Everyone has what works best for them in different methods. What works for you can be different from mine and vice versa. We all might be doing the same work or studying the same course, but when it comes to learning, there are techniques each of us adopts that work perfectly and efficiently for us; we cannot learn the same way.
While I was a student, there were techniques I adopted that worked for me which helped me learn easily and without stress. For someone like a friend who was my senior in school, her method was to plug in her earpiece and listen to music, to her, music does it for her. She learnt effectively with music and anything aside that is a no for her. I envied her because I tried it but I kept repeating the same line for minutes, I couldn't grasp what I was studying and learning never occurred.
I may be in class while listening attentively to the lectures; though I am just like some other persons who understand what is being taught in class, still I would get home and pick up my notebook to revise again until I can understand it.
One belief among many students in my neighbourhood was that if you do not go to the school library, you cannot study well, I made my room my library and there is always a time when I study and there wouldn't be any distractions, that is done during the night into the midnight as it was the moment of silence where everyone would have gone to bed. Reading and studying was easier and interesting for me and it helped me succeed in my exams.
Another learning technique was done among my circle of friends. I was careful to pick my kinds of friends in the same department whom we read and study together. We were just three and when the time of the exam was approaching, just 2-3 weeks before its commencement, we chose our houses to study in which we would come together, study and pass the night.
During exam time, I don't usually sleep at my place except on days when the courses aren't hard but easy to study individually. It was always a fun time, likewise a time to be serious when we were together.
One common technique among us is asking ourselves questions about what we have read. By this time, we would have given ourselves hours to read even though we were together in the room, we would pick a different spot and study. After hours of studying individually, we would come together forming a circle and would start to ask each other questions from what we had read.
Also, we would switch on to lecturing ourselves on the whole syllabus and it helped us learn quickly and would stick to our brains while waiting for the D-day to show up.
One of the things that distracts me from reading is noise within or around me.
It is why I usually go to my friend's place to read as her place is structured in a way that only a few tenants occupy the apartment and there isn't noise, unlike my place where we are over 20 students; when one is busy cooking, another will be playing loud music, while another would gather their friends around to gist and play. So, the only perfect time at my place was at night when they would have gone to bed.
There are other unconventional learning methods that are comfortable and convenient for people. Some learn through mnemonics, like associating information to be remembered with something easier to recall, i.e using acronyms, rhymes, images or patterns so that they could grasp faster and understand.
Some learn through games where they get involved in platforms that are gamified or incorporate educational games. Some persons adopt the techniques of role-playing where they act out scenarios related to the topic being taught.
We need to understand that learning is a continuous process and everyone adopts one or more techniques to be able to understand and study effectively because learning techniques are very important to learning efficiently.
This is my entry to Day 28 Inleo Monthly Initiative. If you are looking to participate, you can jump on it now by clicking the link below for more instructions.
