article 40

In our new series, we look at how to go about acquiring a good learning style.
OFTEN HOW you say is as important as what you say. Similarly, how you learn is as important as what you learn. Once a good learning style has been acquired, a student can easily make learning more effective and enjoyable.
It is a fact that a student who follows an unscientific or ineffective method of learning would find the experience drudgery or hard labour.
American historian Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918) put the idea nicely: "They know enough who know how to learn." This may be read along with the saying attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551 - 479 BC): "I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I understand."
We come across parents who boast that their children learn till midnight or wake up at four in the morning to study, implying thereby that their learning is very efficient.
How many parents have the patience and common sense to observe the learning styles followed by their children or to analyse the effectiveness of the styles?
You should remember that learning smarter and quicker is more important than learning harder and longer.
Good study habits will in the long run benefit any student. If someone has a poor study habit, it is easier to get it replaced with a good habit, rather than just stop the poor habit.
We often see that smokers who wish to quit the habit are advised to chew something of their choice as a substitute, whenever they feel that they should smoke.
It is not rarely that a student wastes precious time by reading the same essay over and over again every month, without taking care to extract the main points and check how well they have been understood.
A student may passively read the worked examples in a textbook several times, as a part of learning numerical problems in mathematics or science. He/she may gaze at a sketch or figure in the textbook for a few minutes and try to believe that he/she has learnt it well.
But in the examination hall, students who have followed such defective styles may discover their inability to solve numerical problems, or draw the sketches independently. These are just indicative of what may result from incorrect or ineffective methods of study.
Working out
Numerical problems have to be solved independently by the student. He/she may have some difficulties. These hitches can be overcome by referring to the textbook, after which the student will be able to solve similar problems with ease and confidence.
Similarly, while learning, the figures have to be sketched from memory and hitches solved by referring to the textbook, until you reach stage when you can easily draw it from memory.
These facts point to the need for proper study skills. The time spent on mastering some of the basic learning methods is no waste of time, but it is a worthy investment that will certainly yield great profits in course of time. Learning properly is a habit. Once it is developed, you would learn more in a given time, and learn more effectively so that you can apply what you have learnt in any new environment.
You have to be active and enthusiastic while learning. You should not adopt a totally relaxed pose. Lying down while reading is not desirable. `Sit straight and read' is a good direction that may be followed.
Learning by heart
Should you learn your lessons by heart? In the first place, such learning is not physically possible in higher classes, because of sheer volume of the lessons. Rote learning consumes enormous time, which could be utilised better in other learning activities. Further, learning by rote without understanding the content is no learning at all. That is why this method is usually not recommended.
However, it is advisable to learn poems by heart, thrilling passages, quotes of great people and definitions in science subjects. Definitions are often framed using minimum words with maximum content, paying attention to precision and accuracy. You should not imagine that there is only one way to acquiring effective study habits. There are indeed several highways and byways, intersections and road signs. Each student has to choose whatever suits him/her the best.
You can, however, adopt some of the commonly accepted styles and techniques. There can be individual modifications to meet specific needs.
The first step to developing study skills is the preparation of a workable timetable. It should provide time not only for learning from the textbook, but also for all essential activities of the student. What you should aim at is not being a glorified bookworm, but an individual endowed with sound personality traits.
Making an over-ambitious timetable and then failing to follow it is common. That is why you should take into account the ground realities of student life before blindly drafting a tight schedule, ignoring your diverse pursuits.
The timetable should have the following characteristics:
- Appropriate duration for each subject of study. This has to take into consideration individual variations in inherent aptitude and interest in different subjects.
- Wherever possible, variety in the arrangement of the subjects so that the tasks involved change as the subjects change. For example, learning poetry by heart is different from doing numerical problems or drawing sketches in a science subject.
- You should not attempt to learn the same subject continuously for long hours at a stretch. There has to be a sequence that counters monotony.
- Brief breaks between different subjects, enabling the student to refresh him/herself.
- Necessary durations for co-curricular or extra-curricular activities, domestic chores, extra reading, rest, games, relaxation, and entertainment.
- Study hours to suit the personal preferences of the pupil. Some may choose to work late at night, whereas some others may prefer the early morning hours. Many parents often insist that certain specific hours dictated by them be followed by their children. This may hamper their learning efficiency.
- Separate schedules for working days and holidays.
- Essential flexibility in the schedules for accommodating unexpected events.
- Apart from the daily timetable, there should be a monthly timetable and an annual chart that reflects our overall planning.
- Redraft the timetable every month, in the light of previous levels of achievements.
Irrespective of what the timetable dictates, you should remember that studying while you are mentally fatigued is not effective. If there are very difficult lessons, they may be scheduled for the hours when you are most active and alert.
