Immediate Study Strategies

1. Dual Coding

Dual coding refers to the strategy of combining visuals with words. Having both visuals and words helps for students to better understand and remember information, because it is easier to see/read/interpret. The key to using visuals is to make sure that the verbal explanations are clearly connected and depicted by the visuals being used.

The type of visuals that you use is important and depends on what you are trying to learn. Too many visuals or the wrong type of visual can be distracting and confusing, making it harder to understand the concepts/information.

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

  • Many course textbooks and assigned readings will include visuals to refer to when you are learning a concept. An example might be a flow chart with pictures depicting photosynthesis in plants.
  • If your course materials do not include a visual, you can create your own that captures the main ideas and concepts.
  • The goal of creating your own visuals is to produce an organized and clear visual representation of the content you're learning about.
  • To make sure that you understand how a visual relates to the information your reviewing, you want to intentionally spend time making sure you understand both what you read and what you see.
  • Try filling in visuals, creating a visual representation of your notes, or translating a visual into words during review sessions.

WHAT ARE EXAMPLES OF VISUALS YOU CAN USE?

  • Labeled diagrams
  • Infographics
  • Comic strips/cartoon strips
  • Graphic organizers
  • Concept maps, mind maps, flow charts
  • Charts/graphs
  • Timelines
  • Sketch-noting

2. Elaboration

Elaboration refers to the practice of adding to concepts you are learning and connecting new information to previous knowledge/skills.

The goal of elaboration is to:

  • improve understanding of the material
  • understand how concepts relate to each other
  • understand why concepts are important or relevant
  • why and how the information is useful or applicable
  • help you remember when you should use the information
  • get deeper understanding of previous knowledge

When practicing Elaboration, the learner is encouraged to organize, connect, and integrate new ideas or information with what is already known. This makes the process to remember the new information easier later on.

With Elaboration, you are thinking about information on a deeper level to develop a better understand the meaning of the concept. Elaboration is considered to be one of the best way to increase learning and memory.

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

  • Ask yourself "how" and "why" questions to go beyond memorization of terms, definitions, and facts.
  • Helpful for making connections between different ideas.
  • Articulate the steps of a process to yourself during reading/studying.
  • Explain how and why things are connected as you are read/review.
  • Make connections to different ideas by understanding what makes them similar and what makes them different.
  • Elaboration can be really effective when you have prior knowledge about a topic and you are able to use the strategy to build upon that knowledge.
  • When you are revisiting/reviewing course material, try explaining concepts to yourself and/or how two concepts are similar and different.
  • Gradually build your way up to asking how and why questions.
  • When you are practicing retrieval, try to describe and explain how things work and why things work that way from memory.

3. Concrete Examples

Concrete examples are useful for understanding and remembering abstract and complex concepts.

The goal of learning is to be able to transfer learning between contexts. Using concrete examples assists the learner to be able to strengthen their understanding of a concept and their ability to apply that information in different ways.

It's crucial that the learner be able to comprehend how the components of an example relate to the concept in order for the example to be beneficial to the learning process.

HOW DO YOU DO IT?

  • If your textbook/readings and professor does not give you examples to go along with a concept, you can/should ask your professor to share an example of the concept.
  • You can search for examples online or from other sources.
  • Always make sure you check with your faculty to ensure the example is accurate for the concept, to ensure you're not tying the concept to the wrong information.
  • The best type of examples are the ones you create yourself.
  • These examples are ways to test your understanding of the information.
  • You can check with your professor to ensure that your example accurately explains the concept.
  • If you can tie the example back to your own life, it's even better!
  • When you are learning a concept for the first time, having multiple examples at your disposal can help you more clearly understand how the parts of the examples relate to what you're learning about.
  • Creating or using given examples is a great way for you to study a concept, because you should understand how the components represent the concept.
  • Ask for help when needed.

Reference:
Sumeracki, M., Nebel, C., Kuepper-Tezel, C., & Need Kaminske, A. (2023). Ace that test: A student's guide to learning better. Routledge.

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