“Familiarity fools our minds into
thinking we know more than we do.”

If you have ever been surprised by a poor test result, you are not alone. “Very often, students will think they understand a body of material. Believing that they know it, they stop trying to learn more. But, come test time, it turns out they really don’t know the material.” Dr. Daniel Willingham [pdf] is referring to a common challenge for many students; the ability to distinguish between familiarity and recollection.

The recollection myth

TeamUP! Tutors gets requests for help with all subjects, from algebra and geometry to essay writing and chemistry. Regardless of the subject, we hear frequently laments that the student did the homework, studied the material, but then bombed the test. So what’s going on?

Willingham explains that a student may think he knows more than he actually does because, following a homework assignment or class lecture, he feels confident in his knowledge. What is missing is putting this belief to the test… before the actual test. Does the student really know the material well enough to recollect the content or is he simply familiar with it?

Know the target information

Students who say they know the material, but perform poorly on the test have likely overestimated their true level of understanding or misidentified the target information. By building strong study skills, students can help themselves learn what they need to know:

• Complete all assignments to get the big picture
• Eliminate distractions and avoid multitasking
• Study one section at a time, starting days before the test
• Use flashcards, study guides, notes, quizzes, etc
• Exchange homemade exams with a friend
• Ask a parent or classmate to quiz you on the material
• Revisit difficult concepts until you have them down

Finally, avoid tricking yourself into believing you know more than you really do. Try asking, “Do I understand this material well enough to teach it to someone unfamiliar with the subject?” Then, double check how well you know the critical information by explaining to someone else.

For example, prior to a test on the history of Hinduism, a student may recall that Hindus have four goals in life, “pleasure and success, dharma, moksha, and reincarnation.” This may lead her to believe she is ready for the test even if she has not mastered the target information. In order to teach someone else, she must also be prepared to define the meaning of each goal, explain why Hindus strive to meet these goals, and give examples of how these goals helped to shape Indian society.

So the next time you think, “That test was so unfair” or “I just don’t test well,” consider whether you invested the time necessary to recall specific details or if you, in fact, entered the test with only a cursory understanding of the material. Then decide what you will do differently to ace the next one.

“To do two things at once is to do neither.”
Publilius Syrus, Roman slave, first century B.C.

We’ve all heard the woes of students who start their homework after dinner and are still going strong at midnight. But are they truly working nonstop or are they getting distracted along the way? Does the computer that was switched on for research also display instant messages? Email? Facebook? If so, two hours of work can easily stretch into six.

While many people brag about their ability to multi-task or switch-task, it turns out that none of us, kids included, perform well when interrupted. That’s because our brains can only focus on one item at a time. In this age of tweets, texting, and social networking, the interruptions fly nonstop. We may be able to walk and talk at the same time, but when it comes to paying attention, our brains have limits.

But what about those who insist they’re wired for multitasking? Stanford researchers decided to find out what gives these folks their edge. What gift do they have that the rest of us inefficient, single-taskers are missing? “We kept looking for what they’re better at, and we didn’t find it,” said Eyal Ophir, the study’s lead author. In fact, they found that multitaskers pay a mental price, and in some cases perform worse than non-multitaskers, People who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time.

Other task-switching research shows that doing more really means doing less. Dr. John Medina, author of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School, explains that the part of our brain responsible for switching activities, what he calls the “attentional spotlight,” works as a sequential processor. This means, it can only focus on one task at a time. He claims that a person who is interrupted takes 50% longer to complete a task and makes 50% more errors. He shared the following anecdote, which may hit a little too close to home for many of today’s parents:

“Recently, I agreed to help the high-school son of a friend of mine with some homework, and I don’t think I will ever forget the experience. Eric had been working for about a half-hour on his laptop when I was ushered to his room. An iPod was dangling from his neck, the earbuds cranking out Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Green Day as his left hand reflexively tapped the backbeat. The laptop had at least 11 windows open, including two IM screens carrying simultaneous conversations with MySpace friends. Another window was busy downloading an image from Google. The window behind it had the results of some graphic he was altering for MySpace friend No. 2, and the one behind that held an old Pong game paused mid-ping. Buried in the middle of this activity was a word-processing program holding the contents of the paper for which I was to provide assistance. ‘The music helps me concentrate,’ Eric declared, taking a call on his cell phone.”

The task-switching problem is not limited to students. Workplace studies indicate that performing several duties at once reduces employee productivity. University of Michigan researcher David Meyer, Ph.D. [pdf], explains that in work settings, 20-40 percent of potential efficiency is lost due to task switching by workers “who are banging away on word processors at the same time they have to answer phones and talk to their co-workers or bosses.” Researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that workers returning to a task took an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to recover from interruptions and displayed significantly higher levels of stress, frustration, and mental effort.

