How do you Learn? (Performing a Study)

[Ashadowpie]

i have a learning disability but the best way i can...sorta learn is by physically doing whatever im learning. you basically have to do whatever your trying to teach me, show me it multiple times THEN allow me to try and take me through it step by step over and over again until i can do whatever it is on my own. its the most retarded bullshit ever but this is the only way i learn how to do stuff. simple or not. the only thing im good at is writing but my grammar is god awful and i cant learn or remember how to do it properly.

math is impossible for me for some reason also

* epic sigh *

 

[leviticusd]

Been graduated from college for about ten years now, but when I went I read every text book I had cover to cover and rarely went to class and had superb grades for it. I would go the first day or two to get a feel of what the teacher wants, switched out of any class with attendance policies or a big emphasis on pop-quizzes, then just read textbooks. I retain what I read very well and can't stand lecture of discussion. At best it bored me to sleep (I was a student athlete and was usually exhausted anyways) and at worst discussion often went on to tangents that were rarely tested on.

By reading the text books I could usually remember the exact definitions needed for most multiple choice style tests and the lack of participation in discussions allowed me to develop usually unique views for essay type answers that stood out from the rest and often brought up new ideas that impressed the instructor (unless the instructor had an agenda which unfortunately was the case sometimes, but I adjusted after a test or two).

Infinite patience for reading. Zero patience for listening.

 

[EHKOS]

I'm visual and physical. I can't play video games if I think about it, but my hands take care of it for me. If you try to tell me something and it's not in text in front of me, I won't remember it, and sometimes I won't be able to concentrate on it.

 

[zerragonoss]

I mostly take the learning methods of your friend. In part its just having a good memory. Mostly though I learn though interacting with the information and taking notes makes me unable to do this as its distracting. What I mean by interacting with the information is comparing it to, and connecting it with other things I know, analyzing it looking for deeper implications, or thinking about why its true. By doing this I basically widen the information out so its not a simple fact that I have to memorize, but a whole internal conversation, which I can usually remember enough of to put together whatever specif part I need for a test.

 

[Astoria]

Writing out notes helps me alot. I don't even usually have to read over them, just writing the information helps it stick in my brain. If I don't get something I usually won't unless someone explains it in a different way or if they help me visualise it.

 

[bananafishtoday]

Things that I have to "do" (math, programming, etc) I need a bit of practice to retain. Things that I just have to "know" (lit, humanities, history, soft sciences) I can retain everything just by reading/listening.

Unless the lectures cover info not in the book, or there's class discussions or whatever, I usually just read the book in the first few days of the semester and only show up for tests. In high school I'd read the textbook cover to cover in the first week or two, never open it again, sleep in the back every class, and ace the tests. I guess I'm lucky in that I internalize information that I read really well. I usually retain it pretty well too... I got an A in an American history class in college (mandatory, ugh) based on nothing but what I remembered from 9th grade American history (and just general reading/cultural osmosis.)

Edit: It's worth noting that this isn't sound academic advice. I had to drop out of HS and got kicked out of a few colleges because they didn't take kindly to the whole "I can skip class because I know the material" idgaf attitude.

 

[SerithVC]

i learn best by ignoring the lesson. back when i was actually in school, i'd be reading books all day and not paying attention to the class and still manage to get 80 to 100% on the tests. really pissed off those around me. nearly made this one chick have a break down because she studied hard and did every exercise to prepare for the oral french exam and i just read my book and my grade went up 30% and hers prodded 20%. when i ignore the things around me, it all replays in my head when i'm going to sleep for some reason. kinda pisses me off when i'm trying to sleep though.

 

[Jfswift]

First I take off all my clothes, and then I take the source of information whether it be a book, teacher, whatever it is, and rub it all over my body until I absorb the information into my skin.

I wonder how many people will go back and read this thread line by line.

 

[Blade1130]

Personally, I cannot study for the life of me. Staring at a text book just puts me to sleep and I can't learn a thing from it. What I do instead is sit front and center in every class and force myself to pay attention and take fairly in-depth notes. I'm a pretty focused person, so I don't have too much trouble with that. It takes a LOT to get me really bored to the point that I can't pay attention. Fortunately this strategy seems to work out pretty well. I can understand most subjects just from the lecture, and since I'm so bad at studying I'll usually just skim the notes I took for 15-30 minutes and that's enough. I do make a point of actually doing ALL the HW, which I think helps a lot, especially with Math and Science.

I'm a freshman Computer Science & Engineering major by the way, if that has any bearing on this.

 

[Kae]

Depends if it's just memory stuff like History and stuff normally just paying attention and reading the book works great, rarely even have to study before the test, as for more practical stuff like Math, well I write extremely detailed notes, every step is taken into account and operations are written with little arrows pointing as to what did what and tons of little notes detailing why this caused that, to make sure I don't miss anything, understanding why everything is done is key, since even you forget the procedure knowing the reasoning should help figure out the answer, even if the procedures I usually come up with are ridiculously convoluted.

 

[Yopaz]

1: Personally I skim through the material.
2: Read over the material, maybe taking a few notes.
3: Go to a lecture.
4:Work with questions regarding the subject I read.
5: Leave the subject alone for a while before I skim through it and do the same questions I did earlier.

I also learned a lot from lab work last year and I learned a great deal from dissecting a heart and lung. Also it's great fun to blow up a lung then stab it with a scalpel.

Now I wish I could say I actually manage to accomplish this more than every now and then, sadly I do not.

 

[piinyouri]

I learn best by doing. Just jumping in.
Getting messy, screwing up, learning from it, and repetition.
Which the old me would never dream of doing.

It helps immensley when it's something I WANT to learn or care about.
i.e. how I can tell you insane details about certain video games and music. Shame I could never apply that magic to my math work in school.

 

[Guffe]

Auditive learning, i.e. listening
But I also ask a lot in class to try and get a conversation going becaue by doing that I can actually remember better the explanations the teacher gives me and I remember the moment better.
But listening is the main thing, also taking notes helps, worst is just trying to read from a book.