In In our review of useful life hacks for students, we discussed the scientific research behind obvious advice — "drink more water", "engage in sports", "plan your daily schedule". In this part, we'll look at less obvious hacks, as well as areas that are currently considered among the most promising in education. We'll try to understand how "doodles in the margins of notebooks" can be helpful and in what cases reflecting on the exam helps to perform better.
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Muscle Memory
Attending lectures is another obvious piece of advice for those who want to learn better. And, by the way, it's one of the most popular ones. . However, merely attending often isn't enough — many of you are familiar with the situation: you prepare for an exam ticket and can't remember what exactly the instructor talked about, even though you are completely sure you were present that day.
To make the most of your time in lectures, scientists recommend training muscle memory — that is, first and foremost, taking notes. This not only allows you to return to them later (which is quite obvious) — the very process of writing information by hand helps you remember it better. However, sometimes to better grasp complex concepts, it makes sense to not just write them down, but to write and draw illustrations.
You can try to represent data in the form of diagrams or charts (which can be quite challenging when you need to listen carefully to the lecturer), but sometimes, to better memorize information, adding doodles or sketches to your notes can be sufficient (for this type of drawing, the term "»).
Doodles can look like repeating patterns, lines, abstractions — or faces, animals, or individual words (as in ). You can draw anything — an important feature of doodling remains that this practice does not fully engage the person — unlike, for instance, intensive work in a painting class.
At first glance, doodling seems annoying — it looks like a person is just trying to kill time and absorbed in their thoughts. In practice, however, it turns out that doodles actually help us better grasp new concepts and remember them.
In 2009, the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology published the results of a study conducted by the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth (UK). It involved 40 participants aged 18 to 55. The subjects listened to an audio recording of a "phone call from a friend" (in the recording, a monotonal narrator read a monologue of a fictional "friend" discussing who might come to his party and who wouldn't, and why). The control group was asked to write down the names of those who would attend the party during the recording (and nothing more).
The experimental group was given a sheet with squares and circles and asked to shade the shapes while listening (the participants were warned that speed and accuracy of shading were unimportant — shading was needed just to pass the time).
After that, all participants were asked first to name those who would attend the party and then to list geographical names mentioned in the recording. The results were quite surprising — in both cases, the individuals who were asked to shade shapes were more accurate (the experimental group remembered 29% more information than the control group, even though they were not asked to fixate or remember anything at all).
This positive effect may be related to the fact that drawing unconscious scribbles allows us to tap into the of the brain's default mode. "Doodle activists," such as Sunni Brown, author of "The Doodle Revolution," believe that doodles are not just a way to keep your hands busy, but a means to activate brain function. In other words, it is a mechanism that allows us to unlock "workarounds" when we hit a dead end — which means that doodling can help if, for example, you are struggling to solve a problem or find the right wording for a written piece.
Going back to memory — doodles in the margins help recover the details of what was happening around you when you drew them. Jesse Prinz (), Chair of the Interdisciplinary Scientific Research Committee at the Graduate School of the City University of New York, , looking at his own doodles, easily recalls what was being discussed when he drew them. He compares doodles to postcards — when you look at a postcard bought during a trip, memories related to that journey come flooding back — things you might not easily remember otherwise.
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This is the advantage of ‘doodle notes’ (compared to regular notes): continuous, intense note-taking can distract you from what the teacher is currently explaining, especially if a lot of material is covered that isn’t meant for dictation. However, if you note down key points in the usual way and switch to doodles while explaining them, you will be able to grasp the topic better without losing the narrative thread.
On the other hand, doodling is not suitable for all tasks. For example, if you need to memorize and study a large number of images (diagrams, graphs), your own drawings will only distract you — Wall Street Journal in support of which is research conducted at the University of British Columbia. When both tasks require processing visual information, doodling does not allow us to focus on what is actually important at the moment.
Doodling should also be avoided when you are not sure that the facts and formulas provided by the lecturer can easily be found in other sources. In this case, it is safer to train muscle memory using only good old notes.
Knowledge about knowledge
Another area worth paying attention to for those who want to learn better is metacognitive processes (second-order cognitions or, simply put, our knowledge about our own knowledge). Patricia Chen, a researcher from Stanford, working in this area, : “Very often, students begin working thoughtlessly, without first planning which sources are more suitable, not understanding what each of them is good for, and not evaluating how to use the chosen resources most effectively.”
Chen and her colleagues conducted a series of studies (the results were published last year in the journal Psychological Science) and experiments demonstrating how reflecting on studying can motivate students to learn better. In one experiment, students were given a questionnaire about 10 days before the exam — its authors encouraged them to think about the upcoming test and answer questions about what grade they wanted to achieve, how important that grade was to them, and the likelihood of them achieving it.
Additionally, students were asked to consider which questions were likely to appear on the exam and to determine which of the 15 available study practices (reviewing lecture notes, reading the textbook, working through exam questions, discussing with peers, having tutoring sessions, etc.) they would use. They were then asked to explain their choices and outline what they would actually do — effectively creating an exam preparation plan. The control group simply received a reminder about the exam and the importance of preparing for it.
As a result, students who created a plan indeed performed better on the exam, achieving scores on average a third of a grade higher (for example, an 'A+' instead of an 'A' or a 'B' instead of a 'B-'). Furthermore, they reported feeling more confident and better able to manage themselves during the exam. The researchers emphasize that the experimental group was selected to ensure there were no statistical differences between groups — the experimental group did not consist of more capable or more motivated students.
As the researchers point out, the key takeaway from their study is that by focusing on metacognitive processes and reflecting on the task, you are doing important additional work. This ultimately helps better structure knowledge, maintain motivation, and find the most effective solutions — both for exam preparation and for any other situations.
TL;DR
- To make the time spent in lectures as effective as possible, engage your muscle memory. The simplest option is to take lecture notes. An alternative is note-taking plus doodling. This approach helps you better absorb new information and remember it more effectively. Doodles allow you to recall many nuances, similar to postcards or photos from trips that trigger your memories.
- An important point is that for doodling to truly help you remember new information better, it should remain a mechanical, spontaneous activity. If you get too absorbed in drawing, you'll likely struggle to take in any additional information.
- Combine doodling with a 'traditional' note-taking method. Write down key facts and formulas the 'classic' way. Use doodling when: 1) it's essential for you to grasp the essence of a particular concept and understand its meaning, and you already have the basic data on the topic; and 2) the instructor provides a large volume of material and presents it at a fast pace, not in a 'record' format. Don't neglect your instructor's requests to document certain points in writing.
- According to some researchers, doodling activates the brain's default mode network. Therefore, it can help if you're 'stuck'. Is a name or term 'on the tip of your tongue', but you can't recall it? Having trouble finding the right phrasing for your writing? Have you tried every solution to a problem and are starting to get frustrated? Try sketching unconscious doodles and go back to work a little later.
- Pay attention to your "knowledge about your knowledge" — this is another way to learn better. Consider why it's necessary for you to solve a particular task, what approaches and methods might be suitable, and weigh the pros and cons of each possible method. This will help you maintain motivation (you’ve answered the question of why this is important and what results you expect from yourself in the exam or course). Moreover, this approach allows you to plan the most effective self-preparation strategy (you won't just grab the first available source of information) and stay calm during knowledge assessments.
In the final part of our review, let's talk about how to memorize and retain information: how storytelling can help in this matter and how to overcome the "forgetting curve."
Source: habr.com
