A colleague sent me a link to a series of videos created by a cognitive psychologist at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

These videos are excellent because they focus on the mental activities necessary to learn something.  Most students equate studying with "looking at something."  This means mindlessly re-reading the textbook or their classroom notes over and over.

Studying really means engaging with and manipulating the content mentally so that new connections are made within the brain.  While there are various ways to do this, the tried and true way is the "grunt" work of self-testing.

Cover up the notes and textbook pages and ask yourself a question about the topic.  Then try to answer it verbally.  Check your answer against your notes.  Did you get it?  No?  Then do it again. And again...  And again...  And again...   until you have perfect recall of the information.  

Then do it all over again with another question.  It's tedious.  It's hard work.  That's studying.

But it can also be rewarding.  With mastery comes achievement and with achievement comes a buoyant feeling.  "I did it!" "I really know this stuff!"

While all of the episodes are valuable, the most significant are Episodes 2, 3, and 4.

How to Get the Most Out of Studying