No.68096
I have been reading many cognitive psychology papers on how to be a better "student". I will share what I have learned and benefited me so far.
1) Create a project.
-Set out a goal
goal ——> higher goal ——> The ultimate goal
Write your goals and step them out to make sure you choose the optimal path to reach your goal. And be as verbose as possible. e.g. instead of writing I will learn French, write I will learn 50 French words.
Also, be honest to yourself. Is your goal achievable? Lofty goals will cause you to lose your motivation.
-Determine the necessary materials.
If you are taking courses in a university etc. necessary materials will be provided to you. But if you are learning by yourself, find the books you think you will need and choose the best 2-3 (from my experience, most popular books usually are the best ones.).
-Determine the time it takes to reach your goal
Again, if you are taking courses, you are on a fixed schedule, write down the starting and ending dates. And fill the time in between with the material you will need to cover
If you are a self-learner use the bottom-up method. Calculate the total time required to finish the project by determining the number of hours you will work each week and the amount of material you need to complete.
-Split the project into weekly tasks
You now know the time required to finish your project. Split it into weekly tasks.
-Set checkpoints between your starting point and your goal and Update the schedule
At the end of every week, assess where you are in the project and test your knowledge. If you are behind or ahead of schedule, adjust the plan for the following weeks accordingly. It's not important if you stay loyal to your plan or not every week, the important thing is that you reach your goal in time by adjusting the project.
I will also write about attention and learning techniques when I have the time.