next exam will cover ...".
Definitions: "The term adductor means ...", "Atrophy is a process that ...".
Identification of a list or series of steps: "The stages in the process of wound healing are ...", "Damage to the ulnar nerve will cause the following list of problems...".
Writing on the blackboard, speaking slowly and louder, body language.
Showing a graphic or drawing on the blackboard.
Summarizing or restating important points.
Group Study or Peer Teaching
One of the most powerful ways to learn is to teach other students about a subject. One of the most efficient ways of completing the work of the medical curriculum is to organize a committed group of three or four students that will study, teach, and learn together.
http://medicine.utah.edu/learningresources/
Learning objectives
It is important to determine what it is you want to or need to learn. Not everything is of equal importance. Objectives help focus on the more important information. In most cases objectives are provided by teachers. Some textbooks contain learning objectives. Other times learning objectives may not be explicit, and you will need to determine what is important to learn. Some suggestions on how this might be done are:
1. Pay close attention to the instructor's lectures, handouts, and other learning material supplied by the instructor. Frequently instructors structure their lectures and handout materials much like a textbook with heading and subheadings that will tell you what is important.
2. After you identify a topic or concept that is important, ask a series of questions about the topic or concept, that, when fully answered, will provide essential information necessary to understand the topic or concept.
Bloom's Taxonomy and Learning Objectives
Concept mapping
Humans learn new information best by integrating the new information into an existing knowledge base. This is called meaningful learning as contrasted to rote learning. Rote learning doesn't hang around the brain very long. Concept mapping utilizes this knowledge about learning by providing a technique by which interrelationships can be mapped or charted. It taps into a learner's cognitive structure and externalizes what the learner already knows while depicting relevant concepts and relationships the learner is currently learning. A meaningful map will integrate the new knowledge with the previous knowledge.
Highlighting and attaching questions
Many students use highlighting or underlining techniques to emphasize information that they believe to be important. We have seen 900 page textbooks and complete syllabuses colored yellow or pink from cover to cover. In other words, highlighters have difficulty discerning degrees of importance in the text of a book, lecture notes, handouts or a syllabus. A process for increasing the efficacy of highlighting as a study skill/learning tactic is to attach questions to the highlighted text material. When a passage of text is highlighted, ask what question does the highlighted text answer, and write that question in the margin of you notes or textbook.
http://www.kumc.edu/som/medsos/ss.html
I would take my textbooks to Kinko’s after I had removed the front and back covers. I would have them cut the binding and punch three holes in the sheets so that I could place the pages in a three-ringed binder. I would remove only the pages that pertained to what I was studying for a particular lecture or week and place them in a separate (small binder) that was divided by subject. I would leave the rest of my textbook at home. My small 3-ring binder would have each subject for the day, the pages of text and the appropriate syllabus pages. I would preview each lecture the night before and add what I thought I would need for the day.
Time Your Study
My attention span is about 50 minutes so I would set a kitchen timer for 50 minutes. I would study my notes for that 50 minutes and take a 10-minute break. On my break, I would get a drink, move around, get a breath of fresh air but I would do anything except continue to sit and look at a page of notes. When I returned from my break, my mind would be ready to focus.
Videos
Active Studying
Body Building for the Brain
UNC Chapel Hill Learning Center Handouts
Other Sources:
Reinforcement Techniques
These are study skills designed to facilitate learning and to store the learned material in long term memory banks. Frequent repetition is an example of a reinforcement technique. Other examples are using new information to solve problems or to answer questions, and the "see one, do one, teach one" technique used to teach clinical skills. In the basic sciences frequent repetition and using the information to solve problems or to answer questions are the most effective techniques. A sequence of reinforcement might look like this:
· The evening before a class survey the subject material to be covered the next day. Skim the text or syllabus. Major topics, subheadings, and the first sentence of paragraphs might be read. Charts and graphs are quickly scanned and the captions are read. Major topics and concepts are quickly listed in the notebook used for lecture notes. The skimming and major topics list should be done in 30 minutes. The list will form "advance organizers" that will serve as categories or concepts around which other information can be learned and organized. Also take about 15 minutes to look back over the work that you did after the preceding class session.
