Study Prof

The heck you say!

No, it’s true, at least according to Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. Of course, you can’t watch just any ol’ television tripe; you’ll need to watch shows with complex plots that force you to pay attention and work a bit to figure out what the heck is happening. Shows such as E.R., Lost, and Flash Forward should fit the bill.

A sparing application of boob-tube therapy may be just what the psychologist ordered. So watch a little TV guilt free.

So there I was, deep in the belly of the library beast, trying to crank out yet another research paper on precolonial MesoAmerican burial practices. But (contrary to what one might expect) that’s a HOOOGE topic. How can I make sure I’ve covered all the bases? I mean, Quetzalcoatl forbid I accidently leave out the ancient Bifstec* practice of cookies-n-cremation.

So before I can start sifting through sources and organizing my notes into topic areas–so as not to miss something as important as cookies-n-cremation–I have to I.D. ALL my topic areas very carefully. I don’t want to read and take notes for day after eyeball-busting (more…)

Taking a prep course is really an ideal first step for most students.  If you’ve never built a house before, it would NOT be smart to go out and start pouring concrete and putting up boards on your own for a couple of months, and only then go talk to an architect/builder to find out exactly how to do things.

You normally start by getting with an architect to plan the building and by talking to a builder who knows something about exactly how to procede with each step of the process.  Taking a prep course is like talking to an experienced builder and architect first.  Although their services can come at a premium, they can help you make sure that none of your time and effort is wasted.  In fact, they will more than pay for themselves!

A GRE prep course can raise a student’s combined score an average of (more…)

If you think that excellent students read everything they are assigned for their college classes, think again. The best students know what material to read thoroughly, what material to skim, and what material to skip altogether. That saves them a lot of time and a lot of mental effort, since they aren’t focusing their attention and studying on materials that won’t be on the test.

Think about readings from the prof’s perspective. In general, it costs a professor very little to assign you a given reading. As they assemble their syllabi, it takes them all of thirty seconds to type “Read War and Peace, by Tolstoy, for the March 2nd class.” Doing the reading, however, will take you days! Assigning it (more…)

It’s never been easier to manage your research resources. Use Zotero to cite, search, and manage all your resources whether their on the internet or on your thumb drive, and it’s free!

My friend, Aliya, listening intently

Don’t you hate it when you’re talking to someone on the phone and you can tell they aren’t really listening? The pauses between your questions and their answers get longer and … longer. They ask questions that you’ve already answered. You know they aren’t paying attention.

Failing to pay close attention in class makes for missed details, frustrated professors, and poor notes. Missed details? What if one of those details is on your next test? You’ll be getting a lower grade. You might even fail! Frustrated professors and teachers–in smaller classes–often notice your lack of attention, just as you notice when your friend-on-the-phone is otherwise occupied. That frustration can make your prof angry and resentful; not the attitude you want them to have when they’re grading your paper. Even in very large classes, professors notice when most people aren’t listening. Often that makes them (more…)

Exercise in many ways optimizes your brain to learn. –Dr. John Ratey

In my personal practice I’ve found it helpful to get up from my studies or work every thirty to forty-five minutes and do some exercise … something to get my blood pumping … something that I can complete in two to five minutes. I use this helpful (free) timer to keep me on track.

I’ve found that my concentration levels remain higher, I’m more productive, and I can work much longer over all. I also don’t end up feeling as tired by the end of the day.

You will, of course, need to identify things that work well for you personally (and, of course, consult a doctor if you have any physical issues). The point is to get your heart rate up a bit.

I personally alternate between these exercises…

• push ups
• sit ups
• brisk walking around the block
• jogging
• jumping jacks
• squats or lunges
• curls (I just use a basic pair of dumbbells I have)
• bench press
• dips (putting my feet on one chair and my hands on two more chairs)
• shadow boxing
• crunches

You can find demos of many/most of these at youtube.

By the way, there is solid research finding a correlation between exercise and better brain functioning.

First–full-disclosure–I teach a GRE prep course and an SAT prep course for Texas A&M University.

Expensive courses can be worth it if you actually get the increases they claim. They could easily make you ten times as much as they cost, in the form of scholarships, fellowships, or better jobs!

What little independent research there is on the effectiveness of such courses shows little or no increase in score for those who buy the prep books (although buying the books is not the same as reading the books). Those who take prep classes show some improvement, and the greatest increases are among those who get personal tutoring. This research was specifically on the SAT, but the two tests are very similar. On the other hand, GRE students tend to be more self-motivated students than SAT students, so they might get better results from the books.

Pricier doesn’t mean better. Most courses teach pretty much the same stuff, because they all read each others books and integrate any new techniques they find. For the price of a classroom course from Kaplan or Princeton you can get live, one-on-one, GRE tutoring via the internet. That link is for my tutoring, but I’m sure there are lots more tutors out there. (more…)

Jeffrey Ellenbogen, a sleep research fellow at Harvard Medical School in Boston, found that those who studied and then slept on it did much better on a test the next day than those who didn’t sleep. In fact, sleepers got an average score 76% correct while the all-night crowd got only 32% correct! Find the full story here.