To Be a Good Graduate Student. Conquer Complicated Material with the Mini-Textbook Method. June 23rd, 2008 · 9 comments Complicated Concepts A reader recently asked me for some study advice. He was facing an exam in a course with unusually complicated material. The concepts were numerous, and tricky to understand, and connected to each other in non-obvious ways.
It was clear that there was too much information to be efficiently handled by standard quiz-and-recall, so I referred him to my favorite under-appreciated study technique: the focused cluster method. This was still, however, not enough. Fortunately, I had another technique to suggest — an approach I call the Mini-Textbook Method. It works as follows… The Mini-Textbook Method When faced with a course with large volumes of complicated material, reduce your notes to a collection of textbook-style chapters. Your goal should be to reduce and synthesize. Things you might include in the sample chapter: The next step of the process is to construct a chapter prompt sheet for each of these chapters. Why This Works Use With Discretion. How to Use a Flat Outline to Write Outstanding Papers, Fast. November 5th, 2007 · 27 comments The Outline Orthodoxy For decades, students have been held captive by a rigid paper outline orthodoxy.
It is first ingrained in elementary school and then reinforced, year after year, until college graduation. Visit the web site for your school’s academic skills department and you’ll find some variation on the following advice: The basic format for an outline should use an alternating series of numbers and letters, indented accordingly, to indicate levels of importance. This leads to examples such as: Rothko Chapel in HoustonArchitecture Letter to Philip Johnson proposing ideaThe three concepts suggested in first conversation …and so on.
Here’s the rub: this format is nonsense! I want to show you a better way… Introducing the Topic Forget hierarchies. “Letter to Philip Johnson suggesting chapel idea” is too specific to be a topic. Topics are what you’ll capture with our outlining process. Step 1: The Topic Skeleton Step 2: Fill In Research Gaps In Summary. The Notebook Method: How Pen and Paper Can Transform You Into a Star Student. March 20th, 2009 · 35 comments From Good to Great Unlike many hacks you read here, the strategy I want to describe today is not designed to reduce your study time (though I don’t think it will add much to your schedule either). Instead, its purpose is to help you transform from a good student into an exceptional student. It starts with the simplest possible tools…pen and paper. The Notebook Method This method applies to the following academic situations, among others… Writing an essay or paper.Working on a problem set or technical take home exam.Tackling a difficult book or reading assignment.Designing a project for a computer science or engineering class.
The idea is simple… Buy a sturdy college-ruled notebook dedicated to the relevant class. For example, here is a snapshot from a page of my PhD thesis notebook: Preceding this summary page in the notebook is another few pages of rougher notes, also from today, on which I was trying to work through the tricky details of these same ideas. 20 Websites (Also) Specifically Designed for College Students. We've scoured the Internet to find some of the best websites for college students. Here are 20 more that focus on college life and academic productivity. General Advice 1. CampusGrotto - Known as the 'inside source' for college students, CampusGrotto is a national College News site that focuses on college life.
Some of the topics covered include: student finances, college scholarships, career advice and studying. 2. CollegeTips - Featuring real tips from college students, CollegeTips.com provides advice that can't be found in college packets. 3. 4. 5. Lifehacks 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Straight-Out Blogs 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Just for Fun 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. Adventure Studying: An Unconventional New Approach to Exam Preperation. May 2nd, 2008 · 29 comments Exam advice week here at Study Hacks is winding down. So sad! Next week it’s back to the normal mix… An Inspiring Space Two days ago, I spent an afternoon roaming Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, which, in its new building, is situated right on the harbor. The full effect is hard to describe. My first thought: this would be a damn good place to work on a paper. You Can’t Do That! For many students, this thought reeks of heresy.
Here’s my question: does it have to be like this? Beyond the Ordinary At Dartmouth, I frequently sought ways to challenge this conventional wisdom. Introducing Adventure Studying I call this tactic: adventure studying. My Challenge to You I’m embarrassed, however, that as an undergraduate I didn’t have the confidence to push adventure studying as far as I should have. Ignore ingrained student traditions of camping out in libraries and study lounges. Some examples of adventure studying possibilities: The Golden Rule of Study Advice. 100 Free Online Ivy League Courses You Should Take Just for Fun | AdvantageEDU. By Alisa Miller Even those without top notch grades can now go to Ivy League schools. With the the availability of open courseware classes coming out of some of the finest schools in America, the range of subjects is astounding. If you have ever wondered about the beginnings of Hip Hop, wanted to learn a new language, would like to create a film for social change, or are interested in learning about robotics while playing with Legos, then these courses are right up your alley.
