Increasing Retention without Increasing Study Time - Essay Example

Good Study habits Increasing retention without increasing study time Over learning is defined by scholars are the continuation of a study immediately or shortly after a student has achieved error-free performance. Individuals are estimated to spend at least 12 years of their life trying to gain experience. According to Roche and Pashiler who are professors in psychological science, there is a worldwide believe that over training is a good way to increase long term retention of things that a person studies, thus common in schools. Devotedly, a learner may decide to have an uninterrupted period learning some skills or a material, it is true that over learning increases performance for a short, though, the benefit sharply diminishes over time. The knowledge and wisdom of providing continued practice on material immediately after the error-free performance can be achieved through increased performance in research (Rohrer, pp 1209-1224). Over learning may lead to improvement in recalling information, however, study reveals that the information acquired using over training is subject to disappear after a short period. Additionally for those students who have no desire to seek long-term retention, they may take over learning as an alternative that according to researcher can be effective. However, there are situations in which the error or delayed response may have terrible consequences this situation mainly includes; emergencies routines, which are performed by pilots, nurses, fire fighters and even soldiers here over learning are highly recommended (Rohrer, pp 1209-1224). It is apparent that the distribution of study time affects learning in a broader way, so instead of spending ones time over learning learners should create space within their study material which may be across weeks or even months. However, there is no specific time that learners should create for spacing hence achieves high retention of their study materials. Connectively, retention interval is always measured from the second session where research shows that if the study time is spaced rather than messed up there shall be better retention on the learner. Additionally making small spacing leads to inferior performance in recalling study material than when a learner makes the spacing study more excessively large. A study conducted on an elementary school indicated that a teacher who exposes students to new vocabulary words to children each week, the students were prone to forgetting many of the vocabulary. However, when the teacher stretched the vocabularies across many months, the retention rate was much higher. This is also evident in a foreign language learning programs, due to short time allocation and also the amount of information that the students are given the information that the students gain from the programs ends up being extremely short lived. Though the superiority of spacing over a missing is well identified through research, there is still no known time of how far apart the study session should be spaced in the aim of optimizing a long-term retention (Grohol, 1-4). Since mathematics is not a subject that depends much on the theory, the course should be more of practical than theory where students are exposed to more practices in the subject, the ability to solve problems continually gives the student more retention experience since it provides them with experience of solving any problem that they may be given. The end of chapter problems can also be used for self assessments; these problems have suggested solutions at the back of the book where a student may use them to gauge themselves on retention experience. Researcher carried out different experiments, which were aimed to get an estimated recommended time spacing to reduce over learning, first they observed whether varying the ISI while keeping RI fixed. Shuffling of topics from a different topic at the end of topic helps the students to get the exposure from different topic also keeping other topics relevant that also acts as a reminder hence high retention. Appropriate method is also learns where the learner identifies the problem and makes mental method of how to solve to solve the problem (Grohol, 1-4). Students were then allocated a pair where they were supposed to study French-English words in two the ISI ranged from 5 minutes to 14 days while RI was 10 days ISI had a large effect on test scores with a 1-day ISI yielding the best recall among the students. It was found out that the optimal ISI varies with RI where optimal ISI lying at a value of roughly ten to thirty percent of the RI. There exist good studying habits that learners should emulate first the learner should have a positive mindset where they should ensure that there are no distracters like an upcoming game, or an important activity. This can be done through having a positive thinking aim that reminds someone of their ability and abilities, avoidance of catastrophic thinking and make sure that one does not compare themselves with others. A conducive studying environment which is free from disturbance, also take only the necessities of the study to the study area and avoid carrying extra things that might act as distracters. During the study, material like a mobile phone which is always tempting during the study should be switched of and leave a message that indicate that you are studying. According to psychologists, to reduce over learning a learner should take alternative different study topics rather than cramming on a specific topic which makes the brain to be left in a deeper impression on the topic. During the study one should take short breaks and revisit these study materials in intervals to remind themselves of a forgotten piece of element (Roediger, 181-213). Researchers also emphasized the benefit of studying with friends during a study conducted on Jacobs’s school of engineering at the University of San Diego. The study also revealed that students are more willing and able to share information in complex ways that form information cascades. These are mechanism that conveys information from one source to multiple sources also some students understand more in group discussions. When studying alone and during the study the learners encounters difficulties, the learner should call a friend for help since two heads are better than one additionally planning the study timetable where the learner mixes different subjects within the timetable, this makes the learner stay focused and allocate time for their study among other daily activities. The timetable should be set in a way that those subjects they perceive difficult should come first when the mind is fresh break time should be allowed in between subjects to ensure high retention of the study materials (Rohrer, pp 1209-1224). To enhance memory psychologist suggest the use of mnemonic devices that are used for remembering pieces of information using simple association of common words. The time table should be a made in a way that it is conducive to allow time for realization and resting. This allows one takes some time away from studies a learner can use a string of words that form a nonsense sentence that is easy to remember where the first letter may be used to stand for a different word (Viren, pp 3-13). Class attention should be of paramount important where the learner should ensure that they never miss a class. In an event, they miss a class they should find and consult with others to find out what they did inn their absence. Also taking to the instructor of the course in case the learner gets a bad grade this enable them to know what they are expected to do, course expectations and also the teacher’s expectations and how to develop for the next examination. A learner should always remember that they should always be studying (Fleming, pp 2-5). According to a study, there are significant ways by which can apply in my personal study to be able to improve my studies. First is to have a positive attitude of studying, where take the studies as part of life. Ensuring that I am up to date with the class work this can be done through talking to the course instructor to familiarize myself with the course expectation as well as the professor’s expectation that may be different. An early start in studying will also place me on advantageous ground since I shall be understanding the course as it progresses hence it will not give me any difficulty at the long run. Making a timetable that shall act as my personal schedule on studying activities, and also get involved in co curriculum activities that shall act as my breaks to reduce over learning also start a group discussion with my course mates whom we are in the same class. With the application of the above measure, I am set to improve my study habits and hence my performance. WORK CITED Grohol, J. 10 Highly Effective Study Habits. Psych Central. Retrieved on March 16, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/top-10-most-effective-study-habits/000599V 2006 Roediger, H.L., & Karpicke, J.D. The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice. Perspectives on Psychological Science,1, 181–210.2006 print. Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. The effects of overlearning and dis-tributed practice on the retention of mathematics knowledge. Applied Cognitive Psychology,20, 1209–1224. 2006 print Rohrer, D., & Taylor, K. Increasing Retention without Increasing Study Time. University of South Florida. 2010, 1209-1224. Print Viren T, Sondra C. And Freckety H. How to Develop Good Study Habits for College. 2009, 3-13. Web, retrieved on March 17, 2014 http://www.psych.umn.edu/sentience/files/VanNote_2009.pdf Fleming G, 10 great study habits retrieved from http://homeworktips.about.com/od/studymethods/tp/studyhabits.htm on 16th march 2014 2010 print Read More