Multitasking has also been shown to adversely affect how people learn. An article in The New Atlantis points to Russell Poldrack, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who found “that even if you learn while multitasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily.” Poldrack’s research demonstrates that people use different areas of the brain for learning and storing new information when they are distracted: brain scans of people who are distracted or multitasking show activity in the striatum, a region of the brain involved in learning new skills; brain scans of people who are not distracted show activity in the hippocampus, a region involved in storing and recalling information.

The solution for students who want to learn the lost art of paying attention is to focus on the task at hand. Turn off the distractions, make a plan, and concentrate on one activity at a time. Then reward yourself by powering back up. When done well, you’ll spend less overall time on your work, learn more, and have plenty of time leftover for fun.

There’s someone in every class who easily masters the material along the way, reviews some notes the day before the final, and aces the test. The rest of us not-so-secretly wish it were us. For those in the latter category, here are five tips on how to successfully manage final exams:

1. Start going over the material for each of your classes a few weeks before testing is due to start. Spending 5-10 minutes per class each day gives you a very good idea of what you know and what you need to work on.
2. Not sure how to fill-in your learning gaps? Try going over the class study guide, textbook review tests, class notes and handouts, and tests and quizzes. If you’re still at a loss, you can always ask other students or the teacher for ideas and suggestions.
3. If your understanding is weak in a particular area, re-read that section. You may also find it helpful to take notes or try your hand at a few practice problems. And don’t hesitate to set a time to meet with your teacher, a parent, or a tutor to ask for some extra help.
4. Meet with a classmate and quiz each other. If getting together in-person is difficult, you can also quiz each other over instant messaging or a chat program on your computer.
5. Using your study materials, write down the questions you think are most likely to show up on the final. Then give yourself a practice test to see how well you perform. Consider trading homemade pretests with friends. You can also look for free online tests from the textbook publisher or other online sources.

Getting a head start on studying for finals will help avoid dreaded cram sessions and allow plenty of time for understanding to sink in. By the time the end of the semester rolls around, you should already have a firm grasp of the earlier material presented and have time leftover to concentrate on concepts introduced closer to exam time.

Preview,
Question,
and four R’s: Read, Reflect, Recite, Review.

If you are reading a chapter in your biology book, for example, you should start by skimming the whole chapter for an overview. Then create some questions to concentrate on while you study, such as “How does photosynthesis work?” Then read the chapter.

After you’ve finished, reflect–think about how the chapter has answered your questions. Recite the answers back to yourself, explaining the information in your own words. Finally, go back through the book, skimming again for the main points.

Sound like a lot of work? It may take longer than a quick skim, but it’s also a great way to make sure you retain what you are reading, rather than just sitting in front of the book and turning pages.

Check out Encarta for more homework memory tricks.

True test anxiety is really quite rare. For this condition, psychologists generally suggest relaxation techniques, getting enough sleep the night before and not cramming for the test, among other remedies.

Most of the time, however, when parents come to me trying to figure out why their child is not doing well on tests and quizzes, I find that the answer resides in poor study habits. Most kids who seem to freeze up on the tests do so because they simply do not know the material well.

Rarely do I find a child who has “over-learned” the material — knows it “cold” — having difficulty with an examination. If the youngster understands the concepts as well as having memorized dates and names, most likely the test questions will be familiar and she can confidently complete the test; however, if your child has only skimmed the material or has memorized it but not understood it conceptually, the test can look quite different from what she has studied, and that can cause a cycle of fear to begin.

The fear builds on itself and can ultimately lead to failure. Bottom line: help your children really study and know their material. Check other posts here and here too.

• Create an appropriate study environment. Many students have a difficult time keeping up with their studies merely because they feel frustrated and uncomfortable when they sit down to begin them. You must be in an environment that allows for full concentration.
• Take good notes (and pay attention in class). Class time is when much of learning takes place. Paying attention in class familiarizes you with the material, and taking notes firms it up until further studying solidifies it.
• Develop effective memorization methods. Learn when to make lists, use flash cards, and create other memory tools.
• Focus on the areas that need the most attention. Many students feel that any time studying counts as real studying, but studying is less effective if you do not target the areas that need study.
• Work in groups, but only when everyone is focused on studying.
• Practice essay writing.

• Create an environment that is conducive to doing homework. Youngsters need a permanent work space in their bedroom or another part of the home that offers privacy.
• Set aside ample time for homework.
• Establish a household rule that the TV set stays off during homework time.
• Be available to answer questions and offer assistance, but never do a child’s homework for her.
• To help alleviate eye fatigue, neck fatigue and brain fatigue while studying, it’s recommended that youngsters close the books for 10 minutes every hour and go do something else.
• If your child is struggling with a particular subject, and you aren’t able to help her yourself, a tutor can be a good solution. Talk it over with your child’s teacher first.

This is a MUST READ for any high school or college student.