· Attend to the lecture next day by adding information as subtopics under the list of advance organizers. The structure of each of the major concepts will begin to form as you carry out this task. Do not try to write down everything. Most faculty present a syllabus, handout, or reading assignment that will contain the details needed to understand the topic under discussion. Take 3-4 minutes to read through your notes immediately after the lecture.
· That evening read your notes again and either begin to work out the content of the instructor's learning objectives or write out three or four questions that you will answer during that evenings study period. Again, move quickly, using the objectives or questions to guide your study. Return to step 1 the evening prior to the next scheduled class in each subject.
· The weekend will play an important role in this reinforcement scheme. Study time during the weekend might be used to go back over the weeks work, tie up loose ends, and to organize the weeks work so that it can be easily reviewed prior to an examination.
Taking notes from Lectures
It is very helpful to "skim" the material to be covered before the lecture, and to provide a list of advance organizers so that you can relate what the lecturer says to what you already know. Active listening is an important skill that will help you get maximum learning gain from a lecture. To listen actively, listen for the signals the lecturer uses to stress important information. There are seven common signals used by most lecturers to signal important information:
Introduction of a topic: For example "next, I am going to discuss..."
Words that stress importance: For example "It is important to know that ...", "You should remember that ...", "The next exam will cover ...".
Definitions: "The term adductor means ...", "Atrophy is a process that ...".
Identification of a list or series of steps: "The stages in the process of wound healing are ...", "Damage to the ulnar nerve will cause the following list of problems...".
Writing on the blackboard, speaking slowly and louder, body language.
Showing a graphic or drawing on the blackboard.
Summarizing or restating important points.
Group Study or Peer Teaching
One of the most powerful ways to learn is to teach other students about a subject. One of the most efficient ways of completing the work of the medical curriculum is to organize a committed group of three or four students that will study, teach, and learn together.
http://medicine.utah.edu/learningresources/
Learning objectives
It is important to determine what it is you want to or need to learn. Not everything is of equal importance. Objectives help focus on the more important information. In most cases objectives are provided by teachers. Some textbooks contain learning objectives. Other times learning objectives may not be explicit, and you will need to determine what is important to learn. Some suggestions on how this might be done are:
1. Pay close attention to the instructor's lectures, handouts, and other learning material supplied by the instructor. Frequently instructors structure their lectures and handout materials much like a textbook with heading and subheadings that will tell you what is important.
2. After you identify a topic or concept that is important, ask a series of questions about the topic or concept, that, when fully answered, will provide essential information necessary to understand the topic or concept.
Bloom's Taxonomy and Learning Objectives
Concept mapping
Humans learn new information best by integrating the new information into an existing knowledge base. This is called meaningful learning as contrasted to rote learning. Rote learning doesn't hang around the brain very long. Concept mapping utilizes this knowledge about learning by providing a technique by which interrelationships can be mapped or charted. It taps into a learner's cognitive structure and externalizes what the learner already knows while depicting relevant concepts and relationships the learner is currently learning. A meaningful map will integrate the new knowledge with the previous knowledge.
Highlighting and attaching questions
Many students use highlighting or underlining techniques to emphasize information that they believe to be important. We have seen 900 page textbooks and complete syllabuses colored yellow or pink from cover to cover. In other words, highlighters have difficulty discerning degrees of importance in the text of a book, lecture notes, handouts or a syllabus. A process for increasing the efficacy of highlighting as a study skill/learning tactic is to attach questions to the highlighted text material. When a passage of text is highlighted, ask what question does the highlighted text answer, and write that question in the margin of you notes or textbook.
http://www.kumc.edu/som/medsos/ss.html
