How to Ace Your Worst School Subject
Ask yourself challenging questions., Restate material in your own words., Break your study sessions up., Switch off between the difficult subject and other subjects., Change locations., Practice, practice, practice., Leave time to revisit your work.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Ask yourself challenging questions.
Struggling to retrieve information, even if you think you don’t know the answer, actually helps you to develop your power of recall.When reading a textbook, turn first to the questions as the end of the chapter and try to answer them.
Then, answer them again to yourself as you are reading.
A few days later, return to the questions one more time to test your recollection of the material.
Before searching for an answer on the internet, pause and try to generate an answer for yourself.
When you sit down to study, ask yourself: what have we learned about this week? What are the big ideas that I’m supposed to learn? Refresh your mind before you even open a book or notebook. -
Step 2: Restate material in your own words.
Translating what you've learned into your own words is a useful test of whether you're absorbing the material.
And, it helps to cement it in your mind.After you’ve done a section of reading or listened to a lecture, put it aside.
Take out a clean sheet of paper and write down the main points of what you’ve learned.
Don’t look back at the original: the idea is to solidify your own understanding.
You can practice this while reading complicated text.
Pause every page or so, and try to restate the gist in your mind.
If you can’t do it, it means you’re not absorbing anything while you read! , Don’t try to cram for ten hours straight: instead, do one or two hours every day.
Test your memory briefly at the end of each session by asking yourself what you’ve just learned or running through test questions or flashcards. , This is called “interweaving”: you study one subject for a couple of hours, then turn to an entirely different subject.It might feel more challenging in the moment, as if you’re starting from square one each time you pick up the next subject.
In the long run, though, you will absorb much more information. , Study in a library one day, and a café the next.
Learning the same material in different locations helps to anchor it more firmly in your mind., Do the practice problems at the end of the textbook chapter, even if they’re not assigned.
Whereas homework problems can look overwhelming, working your way through drill problems can build familiarity and confidence: this is called practicing in a low-stakes environment.Check your answers to get immediate feedback. , Aim to finish essays or problem sets ahead of time, and then go over them again the next day with fresh eyes.
If you struggle with writing, try reading your work out loud.
Listen to yourself: do your words make sense? Reading an essay backwards can reveal typos. -
Step 3: Break your study sessions up.
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Step 4: Switch off between the difficult subject and other subjects.
-
Step 5: Change locations.
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Step 6: Practice
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Step 7: practice
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Step 8: practice.
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Step 9: Leave time to revisit your work.
Detailed Guide
Struggling to retrieve information, even if you think you don’t know the answer, actually helps you to develop your power of recall.When reading a textbook, turn first to the questions as the end of the chapter and try to answer them.
Then, answer them again to yourself as you are reading.
A few days later, return to the questions one more time to test your recollection of the material.
Before searching for an answer on the internet, pause and try to generate an answer for yourself.
When you sit down to study, ask yourself: what have we learned about this week? What are the big ideas that I’m supposed to learn? Refresh your mind before you even open a book or notebook.
Translating what you've learned into your own words is a useful test of whether you're absorbing the material.
And, it helps to cement it in your mind.After you’ve done a section of reading or listened to a lecture, put it aside.
Take out a clean sheet of paper and write down the main points of what you’ve learned.
Don’t look back at the original: the idea is to solidify your own understanding.
You can practice this while reading complicated text.
Pause every page or so, and try to restate the gist in your mind.
If you can’t do it, it means you’re not absorbing anything while you read! , Don’t try to cram for ten hours straight: instead, do one or two hours every day.
Test your memory briefly at the end of each session by asking yourself what you’ve just learned or running through test questions or flashcards. , This is called “interweaving”: you study one subject for a couple of hours, then turn to an entirely different subject.It might feel more challenging in the moment, as if you’re starting from square one each time you pick up the next subject.
In the long run, though, you will absorb much more information. , Study in a library one day, and a café the next.
Learning the same material in different locations helps to anchor it more firmly in your mind., Do the practice problems at the end of the textbook chapter, even if they’re not assigned.
Whereas homework problems can look overwhelming, working your way through drill problems can build familiarity and confidence: this is called practicing in a low-stakes environment.Check your answers to get immediate feedback. , Aim to finish essays or problem sets ahead of time, and then go over them again the next day with fresh eyes.
If you struggle with writing, try reading your work out loud.
Listen to yourself: do your words make sense? Reading an essay backwards can reveal typos.
About the Author
Gregory Peterson
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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