[Music] foreign I wish somebody had told me these things when I was a student the first time it would have been a lot easier Dr Marty Lobdell is a psychology Professor who created a course on College study skills he realized that many students had issues with proper studying and made it his mission to create a course that allowed students to learn to study efficiently and effectively taking them from average students to a plus in a semester's time in this video we'll go over the first four rules for studying smarter not harder first rule the moment you start to slide you're shoveling against the tide what you need to do is what take a break here's what's cool about it you can study for a half hour it doesn't take a half hour break to recharge your batteries for most people about five minutes we always dread sitting down to study for extended periods of time but what you may not realize is that you are hindering yourself from studying effectively if you do this as Marty Lobdell explains in his lecture things that are reinforced we tend to do more of things that are punished or ignored we tend to do less of this can transfer to how we study as well if we dread sitting down to study for five hours straight we aren't going to study nearly as well as if we break up our study into smaller chunks of time according to London's Global University five of the benefits of taking study breaks include improved memory reduced stress improved health and boosts to your energy as well as boosting your performance and creativity the main point to take away from this is to make sure to break up your study time from longer periods to Shorter ones with scheduled breaks as a bonus add on a well-deserved treat at the end of the study time it'll help motivate you to be more productive during your allotted study time and this is where you go away do something fun for five minutes call a friend talk to a child talk to a parent a roommate enjoy some music do something you enjoy and actually say this is my treat for having studied for 30 minutes effectively go back and here's what happens your efficiency is nearly a hundred percent study a half hour take a break study a half hour study a half hour creating a study area is one of the best ways to help you when it comes to studying researchers ask the students what's the biggest problem with studying they said we can't get into it the university in question had primarily dorm rooms one side bed another side of bed study area study area right in one room you sleep you groom you talk with people you socialize you study you snack it's a multi-purpose room and yet you're supposed to study as Marty explains we have certain cues as people when in certain areas of our homes by using a designated study area where all you do is study you train your brain and yourself that this is the area where you study and that's all it is used for in the Hawaiian dorms all of the rooms had a gooseneck lamp so the professor said we're going to try a little experiment take that lamp make a little sign and put it on it study lamp use it only for studying you don't dress by it you don't have BS sessions by you know it's snack bite you don't clean the Roomba it nothing use the other lights for all other functions you're ready to go turn on the lamp and start studying the moment you lose your Edge 15 20 30 minutes later turn the lamp off get up and leave the desk what you're training yourself to study while seated there and it becomes increasingly automatic you sit turn the lamp on and you're ready to go it's like magic this students who did that were one grade point higher the next term compared to the control group that didn't do it one great Point simply by creating a study area not sure how to create a good study space according to Joyce University make sure your study area is well lit has noise and light control as well as some personal touches that will help motivate you when you don't feel like studying these are some of the best ways to create a study environment that keeps you motivated and happy memorization is a great way to remember facts but not every class you are in wants you to know just facts lots of classes do a combination of both memorization effects and understanding of Concepts if you can memorize facts you are only halfway there when you're reading it over and over or saying it over and over the term for that is wrote memorization spelled rot it can work it is the way most of us were taught in elementary school and some of you may be darn good at it but for most of us it's not the most efficient or effective way the way to learn efficiently in college first you have to decide what am I learning is it a concept or a fact students who understand the importance of Concepts have a stronger and more powerful grasp on what they need to know for their upcoming exams by understanding what the concept is you are able to remember it for your exams papers and the rest of your life according to the Department of Education research suggests deep conceptual learning DCL is distinctly different than surface learning deep conceptual Learners tend to think discuss and question more seeking to understand rather than only memorize a fact is the discreet little piece of information understanding the name of a bone is a fact understanding what it does in the body gets into a concept so in studying sometimes there are a lot of facts in fact I use Anatomy as a good example you got to memorize bones muscles organs tissues a lot of it but if you simply memorize and don't understand the function of it the comprehension of the actual Concepts it's a lot of wasted learning really just to know a name of a bone is like yeah so what what does it do how does it function but in most college classes what we as professors are most concerned about is that you grasp the concept because Concepts once grasped will stay with you a lifetime by being able to not only memorize but dive deeper into your study topics you can become more efficient in your learning and have a better grasp on your subject material most of you undo good studying by not sleeping adequately some of the latest work on we're not sure exactly how but there's something going on it involves the hippocampus and involves the storage from a transitory long-term memory to a permanent what we call consolidation but we're getting increasing evidence that that consolidation process is dependent on rapid eye movement sleep which if you're an adult happens about every hour and a half once you fall asleep if you're not getting a good night typically around eight hours you're not getting enough REM what you've studied doesn't become permanent and I can tell you there are studies that show simply by getting better rest some students improve markedly in their performance because their brain now stores it a lot more efficiently without a good sleep your brain cannot function properly and will not be able to absorb the information you are trying to learn by the way if you know anybody with sleep apnea biggest thing they'll tell you is I can't remember anything my brain shot it's like my memory is gone yeah it is because your reming isn't happening because you wake up so often and you can't consolidate and Store permanent memories if you have trouble prioritizing sleep Harvard's summer school has a few tips for you to try to get a more restful sleep try limiting caffeine close to bedtime avoid electronic screens an hour before bedtime and engage in physical activity two hours within your bedtime window make sure to establish a sleep schedule by going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time every day it will help train you to get to bed by prioritizing your sleep you will help create a healthy routine that not only benefits your academic life but other aspects of your life as well remember dreams don't work unless you do by creating a study routine that eventually becomes a habit you'll be acing your academic life in no time to hear four more study tips to help you Ace your studies stay tuned for part two thanks for watching [Music] [Music] thank you [Music]