How to Study and Learn (from a TPS class)

The critical element in effective learning is a sequential process of multiple repeated exposures to the information, where each exposure builds on the progress gained from the prior exposure, and the process culminates with the student being prepared to demonstrate capability applying the concepts and skills in an uncoached evaluation.

A well-rounded thorough education in the humanities, maths, and sciences is accessible to everyday students — it is not just the realm of the specially gifted or talented student, nor is it only for those fortunate enough to find the one right teacher. The critical element in effective learning is a sequential process of multiple repeated exposures to the information, where each exposure builds on the progress gained from the prior exposure, and the process culminates with the student being prepared to demonstrate capability applying the concepts and skills in an uncoached evaluation.

Lost Learning Skills

Student learning skills have declined considerably in the past 10-20 years. This is shown consistently across all demographics in the decline of testing scores and in various ongoing studies. It is also a subject of ongoing discussion among parents and educators.

Reasons for the decline in learning skills are complex and manifold, but it is relevant that during this same time span, student time spent in social apps has increased to 3-7 hours per day. Exact times depend on how you define the measurement, but by any measure, social app interactions have become a direct competitor for effective study and learning time.

The goal of any social network app is to maximize exposure to sponsored content with frequent clicking and swiping (revenue is based on number of sponsored views). The content is cleverly curated toward this purpose (using AI algorithms that track individual user responses to learn how to influence individual user behaviors), so in-depth learning through reading, study, or research is discouraged. Real learning is also impossible because social media apps — which also provide students (and most adults) their daily “news” and “factual” information — have no commitment to or interest in factual accuracy. Even for most online “news” sites, the financially-driven goal is to divert user attention toward sponsored content. Simply put, deep reading, serious study, and factual research are all precluded in the social apps that command vast amounts of the time and attention of today’s teen student.

Restoring Learning Skills

While teaching is the responsibility of the teacher, learning is the responsibility of the student. This is especially true in a university-model course (i.e., 1-2 class sessions per week to guide and enhance a framework of self-study), which is how college courses, homeschool courses, and online courses are designed.

Effective learning requires a deliberate sequence of learning exposures, practices, evaluations, and feedback. It is a common misconception to assume that a student should be able to learn, process, and retain all he needs to know by being taught once. This misconception places an unrealistic burden on the student and the teacher, often leading to quitting and failure (with added baggage of insecurity, anxiety, and a diminished sense of individual potential).

Exposure, Practice, Evaluation, Feedback

The following steps are a general outline for effective study and learning that can be adapted to any course of study, including TPS courses, college courses, or asynchronous courses. TPS courses are carefully designed to maximize this traditional proven approach to learning.

Exposure 1: Read and study the text or source.

The text may be the classic novel, the math textbook chapter, the science text, the social studies source document, or any other written work that requires thoughtful reading and study.

The goal of this initial exposure is not mastery of the material (i.e., it is not expected that the student will thoroughly learn the material in this first exposure, and it is expected the student will have areas of question or uncertainty). This initial exposure is to get an overview of the material and to identify areas that will require further study to gain understanding.

It is important to do this self-study before the live teaching session because these areas requiring better understanding should be noted as questions to be brought into the live teaching session that covers the highlights or difficult areas of this content.

This initial self-study exposure is the step most often skipped by students. Students routinely report that they skip reading the text or source documents to save time and effort, with the intent of learning primarily from the lecture and then filling in the gaps from online material (study guide sites, study question sites, video sites, etc.) However, these shortcuts mean the student never actually studies and learns the core or source material, which severely inhibits overall learning and retention (and places unrealistic expectations on the student and teacher during the 1-2 days per week live teaching).

Exposure 2: Participate in the live class lecture and discussion (or view recording).

In a university-style course, the 1-2 live class sessions each week will be used to emphasize the content highlights and dwell on areas of complexity or difficulty where students are likely to need more explanation and exposure.

This provides a valuable second exposure to the content of that week or topic. A live class also provides opportunity for the student to ask the questions noted during the first exposure if they are not already covered in the planned teaching session.

In a university-style course, the live class (or recording) is not an ideal first exposure. Unless the course is stripped of important content, it is impossible to entirely teach the week’s content in 1-2 class sessions. Therefore, the live sessions in a thorough course must assume that the student has some prior overview exposure, and then tailor the live class content to maximize that prior exposure by emphasizing high points and further explaining difficult or complex content.

Exposure 3: Study questions and practice problems

Following the first two exposures, the most effective way to approach practice questions or problem sets is to first get as far as you can on each question or problem without referencing the text, then to use the text to prompt, reinforce, or remediate the areas not yet learned from the first two exposures. This approach simultaneously strengthens knowledge and retention, while also checking progress.

Most students report that they do their “homework” as their second exposure after the in-class lecture. Since it is their first time using the text or source, they spend most of their time looking up answers (which are often more copied rather than actually worked out). While this is somewhat beneficial, it is not nearly as effective as if the “homework” is the third exposure and the second time in the text or source, where the text or source are used to complete a question or problem as needed rather than copied start to finish.

Exposure 4: Exam study or written essay analysis

Preparing for a closed-book no-notes exam is the final step in the process of multiple exposures and practices. This fourth exposure addresses any remaining weak areas and solidifies retention. It also provides the student confidence that he has sufficient grasp of the concepts and information to move forward in the course and to follow-on courses. In our experience with readiness testing incoming students, students coming from courses that don’t utilize comprehensive closed-book no-notes testing usually have poor retention and inadequate mastery of the prior material.

Summary

The critical element in effective learning is a sequential process of multiple repeated exposures to the information, where each exposure builds on the progress gained from the prior exposure, and the process culminates with the student being prepared to demonstrate capability applying the concepts and skills in an uncoached evaluation.

Students today often try to shortcut the process in two costly ways: (1) skipping the crucial first step of self-study of the novel, the math textbook chapter, the science text, the social studies source document, or any other written work that requires thoughtful reading and study; (2) doing the assignments by looking up and copying answers rather than first working out answers without the references, then using the source references to complete or correct their worked out answer.

However, if the traditional study process is used diligently start to finish without shortcuts, a successful well-rounded thorough education in the humanities, maths, and sciences is attainable for everyday students who are willing to study their texts and source references (rather than their apps and online shortcuts).