How to learn

• How do you usually study and revise?

• How is it working for you?

• Is it aligned with how your brain works or is it just how you have always done it?

Before diving into the content, I want to share a few ideas about how to learn best that are based in the latest brain science.

If you want to dive deeper, I recommend visiting The Exam Study Expert - it's my current favourite resource on the topic. Read this article or listen to this podcast episode 66 if you want the overview.

However, this isn't a course about how to revise, so I'll keep it brief (I've also linked to some references, many from the Exam Study Expert, but if you are in a rush you don't need to read/listen to them).

The key headline is:

Learn mainly by repeatedly testing yourself

Rather than reading, highlighting and re-reading; learn by testing yourself, or as the science says 'retrieval'. Although we think that testing comes at the end of learning, recent research shows that testing IS the best type of learning. What this means for us is that we will:

• Firstly, do some exam practice before we even know anything: - yes, that's right, BEFORE learning! This is know as 'pre-testing' and has been shown by many studies to be very effective (potentially up to 2.5x more effective)

• Secondly, make notes in a way that encourages you to actively think ready to be tested. Try doing Q&A notes, the Cornell Method and flashcards (podcast 72).

• Thirdly, do some exam practice after each bout of note-taking (our ratio of testing to reading time should be about 2:1. The average student is about 1:10). The exam practice could be either jotting down an answer plan or doing a fully written answer. This podcast will give you some guidance (select number 74)

• Finally, retest repeatedly over time by doing 3-7 exam practices until the learning is locked in. This is called 'spaced repetition'. This combats something psychologists all learn in their undergraduate degrees called 'Ebbinghaus' Forgetting Curve'

The above methods will enhance your learning massively but will also help you practice the actual thing you want to do better - taking the exam!

Oh yes, and because you are somewhat gamifying the process by testing yourself, it should also be a bit more fun.

*Action

• Commit to repeatedly testing yourself! If you need more convincing, read/listen to some of the links. The research shows that even when we don't think this method is working it is.