Triggering Neurons

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but the way you learn something is not by forming new physical connections in the brain. Learning is done by reinforcing connections that are already there. Reinforcement happens when you associate one thing with another, and the brain fires "electric currents" through those neurons. So every time you think of something, you reinforce it. That makes perfect sense when you actually think about how people learn -- they usually have to go over things many times. Anyway, here is an interesting article on when happens to the surrounding neurons when you activate one. Keeping Up With The Neurons Surprisingly, those surrounding guys fire too. This goes to show you that it is a good thing to warm up or get in the mood to do something before starting to do it. You will learn better when you get the neurons associated with it fired up first. Also, every time you think about something, you are helping yourself in the learning process. So don't completely take breaks over school breaks -- it will be a horrible waste. Do something fun, but make sure you take some time to think or do something fun relating to your subject.

A Common Problem

One thing I notice quite frequently in students is that they are unwilling to put significant individual effort into problems. When solution manuals are available, my suggestion is to not even get one. The act of checking answers and discussing discrepancies with another human leads to much greater insight and understanding of the subject matter than checking the answer in a book. If you must get a solution manual, seriously attempt problems before looking at the answer. I have a feeling that many people learn some things well enough to pass a test when they study or do homework with the solution manual open right in front of them, but they do not pick up any new skills or retain the information. The act of putting the mental strain on a certain type of problem helps it stick in your memory, plus if you do solve it on your own, you are learning crucial problem solving skills. What happens in the future when you must solve problems that do not have a predefined answer? You must rely on the problem solving skills you have trained yourself in. I do admit needing help on problems though. I know this is inevitable in everyone's college career and in life, but whatever trick or technique is necessary to solve your problem you will remember much better in the future after having struggled with it. Don't fall for the temptation to save some time now because it will inevitably cause much greater wasted time in the future.

Notice, I am not saying feedback is unimportant. In fact, it is quite important, and I will get into that at a later date. I'm only saying that there is a lot to learn in the struggle. To support this, I will cite Eliot Hutchinson in his book "How to Think Creatively." He states that once you reach that stage of frustration where you've tried everything you know, just stop. Do something else, take a break, do another problem, anything to get your mind off of it. When you return to the problem, your subconscious will have continued working, and this is when you achieve "creative insight." There are countless stories throughout history of Nobel Prize winners and such who claim this is precisely how they came up with their big idea that brought them fame. Looking at the solution manual during this stage of frustration would thus stifle this creative process and you are no longer learning how to do this. You are in fact teaching yourself how not to think creatively. And thinking creatively is necessary in even the most rigorous and strict disciplines.

Order Matters

When studying, it has been shown that you will retain what you start with and what you end with much better than the stuff in the middle. So, practice in a random order. I say practice because, what if you are learning how to play an instrument? If you always start with the same scales, you will certainly learn the first scale better than the rest. You will also learn scales better than whatever else you practice, since you begin to fatigue after a some amount of practice. Rotate the order in which you practice things, and you will learn the material rather than the order the material is presented. The same goes for subjects in school and for problems within the subjects.

Time Allocation

The biggest secret of all is how to allocate your time. It's not actually a secret, but not very many people use this technique. This is well studied, and the results come out the way they do for many different reasons. Let me just emphasize here that this one thing will greatly increase your efficiency of learning and retention.

First, let me explain. Study in small chunks spaced far apart. The best way to understand what this means and why it works is to exaggerate an example. Suppose you studied something 5 times in one minute. This is like studying only once. The extra 4 times do not add much, if anything, in the course of a day or week or month. If those 5 times were spaced throughout the day, it would be like seeing it fresh 5 times, and becoming reacquainted with it 5 times.

At first, this seems like it would require spending more time studying and working rather than less, but the truth is that it actually saves a lot of time! Not only do you learn faster, but you will retain it a lot longer. The same is true for practicing some skill. You will acquire the skill much faster if you spend an hour in the morning, an hour in the day, and an hour in the night rather than a 3 hour block in the day. In fact, after a certain point, you are almost just wasting your time. You have less focus, you are tired, you've been seeing the same thing over and over again, etc. Doing something else for a couple of hours will refresh your desire, energy, and focus for that one particular thing you were doing. And we'll soon learn that any mistakes you make are being learned, and they are only countering your efforts.

New habits are incredibly hard to form, and this one seems to be unusually resistant for people. There is something about needing to spend multiple times a day doing something that gives people a mental block. Do the research if you have to convince yourself it is worth it; this topic is usually classified as "spaced vs. massed practice."