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Master of Communication and Journalism Entrance Test 2007 (OU) questions (based on memory)
Part A 30 marks descriptivePart B 70 marks multiple choice questions
Part A
1. Essay writinga) Trial by media b) Community radio
2. Ad campaigna) Mobile phone with camera b)(OR)Public Relations campaigna) Stray gods menace for MCH b) Traffic safety(OR)TV Script writing on:-

Who is the chairman of Andhra Pradesh Press AcademyVIDURA is published byAIR’s fm station – fm rainbowWhich fm station is run by Reliance groupChairman of the Press Council of IndiaArvind KejriwalRight to Information Act came into effect on:Top language daily in IndiaPrasar Bharati CEO : Baljit SinghVergese CommitteeBroadbandPhalke Ratna and Dadasaheb won byCASAgenda setting : Malcom McCoombs and Donald ShahUses and gratificationSpiral of slicesNews paper brought up by Jawaharlal NehruFilm Archive Society– do -Children’s Film Society of India established in 1955DubbingP to CUSPDisplayPromoCredit/ AttributionImprintSlantVSAT: very small aperture terminalCommunity radio policy for NGOs: 2006News holeCurtain raiserThe other half (The Hindu) columnist: Kalpana SharmaLibelAruna Roy: Right to informationCroppingPrinter friendlyContinuityLog editGroup recallMagnetic tapeTele prompterEmbedded journalistSound echoCultivationEmbargoedCitizen journalistSocial advertiserNeed hierarchyAdvertisement Board established in the yearTelemarketingSocial marketingHard sellTeaserAdvertorialScrolling on TV screenDocudramaTAMDay light filter / Backlight filterTemperature measurement instrumentProof readingKnowledge gapMedia definition
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How to memorise well
Here are ways in which you can make the most effective use of your memory in the learning process.
Any learning process involves application of memory. Skills in memorisation help you recall at will the information you had once mastered and perform well in tests and examinations. There is a school of thought that relying on memory is not a healthy way of learning, and that you should apply logic on each occasion for deriving information. This may be a good platitude; students in schools and colleges aiming at good scores in examinations have to remember a lot, irrespective of the test style.
Take for example a formula in mathematics or physics. Of course, there are ways to derive them. But it will be a sheer waste of time if you go in for ab initio derivation on every occasion you have to apply them.
We easily remember matter that has some meaning. Let us illustrate it with an example. See the words arranged in different columns.
The first column is the toughest to remember, as is contains nothing but nonsensical syllables. The second column is relatively easier, since it has words with some meaning. The third one is still easier, as the words belong to a family. The fourth one is a meaningful sentence; we can commit it to memory in one reading. The last one is the easiest, as it is a meaningful sentence with a rhyme. It may be remembered that the ease comes not only in just remembering but also in meaningful learning as well.
If the words carry some sense, we learn the idea easily. As part of learning, if an effort is made to translate tough matter we wish to remember into something that can be taken in with ease and delight, we make memorisation and learning more effective.
Memory is often classified as short- and long-term. When you recite a passage, the idea may be in your memory only for a couple of seconds. This cannot last long. If you want to commit the idea to long-term memory, you have to think about it for a few minutes. This is, of course, part of any learning process. Trying to recall an idea frequently will entrench it in your memory.
While learning a piece for the first time, you may benefit by reciting it a few more times after you have learnt it. This is called over-learning, which `engraves the mental trace deeper and deeper, thus establishing a base for long-term retention.'
Aspects of memory
There are various aspects of memory one should be aware of. Good memory cannot be developed, but its full potential can be used by developing the right habits. Here are some right steps:
Total concentration: Concentrating on the lesson content while learning is one of the important steps. We should focus on names and numbers. Even difficult material has to be converted into easily digestible logical matter. There should be a deliberate will to remember; the approach should not be casual. In other words, you should attempt active learning.
Reviewing should not be after a long time, since the material would have faded from your memory in the meantime.
Logical organisation: Material that is logically organised clings to our memory far better than random or disjointed floating bits of information. Infuse meaning into whatever you learn. Nothing you learn should be like nonsensical syllables.
From the woods to the trees: First try to get an overall idea of the lesson before going to specific details. Sometimes this style is called the funnel method.
We go from the general to the particular. Awareness of the general concepts makes the details more meaningful and easier to remember.
Associating with known facts: With each additional bit of knowledge committed to our memory, the brain goes to a new configuration and this is a continuous process. It is wise to take new bits as additions to existing knowledge. At the recall stage, such association will help easy retrieval.
Mock teaching: If you find a particular portion of the lesson difficult to digest, imagine that you are teaching it to a student sitting before you.
Speak it out in the form of an explanation, so that the idea gets hammered into your mind. This method is more effective than just reciting it aloud, since teaching involves the explanation of the same idea in different phrases, bringing illustrations, raising questions for clarification, and so on.
Visual encoding: Those who have a special aptitude for remembering pictures or charts or graph may translate information into visual formats.
High spirits
Do not get dispirited if you find that occasionally your learning becomes slow or even at a standstill.
This is normal, if you try to study difficult lessons for more than four or five hours a day, or if you have anxiety, fatigue, or boredom. Rest assured that you will recover from such negative spells.
Also, it is not advisable to go in for invidious comparisons with regard to learning speeds. Some of us may be faster than others in learning. Learning a bit slowly need not alarm any student, since he can learn as much as a bright student is able to do, provided he devotes a little more of time for learning with appropriate breaks.
You cannot denigrate the use of mnemonics or memory crutches, such as the popular VIBGYOR, which helps one list the seven rainbow colours in the right sequence.
We should make an intelligent use of aids to memory, without sacrificing the effort to grasp the ideas contained in lessons.