All you need to do is click on any one of these courses below to have access to free, online education. Health and Nutrition From an aging population to autism to creating chemistry in the kitchen, these < ahref=" courses provide interesting perspectives on health and nutrition issues. Health Across the Lifespan: Frameworks, Contexts, and Measurements. Fine Arts From the art of color to theater to music, these courses will expand your knowledge while learning something fun. Sticky Habit-Building: 5 Minutes for 5 Days — Who’s With Me? (with Template) — Life After College by Jenny Blake. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” ―Jim Ryun You might know the phrase, “we are creatures of habit,” but did you know that 95% of our behavior occurs out of habit, either unconsciously or in reaction to our outside circumstances?
(Schwartz, 2011) Oftentimes we want to make a change in our lives or learn a new skill, but we get overwhelmed by the effort and scope of change needed to actually do it. As I mentioned in my earlier post about reaching a Habit Fork in the Road, willpower is a finite resource and intentional changes or skill-building take work, practice and commitment, with tracking and accountability as major bonuses. Did you also know that: The number one mistake people make is not going tiny enough, according to social scientist B.J Fogg, creator of the Tiny Habits method.Conventional wisdom says we need 21 days to lock in a new behavior.
They say practice makes perfect, but I wasn’t making any time for intentional practice. Never Take Books Out of the Library. Defense Mechanisms. 5 Ways to Give Yourself an Education That Kicks the Crap Out of the One You Got in School. 5 Ways to Give Yourself an Education That Kicks the Crap Out of the One You Got in School One of the biggest reasons that people are denied the privilege of education is because they can’t afford it. However, today we live in a world where knowledge and information are at our finger tips like never before. Technology has leveled the playing field so that anybody with an interest and an internet connection can receive a world class education. Bloggers, podcasters, search engines and digital content creators of all types of have made it possible for us to learn virtually anything we want to even if we don’t have the money.
If you want to learn anything chances are there is somebody creating content about the subject and sharing it with the world at no cost. Self Motivation is Not Optional Taking this kind of approach to educating yourself requires an extremely high degree of self motivation. 1. 2. Want to learn how to get in shape? 3. 4. 5. Education as we know it is changing rapidly. Sociological Images » Seeing is Believing. How to Become A Genius: Insights & Exercises for Learning How to Innovate. It’s a common belief that geniuses are born, not made. That they’re a rare breed. One — or two — in a million.
Seriously, how often do geniuses like Albert Einstein and Marie Curie come along? But, in actuality, behind the magic and aha moments, there are specific cognitive processes at work – processes that both you and I can learn. In her book Genius Unmasked, Roberta B. For instance, geniuses ask the right questions, such as questions built on past theories and big questions like “what is the nature of matter?”
Geniuses also try on different points of view. They recombine and reorganize. Frame Shifting According to Ness, frame shifting is probably the most powerful tool. Stanley Milgram’s infamous obedience experiments shattered our views of humanity. Observation Again, geniuses are expert observers. We also bring expectations and assumptions to observations, which can sabotage our ability to see what’s actually there. Exercises to Try Practice contour drawing. Shift your frames. Litemind.
Documentaries/lectures. Science. Infographic of the Day: Is College Really Worth It? Is going to college really worth it? Probably so, but it's not that clear cut, and economics have been arguing the point for 30 years. Most studies tend to show that college-educated people end up making far more money in the course of their lifetimes. (The niggle: Usually, it's not worth paying for a private university.)
Still, that evidence isn't totally cut and dry: What do you really learn in college? Is what you learned in college really what's producing the value? Or is it simply the mere fact of having a college degree? Or maybe there's something more subtle going on--that is, people who go to college tend to be more motivated or hard-working and would have ended up succeeding whatever they did? This graph makes a couple points in that debate: 1. But who in their right mind wouldn't recommend a college degree?
[View more Infographics of the Day] Websites for Educators. Welcome to Discovery Education.
Psycology. The Shadow Scholar - The Chronicle Review. History. Crime. Wikipedia articles.