Difference between revisions of "Vary where you study."

From Diversifying Economic Quality: A Wiki for Instructors and Departments

Jump to: navigation, search
Line 1: Line 1:
Studying in different environments has been shown to improve material retention. Often times instructors promote studying in a specific place, such as a quite room in the library; advice which is not necessarily beneficial. By studying in the same location time and time again, the environment can provide cues which a student can use subconsciously to recall information. In other words, when it comes to test time, a student may not be able to recall information as efficiently because aspects of the quiet room in the library are not present in the classroom. Therefore, it is important to vary the study environment  because by eliminating this reliance on the same external cues, students are forced to retrieve the same information in different contexts--this means they learn the information better because they can easily recall it in different situations without the reliance of external cues.  Incorporating this tip is easy:  encourage your students to study in different locations every night.
+
Studying in different environments has been shown to improve material retention. Often times instructors promote studying in a specific place, such as a quite room in the library; advice which is not necessarily beneficial. By studying in the same location time and time again, the environment can provide cues which a student can use subconsciously to recall information. In other words, when it comes to test time, a student may not be able to recall information as efficiently because aspects of the quiet room in the library are not present in the classroom. Therefore, it is important to study in various environments because by eliminating the reliance on the same external cues, students are forced to retrieve the same information in different contexts, and in turn truly learn the material.   
   
 
  
 
Sources:
 
Sources:

Revision as of 20:11, 14 September 2011

Studying in different environments has been shown to improve material retention. Often times instructors promote studying in a specific place, such as a quite room in the library; advice which is not necessarily beneficial. By studying in the same location time and time again, the environment can provide cues which a student can use subconsciously to recall information. In other words, when it comes to test time, a student may not be able to recall information as efficiently because aspects of the quiet room in the library are not present in the classroom. Therefore, it is important to study in various environments because by eliminating the reliance on the same external cues, students are forced to retrieve the same information in different contexts, and in turn truly learn the material.

Sources:

Carey, Benedict. "Research Upends Traditional Thinking on Study Habits - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 06 Sept. 2010. Web. 20 June 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html>. Click here to read the article.

McEachern, William A. "THE TEACHING ECONOMIST." The Teaching Economist. Cengage Learning, 2008. Web. 10 June 2011. <http://www.cengage.com/economics/mceachern/theteachingeconomist/issue_34/index.html>. Click here to read the article.