| Tuesday, September 7, 2010

An article out today on NYTimes.com—‘Forget what you know about good study habits’—tries to discern between those traditional study methods that don’t actually work and the counter-intuitive learning techniques which do.

The unproven or disproven learning methods are:

• Clear a quiet work space;
• Stick to a homework schedule;
• Set goals & boundaries;
• Left-brain vs. right-brain learning;
• Learning styles: visual, auditory styles;
• Clown-like vs. subdued, quiet teaching styles.

The main problems here are the quality of the research and complexity of the environment:

“Such theories have developed in part because of sketchy education research that doesn’t offer clear guidance. Student traits and teaching styles surely interact; so do personalities and at-home rules. The trouble is, no one can predict how.”

The counter-intuitive study methods that work—the techniques that help improve learning and retention—are:

• Changing where you study;
• Studying distinct but related skills;
• Studying lots of related but different examples in order to discern patterns
• Cramming for exams works but only for a short period after your cramming session;
• Much better to space out learning periods over time;
• Testing is a powerful learning tool and helps people become more certain of their knowledge;
• The harder something is to learn, the harder it is to forget.

For language learners and teachers, the article has the following:

“Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time.”

I’ve certainly found this in my own classes and while developing the materials for SpanglishLex.com,

The materials I use are designed for a student to be able to practice reading, listening, writing, grammar and vocabulary in a single hour-long or (better) hour-and-a-half-long class.

In the real-world classes or via Skype, they also form a great basis for practicing pronunciation and speaking.

What study methods have you found to work in your classes and learning?