Forget everything you know about good study habits...

An article in the NY Times that was forwarded to me: Forget Everything You Know About Good Study Habits. <- Link

Some of the things were obvious to me, or learned through experience already, but the article still provided some interesting insights into more effective study methods. I was intrigued about the idea of studying in as many diverse locations as possible, instead of sequestering yourself away into a library or personal cave, because it shocks/excites the brain in a subtle way (esp. if the setting is brand new) and helps you learn better.

One thing I always find interesting is that the most important thing is quality of study rather than quantity, as I know people who study for hours upon hours on end, while I study at most an hour to an hour and a half a night and still achieve high results. I guess it's because I do lots and lots of practise questions and learn from my mistakes, rather than simply writing notes or revising everything. I then look at which questions I get wrong most often, and do a lot of work on those specific questions. It works for me, don't know if it works for others, but sometimes I feel a little guilty that I do fairly little study and achieve more than people who really deserve more based on time and committment.

Originally Posted by Jigsaw

One thing I always find interesting is that the most important thing is quality of study rather than quantity, as I know people who study for hours upon hours on end, while I study at most an hour to an hour and a half a night and still achieve high results. I guess it's because I do lots and lots of practise questions and learn from my mistakes, rather than simply writing notes or revising everything. I then look at which questions I get wrong most often, and do a lot of work on those specific questions. It works for me, don't know if it works for others, but sometimes I feel a little guilty that I do fairly little study and achieve more than people who really deserve more based on time and committment.

Pareto's principle.

My only point of disagreement with the article is that there is a class of learner that does have its own learning style; kinesthetic learners. Verbal and visual anchors are no good alone... must be supplemented with physical motion.